The Purple Line BRT
“Get Outta The Gully!”
JOIN US! TAKE ACTION!
- Come to the rally! Join the Payne-Phalen Community Council, community partners, and neighbors on Saturday morning, May 4th for a day of action. Meet up from 9-12 noon on Arcade Street at Neid and at the East Side YMCA, 875 Arcade Street (rain or shine). Tell others! Help us get the word out!
- Tell our elected officials what you think! It’s easy and we have their info for you, connect here: https://paynephalen.org/ourwork/getouttathegully/
THE PROJECT:
MetroTransit is designing the Purple Line, a 10-mile Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route that travels through Payne-Phalen between Union Depot in Downtown St. Paul and Maplewood Mall. Overall, our communities support the Purple Line coming to Payen-Phalen. We need better transit.
THE PROBLEM:
Unfortunately, MetroTransit is planning to put our new transit station far away from Arcade Street – in the middle of a field, behind a retaining wall, down in a gully! Far away from the neighborhood, far away from the businesses, far away from community centers and community organizations. For over a year, community members have voiced alarm and outrage. PPCC has been told:
- Local residents won’t go down here to wait for the bus because it feels unsafe; it lacks “eyes on the street” and feels vulnerable.
- Anyone other than fit, able-bodied community members will have trouble walking the extra distance, especially in cold, snowy winter conditions and in the rain and heat of summer.
- Folks who are walking with children or elders or carrying groceries will have a tough time navigating the long path from Arcade Street down into the field where MetroTransit wants to put the station.
We need better transit. Our neighborhoods deserve it. But this isn’t it. Not the way MetroTransit is currently planning it.
THE SOLUTION:
PPCC is advocating for the design and location of the Arcade Street station to be integrated back into the fabric of the commercial corridor and already transit-dependent neighborhoods of the community. We are organizing a coalition of community organizations, business groups, and social service providers that will give a stronger voice to need to bring the Purple Line stop back up to the commercial district so that the Arcade Street stop will best serve the residents of Payne-Phalen, strengthen the existing and new businesses along the Arcade Street corridor (US Highway 61) and create opportunities for transit-oriented development – TOD that includes desperately needed affordable housing.
We gotta tell MetroTransit,
“Get Outta The Gully! Bring our station back to Arcade Street!”
HERE’S WHY IT MATTERS…
We need better transit. Our neighborhoods deserve it.
- CONVENIENCE: We need transit. We want transit. We expect transit to meet us where we are, not way far away, somewhere else. Connectivity matters.
- SAFETY: No one wants to go off in a field to stand alone and wait. There’s safety up on the street where we can all see and be seen.
- ACCESSIBILITY: Not everyone has an easy time walking. Arcade Station needs to be in a place where everybody can get there easily, not just young and able-bodied people. Everybody. Every Body!
- CLEAN AIR: We’re sick of pollution. Pollution is making us sick. We’re excited about electric buses, but if Arcade Station is inaccessible or unsafe, it discourages using transit and it encourages people to keep driving (and keep polluting).
- WELL-CONNECTED = GENERATIVE: Arcade Station can generate business improvements and spur new housing too – but only if it’s integrated into the neighborhood fabric.
LOOKING AT THE LONG TERM:
The reality of putting our bus station far afield means that developers will not see Arcade Street as a location for transit-oriented development – particularly development of affordable housing along Arcade Street. And we’ll miss out. If the Purple Line isn’t used by the public because it is too difficult to access, then the environmental benefits of an electric bus fleet will be undermined, tailpipe pollution will continue to rise, and our residents will continue to bear the unjust and inequitable effects of air pollution.
JOIN US:
