Transit news - Mar 2025

Better transit coming in 2025
Metro Transit is implementing several major improvements this year, some of which will directly bless the Southwest Connector readership area. There are three waves of improvement coming that I know of:
On Saturday, March 22, there will be minor changes on several routes in Southwest Minneapolis:
• The layover point for Route 2 will be after the bus turns onto Dupont Avenue, rather than on Hennepin between Franklin and 22nd.
• Eastbound Route 9 trips between 2:30 and 9:30 p.m. on weekdays will run three minutes earlier. Westbound trips that currently arrive at Hedberg and Greenbrier at 5:18 and 6:17 p.m. will now instead end at the Louisiana Transit Center.
• Metro Transit will adjust Route 18 and 25 travel times to reflect actual trip durations.
• Route 21 will have slightly different stops in downtown Saint Paul.
• Route 46 school day trips are undergoing changes: Westbound trips from the 46th St. Route 46 will lose the 7:32 and 7:48 a.m. trips from the 46th St. LRT station, and the 7:34 a.m. trip will now depart at 7:36 a.m. The 46 will also run with alternating 30 and 60 minute spacing in the evenings 7 days a week. They will also adjust all daily trip times to ensure consistency.
• Planned construction on I-94 will cause adjustments to trip times on Routes 113 and 114.
The big news for the March service change is the Gold Line, a new Bus Rapid Transit line running from downtown Saint Paul to Woodbury. While this isn’t near Southwest Minneapolis, it makes travel to that part of the metro area more accessible for everyone, and second, there are already plans to combine the Gold Line with Route 94 as of 2027, enabling a direct ride from Minneapolis to the east side of Saint Paul.
There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. on March 22 at Woodlane Park and Ride with the first ceremonial bus leaving at 10:45 a.m., and community celebrations at Woodlane and Sun Ray Park and Rides from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Gold Line will offer free rides to riders for the first week.
On Saturday, June14, Southwest Minneapolis gets its turn! The B Line, which will run on Lake Street and be faster than Route 21, with fewer stops and with advantages similar to other Bus Rapid Transit lines.
This coming December, we’ll get a second dose of transit goodness with the opening of the E Line on Hennepin Avenue, which will be faster than Route 6 and will replace the France Avenue sector completely. The Xerxes sector will still run from Uptown Transit Center to Minnesota Drive in Bloomington.
I am sure many readers are tired of the construction delays on Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street in the past few years, and are grateful it is over so we can enjoy the benefits.