Home Care In St Paul, MN

This weekend saw the metro taking part in a variety of St. Patrick’s Day festivities and holding an early celebration for World Down Syndrome Day.

Across the Metro

The streets of St. Paul ran green on Saturday as the city hosted its St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Hundreds of people enjoyed the floats and marchers who started near Fifth and Market and made their way to Mears Park.

Many people were seen on West Seventh Street in St. Paul on Sunday celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Pub owners say there was a solid turnout between the parade and other events taking place.

A day of Irish dancing took place at St. Paul’s Landmark Center on Sunday. The all-day event featured dancing, traditional Irish instruments and creating Irish arts and crafts.

Ahead of World Down Syndrome Day this Thursday, the Down Syndrome Association of Minnesota hosted a public celebration in Bloomington throughout the weekend. At the Sheraton Hotel, people of all ages, and all abilities, were welcomed out to enjoy dancing, decorating, food and fun.

In the Studio

March is Women’s History Month, and the Minnesota Historical Society highlights women’s achievements over the years in several ways. Annie Johnson, the museum manager at the Minnesota History Center, sat down with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS anchor Brett Hoffland to discuss the different events taking place.

“Omnifest,” the museum’s annual movie festival at the Omnitheater, is back at the Science Museum of Minnesota through April 7. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS anchor Brett Hoffland sat down with Allison Leveritt, the Omnitheater and immersive media manager, to learn more about the event.

The Southern Anoka Community Assistance’s (SACA Food Shelf) 12th annual Hops for Hunger craft beer fundraiser is happening on Friday, March 22. Dave Rudolph, co-director of SACA Food Shelf, sat down with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Anchor Brett Hoffland to discuss the purpose of the event. Tickets are $55 in advance and $65 at the door.

The Heart of the Beast‘s newest show, “Phantom Loss,” starts performances on March 29. The tabletop puppet show was created by local artist Oanh Vu, who sat down with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS anchor Brett Hoffland on Sunday morning. The show runs from March 29 – April 7.

Recently, the Minneapolis City Council voted to override Mayor Frey’s veto and require the apps to increase driver wages, causing Uber and Lyft to release statements saying they’d revoke their services in the area.

by Joey Erickson

March 15, 2024

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

For many, especially younger Minnesotans, it’s hard to remember the days of flitting around the metro without ridesharing companies Uber and Lyft, which have offered app-based pickups and rides in the Twin Cities for around a decade. But now, it could become a reality: Uber and Lyft are both threatening to pull their services from Minneapolis (and, potentially, the metro), effective May 1, after the Minneapolis City Council overturned Mayor Frey’s veto on an ordinance that would pay drivers a minimum of $1.40 per mile and 51 cents per minute, along with other driver protections.

The issue has been slowly simmering ever since the spring of 2023, when a similar bill went to the state level asking for minimum wage and protections for rideshare drivers. It was vetoed by Governor Tim Walz, who argued it was “not the right bill to achieve these goals.”

Uber and Lyft are the only two licensed ridesharing apps in the state of Minnesota. If the companies follow up on their word and cease all operations in Minneapolis, and potentially surrounding areas, the lives of many Minnesotans could be affected. Where does the city stand on this issue, and what does the future look like?

What’s the current payment plan for Uber and Lyft drivers?

For Uber and Lyft, wages can be broken down into three categories: fares, promotions, and tips. Base earnings are determined by how long and how far a driver has to travel for a scheduled ride. The farther the destination, the higher the price tag. Occasionally, promotions will pop up for a driver, allowing them to make more earnings than usual. This usually happens during busy hours when more people need rides (users may recognize this as surge pricing), or in areas offering a promotion to customers. And drivers take home 100 percent of tips, which riders can add right through the app after a trip, with no cut for Uber or Lyft themselves.

According to a yearlong study into driver pay and protections released last week by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Uber and Lyft drivers in Minneapolis earned an average of $29.64 hourly in 2022. However, after expenses, such as maintenance, repairs, and gas, which drivers must pay themselves, net hourly earnings dropped to $13.63, nearly two dollars below the Minneapolis minimum hourly wage of $15.57.

What’s the new proposed plan?

Under the new ordinance, drivers would receive a minimum pay of $1.40 per mile, plus 51 cents per minute driving. Drivers would also be guaranteed 80 percent of fees from canceled rides. This would make Minneapolis drivers some of the highest paid drivers in the U.S.

Mayor Frey vetoed this plan, instead offering a counterproposal, setting the minimum wage for drivers at $1.20 per mile, plus 35 cents a minute.

How would this ordinance impact drivers and riders if it passed?

