Community members and business owners have an important opportunity to help guide the development of the METRO Gold Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. When complete, the Gold Line will provide fast and frequent bus service to neighborhoods and businesses in the east metro between Woodbury and downtown Saint Paul. The Metropolitan Council will begin reviewing applications for the Gold Line’s Community and Business Advisory Committee (CBAC) on March 2, 2018. Appointees will serve during the two years of project development.
“Good input and feedback from the community are the most important building blocks of any project,” said Alene Tchourumoff, Chair of the Metropolitan Council. “The Gold Line has to serve the neighborhoods and businesses along the line, and we need local input to do that as effectively as possible. I encourage residents, business owners, workers, renters and more along the corridor to apply.”
In January, the Federal Transit Administration accepted the Gold Line project into the project development phase of the federal New Starts program, which funds major transit projects across the country.
Committee members will have the opportunity to provide input on design choices, including station design, parking, and access to the line by biking and walking. They will also help identify potential issues related to construction and offer advice on how to mitigate the impacts of building and operating the Gold Line.
“Their most important function will be to serve as an information resource about the community and to act as liaisons to the neighborhoods and businesses the line will serve. We want people who are engaged in their communities – they don’t need to have expertise in engineering or development. They’re experts about their own communities," said Tchourumoff.
Learn more about the Gold Line project and how to apply for the CBAC at the Gold Line website.
The Gold Line is a nine-mile BRT line that will run from Woodbury through Oakdale, Landfall, Maplewood, the East Side of Saint Paul, and ultimately connect with the METRO Green Line LRT at Union Depot in Saint Paul. There, riders can plug into the broader transit network which consists of local bus transit, light rail, bus rapid transit and commuter rail lines. This system currently provides nearly 100 million rides a year.
The planned Gold Line includes 11 stations (10 of them new) and will be Minnesota’s first BRT line operating primarily in a dedicated busway. For much of the route, the line will run near I-94, one of the region’s most congested stretches of highway. Frequent, all-day service in both directions, seven days a week, will offer new opportunities for residents, employees, and business owners by strengthening connections between the metro region and the eastern suburbs.
Contact Joe Klein at [email protected] or (651) 602-1995.