2021-01164 - E Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Draft Corridor Plan: City of Minneapolis comments

Background
The Metro Transit E Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a planned rapid bus line that will upgrade and substantially replace Route 6, one of Metro Transit’s highest ridership bus routes. The 13.3-mile E Line is planned to operate primarily along France Avenue, Hennepin Avenue, 4th Street, and University Avenue from Southdale Transit Center in Edina to the METRO Green Line Westgate Station in Minneapolis (near St. Paul). The E Line is planned to stop at 34 locations along the route, with stops placed about 0.4 miles apart on average (two to three stops per mile) to balance speed and access. E Line stations will be designed to provide faster and more efficient service, along with amenities that foster an improved experience for transit customers. The E Line will be the fifth planned/operational rapid bus line within the Twin Cities region, following the A Line on Snelling in Saint Paul/46th St in Minneapolis, the C Line along Penn Avenue North to downtown Minneapolis, the D Line running primarily on Chicago Avenue South and Emerson/Fremont Avenues North, and the B Line along Lake Street into St. Paul. The alignment and preliminary station locations for E Line BRT were informed by several Metropolitan Council transit plans, including the 2012 Arterial Transitway Corridors Study (ATCS). During the 2018 planning process, which included review of early station location recommendations and specific planning issues, stakeholders requested that the E Line be extended to northeast Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota campus rather than ending in downtown as originally proposed. The question of whether to run the E Line down France Ave or Xerxes Ave was also discussed during this time frame. Ultimately the decision was to use France Ave as it provided access to more employment centers, and the E Line was extended to the University of Minnesota campus. The contents of this corridor plan were developed by Metro Transit staff throughout 2019 and 2020 with input and feedback received from a Technical Advisory Committee and Corridor Advisory Committee and through community outreach and engagement activities. City staff participated in the E Line Technical Advisory Committee during this time.

On March 9, 2022, Metro Transit released the E Line Recommended Corridor Plan, which provides information on the proposed station locations and corridor-wide recommendations for routing, bus service, and bus priority treatments. It also provides an overview of the planning, engagement and technical considerations, which informed the recommended stations. The official comment period is through April 8, 2022. Metro Transit has incorporated feedback received on the Draft Corridor Plan in September/October 2021 in order to create this Recommended Corridor Plan. Metro Transit will bring the final plan to the Metropolitan Council for approval in spring/summer 2022. The final E Line Corridor Plan will finalize station locations to inform the design phase. Final design and engineering is expected to begin shortly after the plan approval in summer of 2022. Construction is targeted to begin in 2024, while construction of some stations will be coordinated with other projects and may be built sooner. The E Line is planned to open for service in late 2025.

City of Minneapolis staff from Public Works have prepared the attached comments on the Recommended Corridor Plan. Several changes have been made from the Draft Corridor Plan to the Recommended Corridor Plan in response to feedback from Minneapolis and its residents.

Outreach and engagement
Metro Transit has conducted significant corridor level engagement over the past two years. This includes in-person engagement conducted in a safe manner during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In December 2018 two open houses were held (Pershing Recreation Center and Marcy Open School) as a project kick-off and to introduce initial alignment options. In May 2019, a second round of open houses were held (Southwest High School, Marcy Open School, and Walker Library) for a presentation of advanced alignment options. The recommend alignment, concept station locations, and route 6 service plan were presented in November 2019 (Marcy Open School and Pershing Recreation Center). Meeting materials and summaries of comments can be reviewed at this link. For the Draft and Recommended Corridor Plans, Metro Transit has advertised through a postcard mailer sent to all addresses within ¼ mile of the corridor, social media targeting corridor zip codes, Metro Transit subscriber alerts (by route Rider Alerts, project update, Riders Club, Connect), and intercept outreach directing people online to record their feedback. This component included meeting passengers at key bus and transfer stops on route 6 to share project flyers and visiting station neighbors to discuss the plan. Various community meeting presentations and Q&As have been scheduled including with the association representing businesses in Linden Hills and residents in residential buildings in northeastern Minneapolis.