Two St. Paul City Council members say they’re leaning in favor of having the Gold Line — a proposed rapid-transit bus through Maplewood, Oakdale and Woodbury — make a 2-mile loop through downtown St. Paul.
Advocates of the downtown loop have said the Gold Line could add as many as 1,000 additional riders by traveling into and around downtown, as opposed to terminating at Ramsey County’s Union Depot transit hub on Kellogg Boulevard.
“One should not have to wait for a (bus or light rail) connection at the Union Depot,” said Council Member Jane Prince, at the tail end of a city budget discussion on Wednesday morning. “It really makes sense to have a downtown loop for the Gold Line. It makes a difference.”
Prince represents a large part of the city’s East Side. In an interview, Council Member Rebecca Noecker — who represents downtown St. Paul and the West Side — said she does not serve on the Gold Line planning committee and is requesting a briefing on the details.
At first blush, however, “I see a lot of value in the idea of a loop as opposed to terminating at the Union Depot,” Noecker said. “It’s not the center of downtown.”
Ramsey County Commissioners Jim McDonough, who represents the East Side, and Rafael Ortega, who represents downtown St. Paul, have both opposed the downtown loop, calling it duplicative of existing bus routes and noting it would add $10 million to the estimated $420 million in start-up costs.
They also question the impact on travel times and downtown traffic congestion.
The county spent $243 million remodeling the semi-shuttered Union Depot, which fully reopened in 2012. Foot traffic has been light overall. In addition to a restaurant and coffee shop, the transit hub hosts one round-trip Amtrak train to and from Chicago daily, as well as local and regional bus services, and the Green Line light rail stops outside on 4th Street.
The Gold Line committee will discuss the loop on Thursday.