According to Uber and Lyft officials, raising the wage of drivers so suddenly and so highly would have nothing but negative effects on riders. In a letter addressed to the city council and mayor, Lyft stated that the proposed per-mile, per-minute rate would result in the drivers receiving around $50 an hour, rather than the $15.57 hourly minimum wage they’re shooting for.

As a result, fees for riders would skyrocket, according to the company, and ridesharing would become a luxury for those who could afford it. This move would also harm low-income earners, as well as those living with disabilities without an affordable means of transportation, it says.

In turn, this increase in ride fees due to inflated wages could actually lead to a decrease in ride demand overall, resulting in decreased earnings from drivers in the area.

In response to the City Council voting to pass the city ordinance, Uber greeted Star Tribune readers one morning with an ad banner on the top of the screen, reading: “Tell the Minneapolis City Council: Stand with working families. Protect ridesharing in the Twin Cities.”

“This purportedly pro-driver ordinance is actually anti-working family,” Lyft chief operating officer Jeremy Bird wrote in a letter to the city council.

How have other states and metro areas tackled this problem?

It’s not just Minneapolis that’s gotten into conflicts and disagreements with rideshare services in the last decade.

In 2016, both Uber and Lyft removed their services from Austin, Texas, after a state law was passed requiring fingerprint-based background checks on drivers. A year later, however, the companies both returned to the city. Several Minneapolis council members have cited this event in their arguments against the ridesharing companies, claiming that Uber and Lyft are once again just bluffing. However, Uber and Lyft only resumed services in Austin after the state Legislature passed a new law that rendered the old one requiring fingerprints ineffective.

Except for in Portland, Uber and Lyft are banned in the entire state of Oregon, due to a state law claiming personal vehicles cannot be used as taxis. The law has been questioned several times, and legislation to legalize ridesharing has been brought to court repeatedly, but no word has been made on whether the ban will be lifted anytime soon.

Other cities have reached wage agreements, too: In January 2021, Seattle passed an ordinance ensuring that Uber and Lyft drivers are paid for all of their working time and compensated for all work-related expenses. Drivers are paid $1.33 per mile plus 57 cents per minute. For all trips, including if the customer or driver cancels, the driver must be paid a $5 minimum. And in November of 2023, New York passed a statewide agreement providing Uber drivers with minimum earnings of at least $26 per hour during working time while picking up or dropping off a rider. In New York City, drivers will now receive one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours spent driving, at a rate of $17 an hour. In the rest of the state, drivers will also be granted one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours spent driving, except at the rate of $26 an hour.

What’s the latest, and where do we go from here?

On March 7, the Minneapolis City Council approved a plan in a 9-4 vote that pays drivers $1.40 per mile and 51 cents per minute. Mayor Frey vetoed the plan the next day, as he promised to do, and set a special meeting with the City Council for Thursday, March 14, to vote on whether to uphold or override the veto.

On March 14, the City Council voted to override Frey’s veto, with a vote of 10-3. The ordinance will move ahead, effective May 1. This also means that Uber and Lyft may follow through with their word to cease operations in the city of Minneapolis (Uber has also said it will cease services in the entire Twin Cities area), if the wages stated in the ordinance stay as is.

May 1 is still a month and a half away, so there’s time for adjustments to be made if needed. It’s possible that the state could pre-empt the ordinance by collaborating with Uber and Lyft and coming to a mutual statewide agreement on fair wages, but this would require the state Legislature, as well as Governor Tim Walz, to act and respond before May 1.

According to Mayor Frey, the companies should’ve been consulted while the ordinance was being initially crafted.

“I don’t care about their bottom line,” Frey said of the rideshare companies, in a statement to MPR. “I do care about having this service in the city, I do care about getting drivers paid more money, and I do care that the service itself is actually affordable for the people who need it.”

If Uber and Lyft do decide to pull out their services on May 1, the date would also act as the first day that any other rideshare companies could be licensed in Minneapolis. However, none have begun the process of filing for a license as of yet.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — If you're looking for something to do to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this weekend in the Twin Cities, you're in luck!

The Twin Cities will be hosting not one but two parades on Saturday.

In St. Paul, the parade begins at 11 a.m. in downtown at Rice Park. The Landmark Center nearby will also have all-day Irish entertainment, crafts and local vendors.

Then in Minneapolis from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., get ready for floats, marching bands and lots of green attire for a second parade.

Punch Bowl Social in St. Louis Park is also gearing up for a "St. Paddy's Day Palooza" complete with a treasure hunt, shots, green beer and signature punch bowls.

