Public Involvement

Project designers made numerous changes to the line as a result of public suggestions:

• Designed an entirely new road surface, sidewalks, curbs and gutters from façade to façade for a uniform look for University Avenue. Retained 10-foot sidewalks in most places. New curbs and gutters addressed concerns about water quality and standing water on the street
• Added non-signalized pedestrian crossings to address concerns about pedestrians’ ability to cross the street safely and conveniently. The additional pedestrian crossings resulted in the loss of additional on-street parking, and many people said the tradeoff was worth it. Some advocated for even more pedestrian crossings, which would have resulted in greater loss of on-street parking
• Added stations at Hamline, Victoria and Western.
• Provided a street presence with windows facing the Farmers’ Market for the operations and maintenance facility in the Diamond Products building (formerly Gillette Co. factory)
• Modified the use of bells and horns east of Union Depot Station in Lowertown due to noise concerns
• Relocated track crossovers, where trains make noise moving from one track to another, off of Carleton and Avon on University Avenue so they are away from residential areas and off of Cedar Street away from Minnesota Public Radio studios.
• Relocated several traction power substations and signal bungalows to more obscure sites or locations that won’t hinder future development
• Located Snelling Avenue Station at Snelling instead of at Pascal to accommodate the community’s preference and for better bus connections.
• Simplified station design to address concerns about safety, security and consistency throughout the corridor for ease of access, wayfinding and reduction of barriers for people with disabilities.
• Designed only smooth sidewalk surfaces to address concerns that stamped or patterned concrete makes for a bumpy ride for wheelchair users and hinders people with vision impairments in finding the tactile warning bumps on the curb cuts when they tap the pavement with their canes.
• Located the West Bank Station between the Cedar Avenue and 19th Avenue bridges versus a block east of the 19th Avenue bridge to better serve both the university and surrounding communities and to be closer to vertical access points at Cedar and 19th avenues to meet requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act
• Held 14 visioning sessions with artists chosen to design station art so the public could tell them about the history and culture of the station areas. Held additional meetings where the artists presented their preliminary design concepts and received feedback. Organized separate station art committees to enlist community members’ help in publicizing the meetings at the grassroots level.

People have influenced the design and construction of the METRO Green Line in many different ways: 

• More than 25,000 people presented ideas at 1,150 public meetings held by project staff since September 2006 in English, Hmong and Somali. The project’s community outreach coordinators also spoke Spanish, Hmong and Vietnamese, some French, some Somali and American Sign Language. They compiled public concerns and suggestions and shared them with the engineers, which is how the changes suggested by the public were incorporated into the project. Outreach staffers served as liaisons between the public and contractors during construction to provide project updates and resolve conflicts so the contractors and construction supervisors could focus on their work.
• Standing advisory committees met monthly to discuss set agendas for committee members who have closely followed the project for a long time and wanted detailed information.
• Open forums and open houses featured "open mic" times to enable area residents to share their concerns publicly and one-on-one with project engineers, and examined preliminary design plans online, at public libraries on the corridor, and by appointment at the Central Corridor Project Office with assistance from staff.
• Community meetings were held in locations as diverse as a Hmong dental clinic waiting room, senior housing, Hmong grocery store's gathering room/dance floor, Vietnam Center, churches, college lecture halls and the Metrodome concourse before and during Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings games.
• Booths staffed by the project at art fairs, music festivals, ethnic celebrations, the State Fair and other community events, such as Rondo Days, provided opportunities for community members to interact with project staff. 
• One-on-one meetings between business owners and project staff at business locations enabled business owners to voice their concerns without taking time off to attend a public meeting.