For transit users, motorists, business owners and anybody else who has thoughts about Metro Transit's plans for a rapid bus line that would run along Hennepin Avenue, the time to speak up is now.
The Metropolitan Council, which oversees the transit agency, last week approved a Recommended Corridor Plan for the proposed E Line, which would run between the University of Minnesota, downtown Minneapolis and Southdale in Edina. The plan outlines the route buses will follow and identifies where stops and stations will be placed.
The public can provide feedback online at metrotransit.org/e-line-project or submit comments by email at eline@metrotransit.org or call customer relations at 612-373-3333 by April 8.
"It's definitely not a formality," said Kyle O'Donnell Burrows, a senior planner in Metro Transit's Bus Rapid Transit division.
Suggestions could ultimately shape the final plan for the $60 million project before Metro Transit brings it to the Met Council this spring for final approval, he said.
Metro Transit received 561 survey responses and emails when the agency solicited feedback after it rolled out its first version of the project. That resulted in two platforms being shifted from one side of an intersection to the other, and a third that was moved to a different block, O'Donnell Burrows said.
"We are hoping for a robust response," he said.
The E Line would largely replace Route 6, which before the pandemic provided about 8,000 rides a day. The 13.3-mile line would run primarily along France Avenue, Hennepin Avenue, 4th Street, and University Avenue from Southdale Transit Center in Edina to the Green Line Westgate Station in Minneapolis.