If you're hoping to have a green beer or two, Metro Transit has got you covered with free rides on Saturday. Starting at 6 p.m. until the end of service early Sunday, all bus and light rail rides will be free. Plus there will be extended service in the downtown area.

MORE: Small Minnesota town honors the legend of St. Urho with unique yearly celebration

Stephen Swanson

Stephen Swanson is a web producer at WCCO. A 20-year station veteran, Stephen was a floor director for a decade before moving to the newsroom, where he focuses on general assignment reporting.

The glory of a great breakfast sandwich lies in its egg (crispy on the edges, with just enough yolk to soak deep into the bread); its bread (biscuits that hold; arepas that fry golden); and an all-important swipe of something lush and tangy, maybe an aioli or an herby chimichurri. After that, it's dealer's choice. Minneapolis and St. Paul are overflowing with excellent breakfast sandwiches — here are 14 of them, listed in geographical order.

Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

Chef Wendy Puckett, famous for her soul rolls, serves a breakfasty version at her new North Market location in the Camden neighborhood. The “9 a.m.” soul roll is stuffed with fluffy eggs and turkey sausage — it’s finished off with oozy cheese and a swipe of Wendy’s proprietary Hot Mess sauce, which adds a little kick.

Roving pop-up Dahlia (helmed by Travail alums Alex Althoff, Nat Moser, and Sarah Julson) typically serves a breakfast sandwich on its weekend brunch menu. Altoff’s handmade English muffin cradles a breakfast sausage patty and creamy “quiche eggs”; roasted garlic jalapeno aioli brings the sandwich to one savory high note. Sub in seared tomato for the sausage to make it vegetarian. Keep an eye on Instagram for the latest info on Dahlia’s dates and locations.

Chef Sammy McDowell’s sunny Broadway Avenue restaurant serves a mean breakfast sandwich — five of them, actually. Light-as-a-cloud eggs and American cheese accompany a choice of meat (turkey, bacon, pastrami, or chicken). Even better, bread is customizable here: Choose garlic toast, wheat hoagies, wraps, or gluten-free bread. On weekdays, find Sammy’s breakfast sandwiches over at Golden Thyme Cafe in St. Paul.

True, Saturday Dumpling Co’s scallion pancake breakfast burrito is, indeed, a burrito. But with its flaky outer shell and mesmerizing layers of egg, cheese, and bacon, swirled together with tater tots and chef Mike Yuen’s “Chinese giardiniera,” it qualifies as an honorary breakfast sandwich. SDC’s Peter Bian and Linda Cao offer pre-orders for Saturday pick-up at Dot’s Gray Kitchen.

Marty’s serves its breakfast sammies on owner Martha Polacek’s airy, salt-flecked focaccia. Layered with almost geometrical precision, they pair a neat egg patty with a choice of Peterson bacon, a sausage patty, or braised greens — add hashbrowns too, if you like. The real clincher is the combination of garlic aioli and sharp American cheese, which meld into one gooey, creamy bite. Get there before noon to grab one.

Adam Bresina whisks his eggs together with butter and cream, then steams them, creating an ethereal, soufflé-like patty. Go for the Breakfast in Bombay, loaded with chorizo and crunch chili oil; the vegetarian spinach-and-tomato Tuscany sandwich; or build your own. Egg on a Roll is located just inside 5th Avenue Market in the North Loop.

Chef Sarah Botcher serves her breakfast sandwich on two thick slices of her buttery croissant loaf, which is exactly what it sounds like: croissant dough baked into bread form. Cradling ham and custardy eggs, this sandwich is finished with gruyère and a smear of tangy herb chèvre, then grilled in a panini press. Leave the ham out to make it vegetarian.

Clancey’s, beloved for its garlicky roast beef sandwiches, serves an equally killer breakfast sandwich. Choose a meat — ham, bacon, or sausage — to accompany the velvety egg patty, layered with oozy cheese and Anaheim peppers, all served on a soft milk bun. Grab one and a coffee to go at Kristin Tombers’ Grand Avenue staple.

Chef Solveig Tofte’s biscuits are soft and buttery, holding their shape as they soak up runny egg yolk. There are many breakfast sandwich options at this south Nicollet breakfast spot — classic egg-meat-and-cheese; Southern-fried; a BLT — the “Royale” even offers a Swiss-and-mushroom-stuffed crepe on a biscuit.

Cafe Racer’s breakfast sandwich is served on two palm-sized arepas, golden-fried and crispy on the outside and sweet and pillowy on the inside. Get it simply with eggs, cheese, and bright salsa criolla — or upgrade with kielbasa or roasted veggies. Luis and Christine Patiño’s Seward cafe serves other breakfast staples, too, like criolla omelets and arepas with jam.

