Gold Line BRT - Woodbury to St. Paul (3/22/2025) and Minneapolis (2027)

[Trademark]

First are we sure they are 100% going with inline middle lane platform stations like at Lake & 46th on 35W? Beyond obviously being ideal solution, they are probably the only workable solution as well that doesn't kill trip time.

Dale/Victoria could make some sense as long it's part of freeway cap/other development.

Snelling is an absolute must, the A Line would need a little station relocation but nothing major

Cretin makes zero sense to me, even with the network connectivity it could provide

Huron is the other absolute must, although the design of the interchange makes is super challenging without a full rebuild. Without that I'm not sure how a Campus Connector bus could even access the station meaning you would probably end up with a really unpleasant walk across 94 to access the stop. The other option would be to use 27th Ave as the station, combined with Essex that would work along with setting an aBRT route in the future using Franklin.

25th Ave makes sense as well, I do think it's worth looking at other options between 20th & Riverside to see if there is a location that makes more sense.

I'll bring back up my idea of having a Green Line Express LRT running down the middle of 94 between the DT's. I know why will be dismissed for any number or reasons but it would relatively quick, easy & cheap to build vs literally any other route and wouldn't take up that much track assuming it ties into the the current tracks at US Bank Stadium & future Riverview Line around the X.

The downside with the express LRT is that it would hurt frequencies on both the Blue and Green Lines due to the interlining. It would either need its own ROW in DT Mpls or force a transfer.

And at that point we might as well just build an automated light metro and get 2 minute frequencies. Unfortunately due to cost it won't be considered though.

They are looking at both inline stops using the bus shoulders or online stops using the managed lanes.

[DanPatchToget]

Last weekend I checked out construction between Woodlane Drive and Mounds Boulevard. Here's a brief summary of what I saw at each station site:
Woodlane Drive Station-Dirt has been moved, but nothing besides that from what I could see.

Queens Drive Station-No construction yet.

Tamarack Road Station-The eastbound platform and the busway on Bielenberg Drive are starting to take shape.

Helmo Avenue Station-The eastbound and westbound platforms are taking shape, as well as the bridge over I-94 connecting Helmo and Bielenberg. The busway looks mostly complete except connecting it to 4th Street.

Greenway Avenue Station-A little bit of dirt moved, but nothing substantial yet.

Maplewood Station-Nothing under construction yet.

Sun Ray-Nothing under construction yet, but the underpass at Ruth Street looks around half way done.

Hazel Street-The eastbound and westbound platforms are taking shape, but no busway yet.

Etna Street Station-The eastbound and westbound platforms plus the busway bridge over Etna Street are taking shape. West of Etna Street there's signs of construction for the busway, but nothing yet going east.

Earl Street Station-A lot of digging, but that's pretty much it for now.

Mounds Boulevard Station-The eastbound and westbound platforms are taking shape. The busway and its intersection with Kellogg Boulevard haven't been started yet.

[DanPatchToget]

https://www.twincities.com/2023/11/24/n ... pb3hhra78c

The new bridge across I-94 between Oakdale and Woodbury opens Monday to car and pedestrian traffic.

[DanPatchToget]

Last weekend I checked out construction between Woodlane Drive and Mounds Boulevard. Here's a brief summary of what I saw at each station site:
Woodlane Drive Station-Dirt has been moved, but nothing besides that from what I could see.

Queens Drive Station-No construction yet.

Tamarack Road Station-The eastbound platform and the busway on Bielenberg Drive are starting to take shape.

Helmo Avenue Station-The eastbound and westbound platforms are taking shape, as well as the bridge over I-94 connecting Helmo and Bielenberg. The busway looks mostly complete except connecting it to 4th Street.

Greenway Avenue Station-A little bit of dirt moved, but nothing substantial yet.

Maplewood Station-Nothing under construction yet.

Sun Ray-Nothing under construction yet, but the underpass at Ruth Street looks around half way done.

Hazel Street-The eastbound and westbound platforms are taking shape, but no busway yet.

Etna Street Station-The eastbound and westbound platforms plus the busway bridge over Etna Street are taking shape. West of Etna Street there's signs of construction for the busway, but nothing yet going east.

Earl Street Station-A lot of digging, but that's pretty much it for now.

Mounds Boulevard Station-The eastbound and westbound platforms are taking shape. The busway and its intersection with Kellogg Boulevard haven't been started yet.

Checked out the same spots yesterday and here's what I saw.

Woodlane Drive Station: Substantial progress has been made on the 500-space parking ramp, and I'm guessing by the fall it'll be pretty much complete if not totally complete.

Queens Drive Station: The foundations for the platforms are in.

