Under one proposal, buses would turn onto 81st Avenue instead of taking Monroe all the way to the mall area. The route would take University to the transit center instead. Mayor Bob Nelson says the plan presents problems. “At Monroe and 81st, they will have to make that a bigger bus stop because the 7 bus stops that are missing from 81st north, most people who usually take the bus are going to have to walk a quarter of a mile south to get on that bus stop,” said Nelson. Another issue Nelson sees is the city just removed big trucks from using 81st Avenue. They were noisy and caused damage to the manhole covers they hit. He says buses would do the same thing. It’s also a street where speed and congestion are issues. “The danger on 81st and the trucks and busses driving over the manholes, I can spend money [to fix that]. Do I like to do that, no,” said Nelson. “But if somebody gets run over we got to live with that. And that’s the part where I’m really concerned is the public safety.” The mall is in litigation with Metro Transit over the transit station and Mayor Nelson and State Representative Erin Koegel say it will no longer allow Metro Transit to use certain roads within the mall to reach the station. Koegel says another alternative is to use Highway 10 to go around the mall to the transit center, but that’s expensive. “So they would have to go all the way around the mall and that cost several minutes in delays on their route so they would have to add an extra bus just to maintain the same service,” said Koegel. After a meeting with Metro Transit, MnDOT, and Spring Lake Park officials, Koegel says Metro Transit is still looking at options for accessing the transit center. One change that is coming, is an upgrade to the bus stop which sits very close to the busy highway along University at 81st Avenue. “We were really excited to hear from MnDOT that they are starting construction on a brand new bus stop there,” said Koegel. “They’re making it so it will easily transition to the bus rapid transit line that will be coming up University Avenue and ending at the Northtown Transit Station. So there’s a whole re-imagining of this corridor going on.” Koegel says Metro Transit will be soliciting public comment by sending letters to residents in the area affected by changes to the route at Monroe and 81st Avenue.
PROPOSED BUS ROUTE CHANGE DRAWS OPPOSITION
SPRING LAKE PARK – (July 29, 2021) – A proposal to move a bus route in Spring Lake Park is meeting resistance from city officials who say it could impact traffic safety and increase road expenses in a neighborhood. The problem for Metro Transit is how to reach the Northtown Mall Transit Center even though some roads within the mall will soon be off limits to busses.
