At a school like St. Paul Academy and Summit School, students come from all across the state, some even from Wisconsin. A large group comes from Minneapolis, making the 25 minute commute every day. For those coming from South Minneapolis, the Ford Parkway bridge is an essential route to school, connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul over the Mississippi. Highway 5 is another route that makes crossing the Mississippi easy for those coming from Minneapolis.

Both of these are potential zones for the completion of the Riverview Corridor, a system aimed to connect all parts of Minneapolis and St. Paul from the St. Paul Union Depot, to the Mall of America, to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. But how would this affect the commute of SPA students?

“The Ford Parkway Bridge is a part of my daily routine and without it my ride to school everyday would not be as enjoyable,” sophomore Muriel Lang said.

Andrew Johnson is a member of the Minneapolis City Council representing the 12th Ward residents. He plays a role in the planning of the corridor.

There are three options for the mode of transportation: light rail, streetcar, or bus system.

“I don’t have [a preferred method’ yet for Riverview Corridor because there is not a clear enough picture of what all the trade offs will be for each option, such as costs, travel times, and projected ridership,” Johnson said.

“That said, I do think a streetcar down 46^th would really help the former Ford Plant site reach its full potential and better connect each side of the river, both of which would be good for my community (sans negative impacts).”

Not only does this project pose a potential change for commuters, but also for the community living right off of 46th street. Although some forms of the corridor would produce minimal change, others could heavily affect traffic flow and safety in the area.

“If it is BRT (bus-rapid-transit), then it would likely have little effect, as adding a dozen buses an hour would be a very minor increase in traffic considering the many hundreds of vehicles an hour already using 46th. However, if a streetcar or light rail becomes the preferred mode, it could potentially have a larger effect; how large is dependent on whether it would reduce traffic to one lane in each direction or if it would operate in mixed-use (where cars would be allowed to drive in the same lane as the tracks),” Johnson said.

Although these issues are present, there will be extensive research that takes place prior to any permanent plans being put into place.

“The project team will perform a study to calculate the expected impact if a streetcar or light rail down 46^th Street becomes a preferred option, but that option might be ruled out, so no study would be needed if that happens,” Johnson said.

Despite the obvious advantages, there are a lot of opponents to the development of the Riverview Corridor.

“[Residents] are concerned that it will be dangerous to have a train (either streetcar or light rail) traveling down 46^th because people could get hit by it. They are concerned about noise from a train, both dinging and vibrations from it passing by,” Johnson said.

He added that “They worry about traffic getting much worse on 46^th Street. They don’t want apartment buildings going up along 46^th Street which would change the neighborhood that they love the way it is.”