Striking Gold: The Story of Gold Line BRT

Multi-modal transportation, engagement, and TOD – this tour will feature it all! METRO Gold Line is a $500 million BRT line. This tour will feature all parts of project development which began in 2010 and construction will continue through 2024. Highlight the disruptors and challenges and the planning interventions that will be presented to overcome the challenges. METRO Gold Line bus rapid transit will connect people across the region to job centers, housing options, transit stations and key destinations in the Interstate 94 corridor. The planned 10-mile bus rapid transit line will connect St. Paul and four suburban communities.

The project began planning in 2010 and entered FTA’s New Starts Program in 2018. The project also received an FTA TOD Pilot Program Grant that was used for station area planning. The three-year construction schedule began in late 2022 . This tour will feature the active construction zones of this $500 million project and two areas of TOD. One suburban example that began with the City imposing a moratorium in order to conduct the station area planning process and provide time for the city to update zoning. The tour will also feature an urban TOD example of a site that sat vacant for almost a decade after a hotel was torn down. The site is now two apartment complexes adjacent to the transit station. Staff from multiple project partners will present on the planning process, engagement and funding strategies, and TOD planning. This includes county funding partners, city community development staff, and Metro Transit.

This tour will feature:
- unique design solutions to prioritize people experiencing disabilities,
- how a city that is entirely made up of manufactured homes and is 50% Spanish speaking was engaged through the design process,
- How pedestrian elements were prioritized to ensure all people could access stations