Buses rolling at Rosemount Park and Ride

• Photo: Transit station

The Rosemount Park and Ride opened for riders Monday. A ribbon cutting will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Dec. 18.

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It’s been a long time coming, but the city of Rosemount has realized its goal of providing a transit hub in the city. On Monday, riders started getting picked up and dropped off from the newly constructed Rosemount Transit Station on the corner of 145 Street West and Burnley Avenue.

“It’s been very exciting. We’re pleased to have been able to work with the city on this,” said Robin Selvig, MVTA manager of customer relations.

While there are some details to finish up at the station Selvig, said riders shouldn’t be impacted. Riders shifted from being picked up and dropped off in the Rosemount Community Center parking lot.

The transit station includes a small indoor waiting area, a unisex restroom, drinking fountain and mechanical room. There are 102 parking spaces available, five of which are designated for handicap parking.

From Monday forward Routes 476R and 478 will leave from the Rosemount Transit Station. Both routes go to downtown Minneapolis. Additionally Flex Route 420 will begin and end at the station.

Mayor Bill Droste said the park and ride will be a good addition to Rosemount. He said the building looks nice and will provide an amenity to the entire downtown area.

“After being part of the transit district for 25 years, it’s good to bring this to the community,” said Droste.

Formally, he project was slated to be built in 2013 but officials were able to get early funding to move up construction a year. The Federal Congestion Management and Air Quality Grant partially financed the project. The Metropolitan Council provided the local match required as part of the grant. The MVTA paid design fees and for an environmental review. And the city contributed the Redevelopment Investment Grant it received through the Community Development Agency for enhancements of the project.

“Once we got going things came together quickly,” said Selvig.

The city and MVTA officials had hoped to push up construction in 2011 but soil contamination and compliance with National Historic Preservation Laws delayed the project. With those issues resolved, the project got the go ahead this year.

With the transit station now open, Selvig said the hope is that it will help increase ridership. Currently the MVTA provides 60 rides a day to people coming in and out of Rosemount. Going forward Selvig said they hope to get federal funding to add routes to St.Paul.

Improvements to services offered in Rosemount by the MVTA have been steady since 2009. After the city nearly ended its membership, the MVTA started offering routes out of the community center parking lot and has worked to get a park and ride built in the community.

A grand opening for the transit station will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Dec. 18 at 14550 Burnley Ave., across from city hall. Gary Hansen, chair of the MVTA, will emcee the event. Mayor Bill Droste, Dakota County Commissioner Tom Egan, Metropolitan Councilmember Wendy Wulff will give remarks.

Tags: news, rosemount, community