Downtown East / Metrodome (Metro Transit Station)
The Downtown East/Metrodome station is a light rail station on the Hiawatha Line in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the fifth stop southbound.
The station, located on the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome plaza at the east end of downtown Minneapolis, is a side-platform station. Service began at this station when the Hiawatha Line opened on June 26, 2004.
A major feature of the site is the set of ornamental arches that stand next to the station. They are meant to reflect the Stone Arch Bridge, a major landmark of the city that crosses the Mississippi River a few blocks away. The patterns in the brickwork are meant to reflect fabric designs worn by 19th century immigrants in the Elliot Park neighborhood.
The station is normally not busy except for weekend sporting events at the 'Dome, when large crowds line up. It can take up to an hour for the platforms to return to normal after a big game.
The platforms are also considered to be the main stop for students traveling to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, as a few frequent bus routes to campus run nearby. The Central Corridor project between Minneapolis and St. Paul will be built as a light rail line, and would provide a direct connection to the university, but it will not be in service until 2014.
East of the Metrodome station, past the crossing of 4th Street and Chicago Avenue, trains enter the segment of the line where automatic block signaling (ABS) is used. In contrast, light rail vehicles must obey stop lights in the downtown region. The rail line uses a system of lights which display either vertical or horizontal white bars to the train operator.
Read more about Downtown East / Metrodome (Metro Transit Station): Notable Places Nearby
Famous quotes containing the words east and/or transit:
“Though all the East did quake to hear
Of Alexander’s dreadful name,
And all the West likewise did fear
To hear of Julius Caesar’s fame,”
—Robert Southwell (1561?–1595)
“We only seem to learn from Life that Life doesn’t matter so much as it seemed to do—it’s not so burningly important, after all, what happens. We crawl, like blinking sea-creatures, out of the Ocean onto a spur of rock, we creep over the promontory bewildered and dazzled and hurting ourselves, then we drop in the ocean on the other side: and the little transit doesn’t matter so much.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)