A modern streetcar that operates in and alongside regular traffic may someday run down St. Paul’s West Seventh Street, connecting downtown St. Paul to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the Mall of America in Bloomington.

How the $1.2 billion project might hook up to the Ford site in Highland Park, however, remains to be seen.

After a formal study of a series of routes and transit options, an advisory committee on Wednesday recommended a streetcar as the preferred link, with connections to Metro Transit’s two light rail routes — the Green Line in St. Paul and Blue Line in Minneapolis.

“The study tells us that modern streetcar will serve the most riders and contribute the most to people living in neighborhoods along the line,” said Rafael Ortega, chairman of the Riverview Corridor Policy Advisory Committee, in a written statement.

Based on the findings of public sector consultants AECOM, the committee found that a streetcar would benefit employment, tourism and neighborhoods. It does not require a “dedicated” or exclusive traffic lane and will move more people than a bus through existing traffic. Related Articles September 20, 2020 Family, work and opera filled Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s final summer

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In June, the committee narrowed its options from 18 routes and modes down to six, and then voted in July to continue to study those.

The streetcar link is seen as the missing third leg of a transit triangle between the airport and downtown Minneapolis (the Blue Line), downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul (the Green Line), and now downtown St. Paul and the airport.

“This alternative will support job creation and workers throughout the city,” said Securian executive John Regal, the business representative on the advisory committee. “Riverview Corridor is a critical transit connection between downtown St. Paul, the airport and the neighborhoods in between.”

The St. Paul City Council recently approved rezoning 135 acres of vacant river bluff land in Highland Park to someday accommodate 2,400 to 4,000 new housing units.

The land, which was once home to the Ford Motor Co. Twin Cities Assembly plant, remains owned by Ford, which plans to market and then sell the property to a master developer in the next few years. The advisory committee has asked for a new study to begin in 2018, coinciding with the planning for the Riverview Corridor.

The prospect of routing a streetcar down West Seventh Street has fueled a vocal campaign against the idea, mostly composed of small-to-medium sized business owners. A handful of small business owners support the streetcar option.

St. Vincent is against fixed track, light rail or streetcar pic.twitter.com/MgLFF8EXXM — FredMelo, Reporter (@FrederickMelo) July 11, 2017

Julene Maruska, manager of St. Vincent, wants more and cheaper buses, not track. "I'd rather lose parking to a bike lane than a streetcar." pic.twitter.com/AmYxnFqqR8 — FredMelo, Reporter (@FrederickMelo) July 11, 2017

The decision to recommend a modern streetcar along West Seventh Street was not unanimous.

Daniel Kueny, a member of the Riverview Corridor’s technical advisory committee and corridor resident, submitted a 33-page “minority report” objecting to the findings of study consultants.

Noting a limited-stop bus system could be built more quickly and for less money, his report called the streetcar option “an expensive, unnecessary, and divisive project that has the very real potential to decimate a corridor of small locally owned businesses, pedestrians, and bicyclists.”

For $75 million in capital costs, “arterial Bus Rapid Transit (ABRT), similar to St. Paul’s existing A Line, would be the best option for this narrow, built-up corridor,” Kueny said.

The advisory committee will hold a public hearing on its recommendations from 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 9 at Highland Park Senior High School.

The committee will make its final selection on Dec. 14, which will be presented for approval to the Metropolitan Airports Commission, city councils in St. Paul and Bloomington, and the Hennepin and Ramsey County boards of commissioners.

The Metropolitan Council would be expected to incorporate the project into its long-term plans. More information is online at riverviewcorridor.com.