To figure out the best transit solution for the Robert Street Corridor, the Dakota County Railroad Authority will undergo something called an "alternatives analysis."
The Robert Street corridor runs from downtown St. Paul to Rosemount, with Interstate 35E bounding it on the west and the Mississippi River forming its eastern edge.
A $1.18 million grant from the federal Department of Transportation, which was announced last month, will jumpstart the analysis, according to Dakota County transit specialist Sam O'Connell.
The "alternatives analysis" will help define those "areas that really demonstrate the transportation need and focus on solutions," she says.
Through the 12-to-18-month-long analysis, the county will identify the "locally preferred alternative" for a route and transit type. Some of the options they'll look at are light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transit, streetcars, and more, while Robert Street is only one possible route.
An early feasibility study that the county did underscored the need for more transit services, with longer hours and higher frequency, especially with state projections for increased population and employment, she explains.
Today, about 129,000 vehicles cross the Mississippi River at the Lafayette and Robert Street Bridges on a daily basis, which is important to know because "bridges are natural chokepoint," she says.
But different areas throughout the corridor have varying levels of density, impacts to land use and communities, ridership and more. "You have to do a technical analysis of what will and won't serve the corridor," she says. "It allows you to focus on the best solutions," which the public will have the chance to provide feedback on along the way.
Source: Sam O'Connell, Dakota County transit specialist
Writer: Anna Pratt