Minneapolis aims to upgrade transit service

Minneapolis proposal would add waiting space, shelters and signs, but a business representative said she has concerns about the effect on property owners.

December 1, 2010 at 3:30AM

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.

But Sarah Harris, executive director of the Downtown Improvement District, a service district funded by property assessments, said she felt the needs of transit took precedence over those of downtown businesses in the evaluation of plans. "I have some strong concerns on the alternative that was selected," she said after hearing Flintoft's presentation to a City Council committee.

A public comment period will run through Dec. 31, and several additional presentations will be given downtown during that time. After digesting the feedback, Flintoft hopes to bring the plan to the council for approval in mid-January.

Harris said she's concerned that more bus routes later will be shifted to the paired one-ways on 7th and 8th. Adam Harrington, Metro Transit's assistant director of route and system planning, said that agency has no plans to do so.

Under the proposal, buses would operate in the mixed-traffic right lane of the one-way 7th and 8th Streets, while three through lanes for other vehicles would be maintained during rush hour by restricting parking and other curbside use of the left lane.

The proposal also includes the addition of 14 transit shelters and nine electronic message signs for riders on 7th and 8th between Chicago Avenue and 1st Avenue N. Harrington said his agency is confident it can obtain federal funding for the $3.2 million in bus improvements.

Flintoft said the city has yet to identify funding for streetscape improvements along 7th and 8th that are estimated to cost $600,000.

Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438

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STEVE BRANDT, Star Tribune