Ramsey County is in the process of gathering information about three potential options for the proposed Riverview Corridor Project.

The project would run from Union Depot, in downtown St. Paul, along West Seventh Street to the Mall of America with a stop at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in between.

Two options are modern streetcars with a price tag each over $2 billion and the third option is bus rapid transit at an estimated cost of $121 million.

Several years ago, the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners approved a non-binding resolution that preferred one of the streetcar options.

Citizen Advocates for Regional Transit, or CART, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS it prefers the bus rapid transit option because it will better connect east metro suburbs through St. Paul and out to Mall of America, with the only stop being at MSP.

CART member Jim Schoettler said his organization supports mass transit but believes the bus rapid transit option suits West Seventh Street best.

“This is one of the most important regional transit connections in the Cities,” said Schoettler. “Streetcars are not the appropriate vehicles because they occupy too much space along the street.”

Mathews Hollinshead, a fellow CART member, told KSTP that bus rapid transit would allow for a connection between the east metro suburbs, St. Paul, the airport and Mall of America in a more efficient and less costly manner.

“So, to me, it’s a no-brainer. It would be easy technologically just to run the Gold Line, or the Purple Line, down Riverview and that’s your transit,” said Hollinshead.

The Riverview Corridor Project is expected to break ground in 2029 and be completed by 2033.