urbanMSP

The layout (with the options at Maria Ave and White Bear Ave) from the recent open house has been posted:

https://www.metrotransit.org/gold-line- ... and-events

The layout doesn't show the Gold Line as entering the Union Depot bus station area (instead stopping adjacent to the Green Line platforms), so I hope that means that idea is dead.

Wish it was a little closer to the actual Depot, but as long as finding your way between the Depot and platforms is easy even for out-of-towners then its fine.

Somehow I had missed that the Gold Line was going to have downtown stations instead of just terminating at SPUD. Makes it even more of a no-brainer to through-route it to Minneapolis as a part of the 94 rebuild someday, especially if they can use C/D Line stations on the Minneapolis end.

^Would this be a Route 94 replacement, or have a few stops in between (such as Snelling) and be in addition to Route 94? Would all Gold Line buses continue to/from Minneapolis, or only a certain number?

I really like the idea of extending Gold to Minneapolis and cancelling the 94. Will really make sense when the MnPass lanes are opened.

Ideally, I'd like to see the Gold Line extension do all trips during rush hour, and every-other-trip outside of rush, along with inline station stops at Snelling, Huron Ave., and perhaps Dale and somewhere around Cedar/Riverside. Too many stops between the two would remove the express feel of it, but a couple of stops could allow for a bit more traffic and some relief for peak times on the Green Line.

As for station stops in downtown St. Paul, I'd like to see the bus area used more at Union Depot as a transfer point, but it's rather inconvenient for a lot of local traffic. That said, the platforms really should move to the other side of 4th St., so they're not as constrained by area buildings and feel more integrated into Union Depot and the lawn in front.

I'm sure I'll get ripped mercilessly for even proposing this but wouldn't it make sense to run LRT down the center of 94 as part of rebuild in a dedicated guide way? Take the Green Line/Riverview tracks from UD to the Xcel roughly then go right down the center of 94 with stops at Snelling and Huron (some sort of connection to U). Drop down after the Cedar exit and meet up with the Blue Line somewhere in between the Cedar-Riverside Station and US Bank Stadium Station. You get from the X to the Bank in like under 20 minutes at any time of day, I think that would attract a ton of riders at all times of day

I'm sure I'll get ripped mercilessly for even proposing this but wouldn't it make sense to run LRT down the center of 94 as part of rebuild in a dedicated guide way? Take the Green Line/Riverview tracks from UD to the Xcel roughly then go right down the center of 94 with stops at Snelling and Huron (some sort of connection to U). Drop down after the Cedar exit and meet up with the Blue Line somewhere in between the Cedar-Riverside Station and US Bank Stadium Station. You get from the X to the Bank in like under 20 minutes at any time of day, I think that would attract a ton of riders at all times of day

My thinking has been to use existing freight rail lines between Minneapolis and St. Paul and continuing to the suburbs as part of a S-Bahn type network, while 94 either gets more frequent Route 94 service or the Gold Line, and with HOV lanes could be used by other bus services. Green Line stays as is, but maybe someday grade separate to increase speed and frequency.

https://www.twincities.com/2018/08/03/n ... -and-ride/

So they're proposing buses every 7 minutes during rush hour? I assumed it would be every 10 minutes.

And the new eastern terminus is next to some apartments near the Woodbury Theater. Wouldn't it make more sense to end it at Woodbury Village?

I'm glad that they went with the downtown routing instead of the Union Depot terminal.

The new Woodbury station was shown on the open house materials as a parking garage with a slip ramp to 494 for express buses.

I really like the idea of extending Gold to Minneapolis and cancelling the 94. Will really make sense when the MnPass lanes are opened.

Has there been any confirmation by Gold Line staff (or Metro Transit staff) that this is, in fact, the long term plan? It makes a lot of sense, and a lot of us here have long assumed that's how it would go. However, it is clearly not the opening day plan. Gold Line "METRO" service will not be added to I-94 between the downtowns until there are HOV lanes for it to run on. Also, Hennepin County is not involved in Gold Line funding at all; it is strictly a Washington-Ramsey project. Any discussion of Gold Line absorbing the 94 bus route has to be timed with the future HOV project. Does anyone have a year on that? Zero funding has been dedicated at this time, though MNDOT is clearly interested. A few years have passed since I last heard anything about HOV

There is an on-going MnDOT study on I-94 between downtowns. Even if they can secure the funding in the next cycle or so, I would guess it would take a while for engineering/construction to see HOV/HOT lanes on I-94. They also probably want to wait until the current I-35W construction is done before starting another major construction, too. Whether MnDOT timeline aligns with the Gold Line project, I don't know, but I don't think they do.

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/I-94minneapolis-stpaul/

AFAIK, there hasn't been any official mention of a Gold Line extension to Minneapolis, but it seems like it would be logical as it would add only about 15-20 minutes to the run time.

Considering that MnDOT wants to do MnPass on 94 and the Arterial BRT investments on 7th and 8th, there's little to no additional capital funding needed.

It's almost like all East Metro to St. Paul BRTs should extend to DT Mpls and replace the 94... Imagine if you could take the Gold, Rush Line, or Red Rock BRT express between the downtowns on a local fare.

It would also eliminate the awfulness about the 94 charging express fares when that surcharge really should be for bus routes serving expensive park and rides (which the 94 does not).

https://www.twincities.com/2018/10/02/l ... own-route/

The loop should stay in my opinion.

They cite the loop and say it's not intended as a circulator.

1. Is this accurate, and
2. If it isn't intended to be a circulator, should it be?

Personally, I'm much more likely to take transit, especially daily, when it's a single seat ride.

Its not very convenient transferring from a bus at Union Depot to the Green Line and vice versa, so it doesn't make much sense to end it there and require people to transfer to get to their downtown jobs.

The Gold Line should keep running on local streets through Downtown St. Paul and have a stop by the Green Line's Union Depot Station. However, the stops in St. Paul should be the same as all of the other stops. Build them the same as the other stations and then its easy to bring ABRT routes to Downtown St. Paul.

I have no strong opinions about what should happen when the bus hits St. Paul, but this...

“Seeing all the congestion in downtown St. Paul, I don’t see how adding buses will make things any easier,”

...it's so incredibly frustrating to see local elected officials still talking like this in 2018. They should know better.

LOL at congestion in downtown St. Paul. I work in DT STP and it's practically a ghost town when I leave at 4:30/5.

What is the projected ridership of the Gold Line? IIRC it is in the 5-7k range. A 2% increase in project budget that results in a 10-20% increase in ridership is a steal at twice the price. Why, exactly, wouldn’t we want to do this?