A year after revamping two thoroughfares for express-bus riders in downtown Minneapolis, city and transit officials are back with a plan to address service for local bus riders on east-west routes.
The proposal outlined Tuesday would add more sidewalk space for those queuing for buses and give them more shelters and bus information. The changes would be concentrated along S. 7th and 8th Streets, which the city wants to define as an east-west transit spine.
But unlike last year's changes along Marquette and 2nd Avenues, which increased the number of buses on those streets, the 7th-8th proposal involves only limited shifting of buses.
The $3.2 million plan goes to the public this month in a series of meetings. A key open house is scheduled for 4-6 p.m. Dec. 13 at the downtown library. The proposal is available at www.startribune.com/a42.
But a downtown representative says she has "some strong concerns" about the plan, which emerged from a study of 10 alternatives. In 2007, business opposition helped to derail a two-way bus plan for 8th Street, when that roadway was proposed as a transit spine. That plan was part of a larger downtown circulation study.
The downtown study already has produced the Marquette-2nd revamp, which doubled bus lanes on those streets and added more space and shelter for riders; the return of Hennepin and 1st Avenues to two-way streets, and changes on Nicollet Mall, with fewer and mostly hybrid buses and 24-hour biking.
According to city transportation planner Anna Flintoft, the option outlined Tuesday works best for transit operations for the five local bus lines that were studied: Routes 5, 9, 14, 19 and 22.
The plan would add curb extensions that would occupy the parking lane at five selected stops. That would add sidewalk space to better separate people waiting for a bus from passersby. That's a particular need at the bus stop at 7th and Hennepin, where about 3,800 people board daily, making it the highest-volume bus stop in the region. Also suggested is having some routes stop on the east side of Nicollet and others on the west to split the crowds of riders who queue there, especially at rush hours.
