Any commuter sitting in the slow-moving parking lot otherwise known as Interstate 94 at peak rush hour has likely thought at some point: Isn't there a better way?
With the traffic problem on the main east metro thoroughfare to and from the Twin Cities only expected to get dramatically worse in the next 20 years, planners are working on both short- and long-term solutions to bring relief.
Some of those solutions are already visible: More buses. And even more buses -- and other modes of transit under study by the Gateway Corridor Commission -- may be on the way.
The park-and-ride lot at the Woodbury 10 Theatre complex could double in size from its 550-vehicle capacity with the addition of a $13 million parking ramp. With the city's support (but no funding commitment), Metro Transit is submitting a request for a federal grant that would help pay for the ramp, which could be built by 2016, said Metro Transit spokesman John Siqveland.
That expansion comes on the heels of the addition of 235 parking spaces two years ago at the Oakdale park-and-ride lot at Guardian Angels Catholic Church, bringing the capacity to 435.
And plans are still in the works for a 550-vehicle park-and-ride ramp at the southeast corner of the Manning Avenue/I-94 interchange. The ramp is one piece of Red Rock Territory, a 600-acre industrial, retail and residential complex poised for development.
But that park-and-ride expansion alone may not be enough.
Population along I-94 in the east metro, dubbed the Gateway Corridor, now is 300,000, said Andy Gitzlaff, transit planner with the Washington County Railroad Authority. More than 90,000 vehicles cross the St. Croix at Hudson each day, and by the time traffic reaches St. Paul, the number of vehicles swells to 150,000.