Winning!

You saw it coming (or maybe you didn't) right up, ahem, University Avenue:

Green Line riders expressed a range of emotions Monday as the new light-rail line connecting the downtowns of St. Paul and Minneapolis started taking paying customers on its first weekday in operation.

Late Monday evening, a Green Line train hit a car that turned in front of the train near the intersection of Hampden and University Avenues in St. Paul, but there were no injuries, Metro Transit officials said.

Actually, the Metro Transit people are pleased with the acceptable level of mayhem thus far:

Operator error contributed to the train slowdown, along with a couple broken traffic poles that measure pedestrian crossings and were hit by automobiles over the weekend.

The most serious crime report was an aggravated robbery late Sunday at the Dale Street Station. A large group got off the train, assaulted a young man and stole his phone and a friend’s, Siqveland said.

Meanwhile, out in Bottineau land:

A proposal to widen Broadway Avenue in Brooklyn Park will have to wait another year, after the City Council voted to put it into pause mode for a year.

"There is nothing that says it has to be done this year or next," Mayor Jeff Lunde told colleagues.

"We as a city need to decide yes or no, and we can only get to yes or no when we have all the information."

The Council adopted Lunde's motion to put the proposed project on hold, prompting applause from a large contingent of residents who came to Brooklyn Park City Hall holding "Save Our Homes" signs.

The right-of-way for the Hennepin County road project would claim at least a dozen homes, and possibly twice that many. Adding to the angst for some neighbors is that the plan calls for an extra wide median to accommodate the Bottineau Transitway, which may one day become the Twin Cities' fourth light rail line.

We're going to be talking about these trains for a long time.