Streetcars the preferred choice for Minneapolis-area transit corridor

The Metropolitan Council is accepting public comments until Jan. 21 on amending the region’s long-range transportation policy plan (TPP) to include a streetcar system as the locally preferred alternative for the Riverview Corridor in Minnesota’s Ramsey and Hennepin counties.

The Riverview Corridor is a 12-mile connection between St. Paul and the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, the Mall of America and Bloomington’s South Loop district. The Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority recommended a proposed streetcar line to include use of Metro Transit’s Green Line stations and tracks in downtown St. Paul, as well as Metro Transit’s Blue Line stations and tracks south of the Mississippi River beginning at Fort Snelling.

The locally preferred alternative includes a tunnel under Fort Snelling to connect with the Blue Line and a new bridge over the Mississippi River. Ramsey County officials requested that the streetcar locally preferred alternative be amended into the TPP. The county will continue to manage the project through environmental review and early engineering work to support an environmental review.

“Modern streetcar is a type of rail transit that fits more easily into urban streets than light-rail transit (LRT),” Metropolitan Council officials said in a press release. “A streetcar is smaller than LRT and runs as a single car rather than multiple cars. Streetcars also stop more frequently than LRT and share a traffic lane with motor vehicles.”

Council officials plan to hold a public meeting Jan. 9 in St. Paul to discuss the streetcar system and TPP.