Saint Paul -- 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 joseph.klein@metrotransit.org or (651) 602-1995.
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