How Should You Make Up Your Mind about the Riverview Corridor?

[This is an op-ed that appeared in the Community Reporter, the local monthly newspaper for the West 7th area. County Commissioner Ortega's office asked me to share my thoughts on Riverview for his regular column, which is why his picture appears at the top of the column. For the record, I have never met Commissioner Ortega.]

[In this month's edition.]

The reason that plans to invest in transit along West 7th Street keep coming back, again and again, is that the Riverview Corridor has the most transit potential of anywhere in the East Metro. Compared to any other potential connections in Saint Paul, the West 7th area offers better ridership and serves more key places. For anyone looking at improving Saint Paul’s transit system, focusing on West 7th is an obvious first step.

Yet there’s no doubt that the options for the Riverview Corridor are complicated. So far in the planning process, there are a half dozen potential combinations of route and mode. The quesiton remains: Which of the many choices – including the do-nothing “no build” option – would offer the best improvement for the most people?

For me, the critical thing about Riverview is to look at it from the transit perspective, through the eyes of someone riding the bus. That’s what the whole project is about. Before making up your mind, nothing replaces actually riding around on buses and trains to see what it’s really like.

For example, I believe that anyone interested in Riverview should ride the Green Line as much as possible. There’s no other way to see what rail looks and feels like, and how it changes the experience of the street. The same goes with riding on the new A-Line bus down Snelling, or existing 54 bus down West 7th. If you are at all curious about the Riverview debate, take a few hours of your time and ride the 54 to and from downtown, the airport, or the mall. Take it during rush hour, mid-day, or later at night, and see for yourself what the route is like today.

Some key questions: Is it crowded? Does it get mired in airport traffic? Is it comfortable? Would you take it to catch a flight?

(Answers are: Sometimes. Often! Sort of, depending. Probably not.)

Personally, I’ve been riding the Green Line multiple times a week since it opened, and I love it. It’s amazing to sit on the train and watch how people use it. I have seen a tourist family from Iowa get directions from kids from Frogtown. I see parents pushing strollers onto the train, homeless people share space with business people, crowds of Twins fans look dejected after a close loss, college kids moving from dorm to dorm in laundry carts, and always people schlepping their bikes or groceries. Most importantly, just about every day, I watch people in wheelchairs or mobility scooters making their way around the city unassisted. The wider, smoother rail cars have level boarding that provide comfort and dignity for rich and poor alike, allowing people to get around without driving. The Green Line has made a big part of Saint Paul truly walkable for the first time in generations.

My experience riding the Green Line is the big reason why I support rail options for the Riverview corridor. I’m hopeful that, this time around, the planning compromises are a good fit for the unique character of West 7th Street. Unlike the University Avenue-style dedicated light-rail plan, or the historical 1980s plans for bus rapid transit that would have needlessly widened the street, a streetcar can be built so that the sidewalks and public spaces along West 7th are improved and not eroded. In my role on the Technical Advisory Committee for Riverview, I have been pushing to make sure walkability is a high priority, and will continue to do so.

After carefully studying the issue, I believe that Riverview offers a tremendous opportunity to invest in Saint Paul and to boost both pedestrian safety and transit ridership for the next generation. If we invest in high quality transit for Saint Paul, I am confident that within a short time, tens of thousands of people will be using it every day. It will offer unprecedented level of freedom and mobility to people in the West 7th neighborhoods from all walks of life. It will connect the diverse parts of the neighborhood – everyone from the downtown business people to the folks living in the public housing tower – in an important new way.

So whatever your thoughts about Riverview so far, I urge my neighbors to go out and ride some of the existing transit in the city. See for yourself what it’s like to take the bus or the train to the airport or downtown. Think about people who rely on transit every day, and consider what the city might be like in ten years. Then make up your own mind about what’s best for West 7th and for the future of Saint Paul.

[See also: Five Saint Paul Problems that Streetcars Might Solve, Why I Love the Green Line: an Open Letter to my Fort Road Neighbors.]

[Looks like a great place for a streetcar to me.]