An old rail route that once served the Ford Motor Co.’s Twin Cities Assembly Plant in Highland Park could be reused as a bicycle and pedestrian path, or even host public transit.

The St. Paul Department of Planning and Economic Development will begin a feasibility study this month to determine a potential future for the five-mile rail spur. It connects to more than 120 acres of vacant Ford land that will be redeveloped, eventually, into a riverfront neighborhood.

The study, called “Reimagine the Railway: Studying New Uses for the Ford Spur,” will begin this month with land surveying. Community open houses and public outreach will take place through March 2018.

The land is owned by Canadian Pacific Railway and begins at the Ford site, turns south, then east, running generally parallel to West Seventh Street. It ends about one mile from downtown St. Paul near the east end of St. Clair Avenue. Related Articles St. Paul council approves mayor’s basic-income project for poor families

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To conduct the $200,000 study, the city has chosen Alta Planning + Design as the consulting firm, with partners from Kimley-Horn and Sambatek. The study is funded through a $100,000 Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, as well as contributions from the Ford Motor Company, East Metro Strong and the city.

More information, including email updates, are available from stpaul.gov/FordSpurStudy.