urbanMSP

The 8th and Park Station opened today, until the D Line opens, the 5 and C Line will serve it.

Have the new buses for the D-line arrived yet? If so, what gradual these buses operate out of?


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I don't believe they have arrived yet, pretty sure they are using Orange Line/C Line fleet to test the D Line. I'm going to assume Heywood, or possibly the new garage starting in March of 2023, but that has not been finalized yet.

We already received all the buses needed for D Line operations. (They look identical to the diesel C Line buses so it's hard to tell from outside.) They'll operate out of Heywood for the time being, but I don't know the details on what will happen post-new Garage opening in 2023.

That’s awesome! I was up in Minneapolis a few weeks ago and got some pictures of the new D line stations under construction. Part of me wishes that we could have the buses for the different lines look different, but I understand that would make it difficult.


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I was looking at the D line stops and can't help but wonder why a station at 7th/Twins way wasn't included. If Target field is deemed worthy of two LRT stations why not one BRT station? And what is the deal with 7th/5th? Shouldn't that stop be at 7th/Olson just north of the stop light? That spot already has a shelter and is next to a building with (I hope) some transit minded people in it.


https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9848238 ... 2?hl=en-GB

7th St / 5th Ave was chosen due to convenient transfers to Royalston / Farmers Market Station. I believe long-term plans for the area include a new stoplight (or maybe a HAWK signal, not sure) at the 3-way intersection. I think it does a good job splitting the spacing between Block E and 7th/Bryant. I think it will also prove wise to not have the station right at 7th/Olson, as the intersection will see heavy construction when/if the Blue Line extension moves forward. This avoids having to rebuild it.

I agree during Twins season there is a ton of demand at 7th St / Twins Way due to the service employees entrance being located right there. In the southbound direction, the D Line retains an extra stop in Ramp A, but that doesn't help much being at basically 8th St/1st Ave. I sorta wonder if they may seasonally allow that extra NB stop at 7th/Twins, due to high demand. On the other hand, it could be difficult to fit a full aBRT station in there, and there's a lot of congestion with all of the coach buses and ubers and whatnot all competing for curb space. It's a tough call to tell a couple hundred(?) workers that they need to catch a less frequent 5/22 if they want to use that stop. There's just so much demand for that specific stop on 81 specific days of the year, and very little demand outside of those 81 days.

Yeah the idea is to provide a good connection with SWLRT. The southbound station already exists, so only the northbound has to be built at 5th.

If they allow the northbound at Twins way why couldn't a southbound at 10th and Twins way be paired with it? Maybe something could be built on the parking lot similar to the building going up on the other side of the stadium so it could have year round use.

If they allow the northbound at Twins way why couldn't a southbound at 10th and Twins way be paired with it? Maybe something could be built on the parking lot similar to the building going up on the other side of the stadium so it could have year round use.

I'm guessing because of the operational difficulties of crossing two lanes of traffic in the short distance between Twins Way and Ramp A.

If they allow the northbound at Twins way why couldn't a southbound at 10th and Twins way be paired with it? Maybe something could be built on the parking lot similar to the building going up on the other side of the stadium so it could have year round use.

I'm guessing because of the operational difficulties of crossing two lanes of traffic in the short distance between Twins Way and Ramp A.

I'll buy that. Wonder if trimming 10th to two lanes would be possible. Whenever I'm on 10th it doesn't seem to need 3 lanes but I'm not driving on it in the middle of rush hour.

At any rate. Not having at least one stop at Twins way seems like a missed opportunity.

There was a newsletter last week that provided an update on the D Line service plan:

D Line

• Will operate every 10-15 minutes.
• Will use temporary stops at 38th St on Park and Portland.
• Will operate on detour during 2023 between 44th Ave N and 49th Ave N for Osseo Rd reconstruction. (C Line also on detour)

Route 5

• Will be shortened to 56th/Chicago on the south end.
• Will be shortened to 47th/Osseo on the north end when the C/D line station at that intersection opens in 2023.
• "F" branch to 26th Ave will be eliminated.
• Service will operate every 30-60 minutes.

Route 39

• Eliminated.

Route 133

• Eliminated.

Routes 721 & 724

• Service from BCTC to Downtown Minneapolis will be eliminated.

Also the newsletter says work is continuing on the final five stations along the route.

Newsletter: https://content.govdelivery.com/account ... ns/31b9bf5
Service plan: https://www.metrotransit.org/Data/Sites ... tsheet.pdf

Where did Routes 39 and 133 serve?

The 39 was a rush hour route that connected downtown (7th/8th St) to Wells Fargo and Abbott Northwestern. It was mostly used by people connecting from express buses.

The 133 was a rush hour route that took 35W to 35th/36th and I believe it used Chicago to 46th to Bloomington.

Interesting that Metro Transit is still planning on running it down Chicago at 38th.

Not that I don't think that's the right long-term goal from a transit-supportive perspective, but I would've anticipated a less committal "universe of alternatives" approach to the future at George Floyd Square.

I wonder what will happen there. I think the D Line probably should run through the intersection someday, but it's not exactly in any shape for it right now.

The problem with eliminating the 133 is that it removes a good route from the Bloomington Avenue corridor between 46th and 54th, an area that is already transit-poor. Seriously, a major downgrade for the Cedar and Bloomington area of West Nokomis.

Extending the C Line down Cedar would fix this.

Interesting that Metro Transit is still planning on running it down Chicago at 38th.

Not that I don't think that's the right long-term goal from a transit-supportive perspective, but I would've anticipated a less committal "universe of alternatives" approach to the future at George Floyd Square.

I wonder what will happen there. I think the D Line probably should run through the intersection someday, but it's not exactly in any shape for it right now.

I believe the plan is to build D Line stations when the city rebuilds the intersection, that is why they will have the temporary stops on 38th at Park/Portland.

D line opening on December 3rd, very exciting as this is my local line. I do appreciate how the stations have made the nodes on Chicago feel slightly more like an urban street car line again. The real time tracking screens are lit up.

METRO D Line Celebration Information: https://www.metrotransit.org/d-line

Join us for Opening Day on Dec. 3
Join us at the Juxtaposition Arts in north Minneapolis and at Veteran’s Park in Richfield as we kick off service on the METRO D Line!

10 a.m. | Ribbon cutting & media event at Mall of America Station
Free D Line rides!
Ride the new D Line for free between Saturday, Dec. 3 and end of service on Monday, Dec. 5.

Metro Transit staff will be riding D Line buses to answer customer questions about the new service, schedule, and fare payment.

Note: Route 5 buses will operate as scheduled.

10 a.m. – 1 p.m. | Community celebration at Juxtaposition Arts featuring:
Metro Transit mascot Skip Traffic! Expected appearance between noon and 12:30 p.m.
Kids art table
Button making with Juxtaposition Artists
Photo station
Recording station – share what transit means to you!
Community outreach booths
Cookies from Cookie Cart
Hot chocolate and coffee station
Sandy’s Grill food truck

10 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Community celebration at Veteran’s Park featuring:
Metro Transit mascot Skip Traffic! Expected appearance between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
Kids art table
Yard games
Photo station
Recording station – share what transit means to you!
Community outreach booths
Cookies from Cookie Cart
Hot chocolate and coffee station
Food truck
The celebration is on the south end of Veteran's Park near the parking lot on 66th Street.

I’ll be there in spirit. Physically I’ll be in Oslo for a week.

Will any buses be electric? I’m guessing not since as far as I know there’s no charging infrastructure at MoA.