Agenda - Council Work Session - 05/13/2025

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CC Work Session Meeting Date: 05/13/2025 Primary Strategic Plan Initiative: Not Applicable Information Title: Northstar Commuter Rail Transition 2. 1. Purpose/Background: In recent years, the Minnesota Legislature has authorized funds to study and consider changes to the Northstar Commuter Rail operations. Through the 2025 session, it has become evident that the Northstar Commuter Rail will likely be discontinued as efforts have changed focus on its operations to a transition plan. Staff have been invited to partake in transition discussions with MetroTransit. The questions asked to cities with a Northstar Rail stop in their community have been focused on two parts. One is what does a replacement bus service look like for your community? Two, what does the future of existing infrastructure for the rail stop look like? At our February 25, 2025 Work Session, staff first shared current legislation to discontinue the commuter rail. The early consensus of the city council was that Ramsey would not take a position on whether the commuter rail stays or not, but instead focus on advocating that an acceptable level of public transportation remains. Other concerns staff have raised when considering this further is that the existing rail stop serves two purposes. The main purpose is to be a rail stop for commuters to use the rail service. The second is a pedestrian overpass. When the rail stop was first constructed, a skyway was added for users to access the rail stop from the city owned parking ramp. This was a forethought to what would eventually become a complete Mississippi Skyway Pedestrain Bridge spanning from our parking ramp across US Hwy 10/169 with a touchdown point on the south side by Riverdale Drive. This skyway would provide a crucial pedestrian only safe connection between the Anoka County Central Regional Trail and the Mississippi River Regional Trail. The proposed bus replacement route would be a route with stops in Ramsey, Anoka and Coon Rapids. Service would run every 30 minutes during rush hours (6 - 8:30 a.m. and 4 - 6:30 p.m.) with routes every 60 minutes midday. Other rail stop locations would be served by a different bus route. With a change to bus, commuters boarding in Ramsey would see a 15-20 minute increase compared to rail to reach the same destination downtown Minneapolis. However, the cost to ride is projected to be slightly less than the current rail trip rate. For reference, the parking ramp was constructed with the public transportation park and ride option in mind. The city did receive outside funding to aid in the upfront construction cost of the ramp, however, the cost to the city for improvements directly related to the rail stop was approximately $4.1 million. The ramp has a total of 793 parking stalls with 350 for transit users, 143 for City Hall, 275 for The Residence Apartment and 25 unallocated. The city does not receive compensation for annual maintenance and operation costs of the ramp from MetroTransit, but we do receive payment from the apartment. Attached to the case a short presentation provided by MetroTransit. Craig Lamothe, Northstar Transition Director, will join the meeting online for questions and to hear the council's feedback. Links to past studies: 2023 Northstar Rail Corridor Post -Pandemic Study 2024 Northstar Extension Assessment Study 2025 Twin Cities -St. Cloud-Fargo/Moorhead Corridor Study Time Frame/Observations/Alternatives: