Lessons from Ohio for Gateway Corridor

Dozens of community and business leaders were on hand June 24 at Oak Marsh Golf Course for a presentation from a Cleveland transit official during a Gateway Corridor meeting.

Gateway Corridor transit would run from Union Depot in St. Paul to Woodbury next to Interstate 94, mainly on Hudson Road. All‐day transit service would stop at 11 stations and would include connections to Minneapolis and Hudson, Wis.

Light rail and bus rapid transit are under consideration as options; the system could be operational by 2022.

Joe Calabrese, CEO of Cleveland’s Regional Transit Agency, said his city’s transit project has sparked more than $4 billion in new investments.

“Other people leveraged what we did,” he said in a release from the Gateway Corridor.

By 2030, the Gateway Corridor is expected to expand by 90,000 people (nearly a third more residents) and 30,000 jobs.

Cleveland’s HealthLine includes 36 rail‐like bus rapid transit stations that replaced 108 bus stops along seven miles of city streets. Other improvement highlights there are bike lanes, 1,500 trees and public art.

“We learned viable, convenient public transit is what young people want, too,” Calabrese said. “If it happens in Cleveland, it will happen here.”

A strong transit system is important for business, said Peter Frosch, director of strategic partnerships for Greater MSP and a former legislative director for U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum.

“Transit is no longer a competitive advantage,” Frosch said in the release. “It’s expected.”

Oakdale Councilman Paul Reinke, president of Silver Oak Development, Inc., asked Calabrese about infrastructure needs from the transit line to people’s homes or places of business.

Calabrese said sidewalks, bike lanes and bus and rail connections all work together.

While 2022 may seem a ways off, it’s critical to lay the groundwork now, according to Lisa Weik, Washington County commissioner and chair of the Gateway Corridor Commission.

“From a developer’s perspective, that’s just around the corner,” she said.

The Gateway Corridor development forum was hosted by the Gateway Corridor Commission and sponsored by the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce and the Woodbury Chamber of Commerce.

Find more information on the Gateway Corridor website.

Gateway Corridor Community Advisory Committee

The Gateway Corridor Commission is seeking community members for an advisory committee.

The group will advise the Gateway Corridor Commission throughout preparation of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, a step in the federal process to study potential transit service.

The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) will be asked to advise the Gateway Corridor Commission on:

• how to best inform the public about the process, meaning, and conclusions of the Draft EIS;
• identifying potential issues in the Corridor that will need to be addressed in the Draft EIS;
• providing information related to potential social, economic, or community issues as a result of the transitway; and
• providing input to the Commission on key project decisions.

Applications from the following groups are encouraged:

• Residents (homeowners, renters)
• Businesses operating on the corridor (a range of size and business type)
• Major employers
• Institutions and schools
• Travelers in the Gateway Corridor (existing transit users, bicyclists, pedestrians, and drivers)
• Environmental interests

Applications are online and due by July 19.