Intercoms, window clings part of Metro Transit’s new skyway safety approach
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Metro Transit is considering safety upgrades to portions of the skyway system in downtown St. Paul.
“This is a little bit of a different twist. We want to try some new things,” said Metro Transit spokesperson Drew Kerr.
The Metro Transit building connecting the skyway to the street at the Green Line’s Central Station has been closed since mid-December, when two men were shot to death inside.
The building at Fifth and Cedar streets contains a stairway and elevator up to the skyway.
People who use the skyway in that area told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS it has gotten more dangerous over the past few years.
A man walks through the skyway that connects Metro Transit's Central Station to the Alliance Bank Center at the intersection of Fifth and Cedar streets in downtown St. Paul on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023. (KSTP)
“I’ve been living down here for 23 years, and this is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said Nick Wolf, a chef who walks to work through the skyway. “It’s pretty much open drug sales, open drug use, urination and people with weapons.”
Metro Transit is reviewing safety changes to the portions of the skyway system they own or maintain, which includes the stairway building and some nearby bridges.
Kerr said that includes installing an intercom system so they can communicate with people in the skyway through speakers.
He said the intercom would connect with Metro Transit’s extensive camera system, which already includes more than 1,000 cameras on trains and boarding areas.
Kerr said the cameras feed into a real-time information center with a hub of monitors where staff can watch what is happening at each site.
“Cameras are common across the transit system but the ability to communicate with people back out in real time, maybe less so,” Kerr said. ” So to be able to let people know if they’re there doing things that we don’t think they should be, that we have them in our sights. Knowing that people are watching, even if they’re not there next to you, I think is a good deterrent.”
Metro Transit is also considering changes to the windows in the skyway building and bridges near Central Station.
“What we believe is there are people who use these facilities as sort of lookouts, so to discourage that sort of behavior we are looking at doing some window treatments, meaning clings on the windows so you can see through them but they’re not transparent in the same way they are today,” Kerr said.
They are also considering bringing in extra private security.
Kerr said the building near Central Station will remain closed until the safety changes can be made, possibly sometime this spring.