When it comes to 21st century transit improvements, the Twin Cities’ eastern suburbs have a right to feel ignored and disrespected. The metro area’s first three light rail lines – one in operation, one under construction and one angling to start preliminary engineering soon – will go no farther east than downtown St. Paul. Our one commuter rail line, the Northstar, is strictly a west metro service. And the only bus rapid transit services being built both run south from Minneapolis. Read more…

The public will get its first peek this week at evolving site plans for south Washington County’s stops along the proposed Red Rock commuter rail line at public open houses on the planning process in Cottage Grove and Newport.

Stations at four sites between Hastings and St. Paul are expected to usher in economic growth along the commuter rail line that is expected to be up and running by 2018. At meetings in Newport on Wednesday and Cottage Grove on Thursday, the public can give input on the partially completed planning process for stations in south Washington County that officials hope will spark transit-oriented economic growth.

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Four stations are planned for the 30-mile Red Rock commuter rail line from Hastings to St. Paul and Minneapolis, and beginning tonight, the public will have a chance to learn more about those plans in a series of four open houses.

The stations are tentatively slated for downtown Hastings, one of two potential sites in Cottage Grove, the former Knox Lumber site in Newport and Lower Afton Road in St. Paul.

“We want to find out what the community thinks about things we’re doing right or things we’re doing wrong,” said Andy Gitzlaff, Red Rock project manager and transportation planner for Washington County. Read more…

Three members-one from St. Paul-have been added to the citizens commission that advises regional rail authorities on the development of the Red Rock Corridor, a proposed commuter rail line that would run from Hasting to Minneapolis.

The new Citizens Advisory Committee members include:

• Jeffrey Holtz, of St. Paul, a teacher at the Higher Ground Academy charter school in St. Paul, who lived at one of the line’s proposed stops, Cottage Grove, for a number of years;
• Clarence “Skip” Soleim, of Denmark Township, a former member of the Hastings City Council and Housing Redevelopment Authority;
• Emily White, of Newport, an employee of the South Washington County School District’s transportation department and a former Newport City Council member.

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When the Red Rock commuter train begins rolling between Hastings and the Twin Cities by the end of the decade, a surge in economic development will be going along for the ride.

At four planned stops — Hastings, Cottage Grove, Newport and in southeastern St. Paul near Battle Creek Park — train stations are expected to spawn a host of retail and residential projects, Washington County Board members were told Tuesday.  Read more…

The Red Rock Corridor Commission recently added three members to its Citizens Advisory Committee, which is participating in transit station planning and development efforts for the proposed commuter rail line between St. Paul and Hastings.

The new members are:

• Jeffrey Holtz (St. Paul), a teacher at a charter school in St. Paul. Holtz previously lived in Cottage Grove for 25 years, witnessing the growing congestion along Highway 61.
• Clarence “Skip” Soleim (Denmark Township), a Hastings resident for 50 years and a member of the Hastings City Council for eight years.
• Emily White (Newport), a resident of Newport for 42 years who previously served as a member of the Newport City Council and the Red Rock Corridor Commission.

Two people with south Washington County ties have joined the Red Rock Corridor Commission Citizens Advisory Committee.

Emily White, a 42-year Newport resident and Jeffrey Holtz, a St. Paul teacher who previously lived in Cottage Grove for 25 years are the committee’s newest members, according to a press release. Read more…

The Red Rock Corridor Commission is about to open its doors to public comment regarding proposed commuter rail stations in Hastings, Cottage Grove, Newport and St. Paul.

Although construction on the line isn’t likely to begin before 2016, and service isn’t projected to begin before 2019, the commission is working to gather public input on proposed station sites and construction plans.

The first round of public hearings begins Aug. 17 at Hastings’ City Hall. The hearing will begin at 7 p.m. Read more…

The Washington County Regional Railroad Authority – which is composed of the Washington County Board of Commissioners – agreed July 20 to submit two grant applications for planning the Red Rock and Rush Line transit corridors, both of which run through portions of Washington County.

The proposed Red Rock Corridor rail route goes from Hastings to Minneapolis, and the Rush Line corridor goes from St. Paul to Hinckley.

Up to $35 million is available for planning grants through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, to be known as the TIGER II Discretionary Grants. Read more…

When Lyle Jacoby joined the Wakota Bridge Coalition, he envisioned driving his restored 1929 Ford Model A over a new river crossing.

That was 20 years ago.

‘We’re almost there,’ Jacoby, 76, of Inver Grove Heights said while standing on the bridge during a Minnesota Department of Transportation tour this month.

The two-span bridge, which carries Interstate 494 traffic over the Mississippi River between South St. Paul and Newport, is scheduled to be done in early July — nearly three years later than originally planned. Its final cost will hit nearly $114 million, almost twice the initial estimate. Read more…

Washington County Commissioner Gary Kriesel was among a delegation that traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Minnesota Transportation Alliance annual Congressional “fly-in” June 8-10.

While in the nation’s Capitol, the group met with members of the Minnesota’ Congressional delegation to thank the members for their support for the construction of the Stillwater bridge project and the Red Rock Corridor and the I-94 corridor transitways over the years – and to encourage their continued support for the projects. Read more…

Ninety or so years ago, the Twin Cities were tucked happily into the golden age of train travel. St. Paul’s stately new Union Depot, finished in 1923, was handling more than 200 trains a day. A similar number were running through the Great Northern and Milwaukee stations in Minneapolis. In addition, remnants of a commuter system were hanging on in each city, with lines still running to suburban stations in St. Paul Park, White Bear Lake, Stillwater and Lake Minnetonka. And a busy streetcar network interlaced both cities, with stops at each of the three big train stations. Read more…

The Red Rock Corridor Commission announced Wednesday the creation of its new Citizens Advisory Committee — a group made up of residents and business owners along the transit route that will represent the community as station areas for a future commuter rail line are planned, according to a press release. Read More…

A Minneapolis-based urban planner extolled the virtues of development that can spring up around transit stations last week to Red Rock Corridor Commission members — and also warned of the challenges cities can face in making that development successful. Read more…

A commuter rail line between downtown St. Paul and Hastings could be up and running by 2018 Washington County transportation planners said last week, the first time officials have affixed such an early date to the project. The assessment is “optimistic,” county planner Andy Gitzlaff conceded, and is dependent on a number of factors, including which high-speed rail route the state chooses and how successful local advocates are in placing the Red Rock commuter rail route next in the construction queue. Read More…

After a decade of studying and planning the Red Rock rail corridor, local leaders are ready to put their plan in motion — and secure the money to pay for it. Organizers met Monday at the state Capitol, hoping to generate legislative support for financing the commuter rail that would connect the southeastern suburbs to St. Paul and Minneapolis. Read More…

Commuter trains could be running on the Red Rock Corridor route through Washington County by 2018, commissioners were told Tuesday. Propelled by a major new marketing push to build public awareness, Red Rock would operate between Hastings and St. Paul, with connections to Minneapolis. Read More…

A bill introduced by Sen. Katie Sieben Tuesday could provide a half-million dollars to set up a park and ride in downtown Hastings. Two other bills introduced by Sieben seek to begin preliminary studies and engineering and upgrade rail lines in preparation for a high-speed train from the Twin Cities to Chicago. Read More…

Despite past differences, two of America’s most influential transportation policy makers are presenting a united front in support of a long-term federal spending program for roads, bridges and mass transit. Read more…

After a few snarls, a park-and-ride site in Newport that could eventually become a stop along a commuter train line linking Hastings and the Twin Cities appears to be back on the fast track. Read More…