Tamarack Road Station: The platforms are in, but a lot more work to do before they actually look like bus stations.

Helmo Avenue Station: Looks the same as the last time I was there.*

Greenway Avenue Station: Looks the same as the last time I was there.*

Maplewood Station: Lots of dirt moved, but no signs of the station and busway taking shape yet.

Sun Ray Station: No construction of the station and busway yet.

Hazel Street Station: Looks the same as the last time I was there.*

Etna Street Station: Looks the same as the last time I was there.*

Earl Street Station: This has had substantial progress, as last year what was once part of the freeway trench has been filled in for the busway and the platforms are also in.

Mounds Boulevard Station: The platforms are in and the busway is paved.

*From a non-construction expert POV

In terms of the overall busway between St. Paul and Woodbury there's still some segments where they haven't even begun digging yet, but there's also segments where they've made progress or they began digging. Most of the busway hasn't been paved yet, but several intersections have new traffic signals installed that include dedicated signals for the buses. Bridges for the busway over Johnson Parkway and Etna Street as well as the underpass at Ruth Street look almost done. The busway bridges over McKnight Road, Geneva Avenue, and I-94 are for now mainly just the bridge columns. Nothing substantial going on at White Bear Avenue yet.

[thespeedmccool]

Gold Line is on the verge of being officially delayed. There was substantial trouble getting some utilities moved (I think) and that delayed a large part of the work for a while.

The project committee had to sign off on reordering the project's construction schedule and authorize more winter work this year to keep it on track. They construction team has almost (if not already) burned through it's contingency days. They say there's no more delays anticipated and that it should still open on time at this point, but who knows.

[DanPatchToget]

Gold Line is on the verge of being officially delayed. There was substantial trouble getting some utilities moved (I think) and that delayed a large part of the work for a while.

The project committee had to sign off on reordering the project's construction schedule and authorize more winter work this year to keep it on track. They construction team has almost (if not already) burned through it's contingency days. They say there's no more delays anticipated and that it should still open on time at this point, but who knows.

As I was checking things out it did seem like there was still a lot to do and a 2025 opening, even late in the year, would be pushing it. Fingers crossed they're able to get back on schedule.

[Silophant]

Metro Transit has now updated the project page to set a March 22, 2025 opening date for the Gold Line. Idk if they're going to be working weekends this summer or what.

[Bakken2016]

Metro Transit has now updated the project page to set a March 22, 2025 opening date for the Gold Line. Idk if they're going to be working weekends this summer or what.

The Met Council made a post today on Facebook, it is 41% complete, advancing on time and under budget. It must be a heavy construction season coming up, but I'm glad that this will show that transit projects can be built on time and under budget.

[alexschief]

... but I'm glad that this will show that transit projects can be built on time and under budget.

They can, if it's a road project!

[DanPatchToget]

This brings up the question of when is a budget set concretely and at completion if you go over it you're over budget and if you're below it you're under budget. I forget when, but sometime ago the Gold Line budget went up to account for additional parking, so assuming it's still over the original budget does that mean it's actually over budget? Not that I'd be saying it's a boondoggle, but other people might say that and they'll argue it was supposed to cost $X dollars in [insert year] and now it's more than that cost.

It'd be unfair to say the Green Line Extension is around $1.6 billion over budget because in 2011 it was projected to cost $1.25 billion and now it's $2.86 billion, but maybe fair to say it's over budget by X dollars compared to when it began construction in 2019.

[Bakken2016]

... but I'm glad that this will show that transit projects can be built on time and under budget.

They can, if it's a road project!

Shush, lol

[mattaudio]

I mean there's probably something to that... all the players here have a deep history building roads and highways, so it's a predictable target to build roads and bridges even if they're dedicated for buses in the end.

[angrysuburbanite]

Two questions:

1. Will nearby local and express routes be restructured similar to the Orange Line?

2. Is the Woodbury express service (and the 323, I guess) going to be relocated to the Woodlane P&R or will it continue to operate out of the theater parking lot?

[thespeedmccool]

Two questions:

1. Will nearby local and express routes be restructured similar to the Orange Line?

2. Is the Woodbury express service (and the 323, I guess) going to be relocated to the Woodlane P&R or will it continue to operate out of the theater parking lot?

1. Pre-pandemic, there was a plan to add 4-5 local bus services to Woodbury with the Gold Line. Little chance that happens now; the county is investigating microtransit now. Otherwise, I'm sure there will be some minor restructuring of local services, but they actually seem to link up pretty well with Gold Line already to my eye.

