Council hears METRO Blue Line extension update; staff flag property impacts, 2030 opening target

City staff updated the Brooklyn Park City Council on March 11 about the METRO Blue Line Light Rail Transit (BLRT) Extension, saying a Plymouth Avenue route with stations at Lyndale and James in Minneapolis has been selected and municipal consent will be required before the project advances.

Community Development Director Kim Berggren told the council the project has entered the design phase and that construction could begin as early as 2026, with an anticipated opening around 2030. "We have final design in 2024/2025 with construction in 2026 or 2027," Berggren said. She cautioned environmental review and other steps could change the schedule.

Why it matters: city officials said the extension could bring transit‑oriented development and tax‑base growth, but also poses near‑term impacts to residents and property. Berggren said several fences and private property boundaries are expected to be affected; earlier corridor designs had larger property impacts that were reduced, but some private fencing replacements and negotiated acquisitions remain. "There were a series of steps and they were in the environmental phase," she said, adding the project office and county will negotiate with affected homeowners on specific acquisitions and impacts.

Council members pressed staff on multiple fronts: whether east‑west bus connections would be reconfigured to feed LRT stations, how ridership was projected, and how public safety responsibilities would be shared with Metro Transit. Berggren said Metro Transit and the project office plan to revisit bus network adjustments about a year before service begins and that Metro Transit typically operates its own transit policing in coordination with local law enforcement. On ridership she told the council that modeling approaches can underpredict observed ridership and that staff would share additional modeling details with the council.

Parking, development and operations facility: staff described a proposed Oak Grove station area with a large park‑and‑ride ramp and adjacent infill sites. Berggren said planned housing would likely include secured resident parking and that Metro Transit intends to provide free park‑and‑ride for transit users, with tools to discourage long‑term non‑transit parking. She also said the operations and maintenance facility involves land acquisition and swaps with Target and other owners as Metro Transit assembles the required parcels.

Anti‑displacement and community engagement: council members urged continued focus on anti‑displacement measures. Mayor Hollies Winston said the rail extension is an opportunity to help close a long‑standing commercial tax base gap for the city but emphasized the need for protections so longtime residents benefit. "We need to make sure displacement is minimal and people in the city benefit from it," Winston said.

What happens next: staff said municipal consent for the project will be pursued in coming months and design work will continue. The council and staff plan additional briefings, an anticipated bus tour of corridor sites in late April or early May, and follow‑up work on parking, public safety coordination and anti‑displacement strategies.