Rush Line bus rapid
transit passes milestone vote
Project governing bodies endorse route, service type
Two key governing bodies of the Rush Line project voted today to endorse
bus rapid transit (BRT) service running mostly in bus-only lanes between Union Depot in downtown Saint Paul and White Bear Lake. The Rush Line Corridor Task Force and Policy Advisory Committee each voted to recommend
BRT service as the “Locally Preferred Alternative” on a 14-mile route along
Robert Street, Phalen Boulevard, Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority right-of-way alongside the Bruce Vento Trail, and Highway 61.
"Today
we have passed a key milestone for the Rush Line,” said Corridor Task Force
Chair Victoria
Reinhardt. “The unanimous endorsement of a bus rapid transit line allows
us to move one step closer to bringing this needed service to our residents and
businesses. With the help of the community, we can now focus our
efforts on the environmental and design details to ensure that maximum
benefits are achieved.”
Selecting the Locally Preferred Alternative is the project stage in which many options for routes and vehicle types are narrowed
to one. Today’s votes follow an intensive planning and public engagement
process underway since May 2014. The advisory committee and task force deliberated
over factors including cost, ridership, travel time, access to job and activity
centers, and development potential. They also gathered direct input from neighbors, commuters,
businesses and community groups in determining the most promising potential route
and service options.
“Today’s votes cap a thorough and balanced process,” said Policy
Advisory Chair Nora
Slawik. “Input from our citizens and communities has been essential in
driving to this resolution which best meets the needs of those living and
working in the Rush Line corridor.”
The Locally Preferred Alternative must now be presented and approved by the
elected officials of each city along the line – Saint Paul, Maplewood, White Bear
Lake, Vadnais Heights and Gem Lake – along with the Ramsey County Regional Railroad
Authority in order to advance to the next project stages of environmental
review, design and engineering. Construction of the line could begin as soon as
2023.
Service among the line’s 20 stations is proposed with
hybrid-electric buses running every 10 minutes during peak traffic periods and every
15 minutes from early morning until midnight every day of the week. Most of the
route will run on dedicated bus-only lanes:
- In downtown Saint Paul, outside lanes on Robert Street
would be dedicated to buses during peak periods.
- Between Arcade Street in Saint Paul and a proposed
station at St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood, the line will run adjacent and separated from bicyclists and pedestrians on the Bruce Vento Trail using
existing right-of-way owned by the Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority.
- Along Highway 61, buses would run on reinforced, dedicated
shoulder lanes (similar to METRO Red Line operation
on Highway 77).
> View
a route map
Daily Rush Line ridership is estimated at nearly 6,000 by 2040. More than
60,000 people live near the line’s station areas which are located at job and
activity centers, health care facilities and clinics, economic development nodes and transportation
hubs (including Union Depot and the Maplewood Mall Transit Center and Park & Ride). Stations planned in residential areas would serve many populations, including those who depend on transit for mobility.
The estimated $420
million project also envisions new Park & Ride facilities near Highway 36 and English Street and in White Bear Lake. Planned
stations include features similar to the METRO Green Line and A Line such as real-time arrival and departure information, security cameras and ticket machines.
> Fact sheet
Contact: Andy Gitzlaff, Rush Line Project Manager: 651-266-2772
| 