2. Woodbury express services will operate out of the Woodlane P&R (at least, that's Woodbury's plan.) Like three minor P&Rs in Woodbury have closed since the pandemic, partly anticipating this shift. Woodbury Theatre will no longer be a P&R, but NIMBYs got pissed at the idea of redeveloping the theatre, so in the station area planning it's expected to remain a theatre (with a mixed use suboption.)

I would guess 323 will operate out of the new Woodlane P&R, but I'm not sure. Maybe it will route up to the Woodlane P&R, then follow Guider to Queens or Bielenberg, then follow either of those to Valley Creek where it will extend into Woodbury.

[angrysuburbanite]

Yeah, I just looked at the system map and not much has to be changed. The only thing I really see outside of Woodbury is the Sun Ray Transit Center, which really should be relocated a block south.

I would really like Metro Transit to consider something other than microtransit in Woodbury. Land use aside, the arterial road network would lend itself to a really nice route grid. Running 4 or so new routes at 30-minute frequencies wouldn't be too hard... I think it's at least worth a try.

[thespeedmccool]

Yeah, I just looked at the system map and not much has to be changed. The only thing I really see outside of Woodbury is the Sun Ray Transit Center, which really should be relocated a block south.

I would really like Metro Transit to consider something other than microtransit in Woodbury. Land use aside, the arterial road network would lend itself to a really nice route grid. Running 4 or so new routes at 30-minute frequencies wouldn't be too hard... I think it's at least worth a try.

Sun Ray Transit Center is staying where it is, I think; the Gold Line project includes some minor updates for it. That said, station area planning for Sun Ray proposed tearing down the ol' eyesore and establishing a street grid, so anything's possible in the future.

I think Woodbury should get all-day service as well, but it's something they'd have to agitate or pay for, and I highly doubt that will happen. Woodbury's grown up in a very transit-unsupportive way, and trying to reverse engineer a transit-oriented city out of it seems very hard (unless that commercial upzoning bill passes at the legislature.)

Some ideas:

• Extending the 323 along Valley Creek Road to Eagle Valley Commons would be good.
• A local bus could run from Sun Ray in the bus lanes to Hudson Road and follow it to Manning Avenue (possibly shifting to Tamarack between Spring Hill and Woodbury) to the apartments going in around NE Woodbury right now.
• A third service could run from the Woodlane P&R down Woodlane to Bailey Road, which it would follow to the development node at Bailey and Radio Drive (which Woodbury shamefully refers to as its "Urban Village.")

Other than that, I don't think there's any ripe opportunities in Woodbury. Nothing north-south makes much sense (maybe running north on Century or across the new Bielenberg Bridge to North St. Paul, but that kinda duplicates the 219,) and Woodbury's other east-west arterials are too sparsely developed.

[angrysuburbanite]

Realistically, a 323 extension is likely to be the only additional local service in Woodbury. Another change should be to convert 351 to a "non-stop" variant of the Gold Line, using the BRT buses, or eliminate the express entirely.

Also, if the Gold Line doesn't get a Gold ITDP ranking, I will be angry.

[thespeedmccool]

Washington County is discussing how to spend its transit sales tax dollars this week, and their agenda packet confirms Metro Transit is going to implement a microtransit service to connect Woodbury with its Gold Line stops.

Hooray

[DanPatchToget]

Realistically, a 323 extension is likely to be the only additional local service in Woodbury. Another change should be to convert 351 to a "non-stop" variant of the Gold Line, using the BRT buses, or eliminate the express entirely.

Also, if the Gold Line doesn't get a Gold ITDP ranking, I will be angry.

A few years ago I wrote an article on the ITDP's BRT rankings. We'll see what happens when the Gold Line begins operation, but my educated guess was it would get a silver ranking (a score of 72/100).

When I was writing that article the only BRT system in the U.S. with a gold ranking was Albuquerque Rapid Transit (ART) with a score of 88.5/100. Not sure if that's changed since then.

Here's the article:
https://streets.mn/2021/05/26/bus-rapid ... -it-seems/

[angrysuburbanite]

I just ran through the 2024 edition of the BRT Standard and ended up scoring it 79, but I may have been a bit generous on some parts... Still silver, though. Is it too hyperbolic to say that the Gold Line will end up being one of the best "true" BRT lines in the country?

In any case, I am really happy that Metro Transit is investing in a BRT that is really a Bus Rapid Transit line, and that it is coming in on-time and under-budget (as of this week's newsletter). Selfishly, I look forward to using it as an example of a more recent well-constructed transit project whenever someone complains about how over budget transit projects always are.

I hope that the high-quality infrastructure of the Gold Line is a catalyst for more investment in dedicated space for transit. 2025 looks to be a good year for transit expansion!

Love the article, by the way.