Chef Jamie Yoo’s deliciously messy Seoul Sunrise breakfast sandwich is layered with a fried egg, breakfast sausage, American cheese, lettuce, kimchi slaw, and pomegranate-glazed bacon that Yoo cures in house — then it’s slathered in an herby chermoula aioli and crunchy chili oil. Abang Yoli offers a few simpler breakfast sandwiches, too, for on-the-go breakfasts.

Chef Justin Sutherland’s egg sandwich shop, Big E, caused a bit of a stir when it debuted with a menu of $14 to $17 sandwiches. But these sammies are a full meal, really, more than a breakfast bite — they house whole burger patties (the “Rocket Man”) and hunks of steak (the “It Was All a Dream,” smeared with Welch’s grape jelly). For a classic breakfast experience, get the “Dance Yrself Clean,” a bacon-egg-and-cheese sandwich punched up with Cry Baby Craig’s aioli.

Wrestaurant’s breakfast sandwich is chef Jeff Rogers’ brunchy nod to New York’s iconic chopped cheese. Loaded with scrambled eggs, sausage, American cheese, and a silky combo of cream cheese and mayo, it’s a morning power move, served with fries.

Chef Wendy Puckett, famous for her soul rolls, serves a breakfasty version at her new North Market location in the Camden neighborhood. The “9 a.m.” soul roll is stuffed with fluffy eggs and turkey sausage — it’s finished off with oozy cheese and a swipe of Wendy’s proprietary Hot Mess sauce, which adds a little kick.

Roving pop-up Dahlia (helmed by Travail alums Alex Althoff, Nat Moser, and Sarah Julson) typically serves a breakfast sandwich on its weekend brunch menu. Altoff’s handmade English muffin cradles a breakfast sausage patty and creamy “quiche eggs”; roasted garlic jalapeno aioli brings the sandwich to one savory high note. Sub in seared tomato for the sausage to make it vegetarian. Keep an eye on Instagram for the latest info on Dahlia’s dates and locations.

Chef Sammy McDowell’s sunny Broadway Avenue restaurant serves a mean breakfast sandwich — five of them, actually. Light-as-a-cloud eggs and American cheese accompany a choice of meat (turkey, bacon, pastrami, or chicken). Even better, bread is customizable here: Choose garlic toast, wheat hoagies, wraps, or gluten-free bread. On weekdays, find Sammy’s breakfast sandwiches over at Golden Thyme Cafe in St. Paul.

True, Saturday Dumpling Co’s scallion pancake breakfast burrito is, indeed, a burrito. But with its flaky outer shell and mesmerizing layers of egg, cheese, and bacon, swirled together with tater tots and chef Mike Yuen’s “Chinese giardiniera,” it qualifies as an honorary breakfast sandwich. SDC’s Peter Bian and Linda Cao offer pre-orders for Saturday pick-up at Dot’s Gray Kitchen.

Marty’s serves its breakfast sammies on owner Martha Polacek’s airy, salt-flecked focaccia. Layered with almost geometrical precision, they pair a neat egg patty with a choice of Peterson bacon, a sausage patty, or braised greens — add hashbrowns too, if you like. The real clincher is the combination of garlic aioli and sharp American cheese, which meld into one gooey, creamy bite. Get there before noon to grab one.

Adam Bresina whisks his eggs together with butter and cream, then steams them, creating an ethereal, soufflé-like patty. Go for the Breakfast in Bombay, loaded with chorizo and crunch chili oil; the vegetarian spinach-and-tomato Tuscany sandwich; or build your own. Egg on a Roll is located just inside 5th Avenue Market in the North Loop.

Chef Sarah Botcher serves her breakfast sandwich on two thick slices of her buttery croissant loaf, which is exactly what it sounds like: croissant dough baked into bread form. Cradling ham and custardy eggs, this sandwich is finished with gruyère and a smear of tangy herb chèvre, then grilled in a panini press. Leave the ham out to make it vegetarian.

Clancey’s, beloved for its garlicky roast beef sandwiches, serves an equally killer breakfast sandwich. Choose a meat — ham, bacon, or sausage — to accompany the velvety egg patty, layered with oozy cheese and Anaheim peppers, all served on a soft milk bun. Grab one and a coffee to go at Kristin Tombers’ Grand Avenue staple.

Chef Solveig Tofte’s biscuits are soft and buttery, holding their shape as they soak up runny egg yolk. There are many breakfast sandwich options at this south Nicollet breakfast spot — classic egg-meat-and-cheese; Southern-fried; a BLT — the “Royale” even offers a Swiss-and-mushroom-stuffed crepe on a biscuit.

Cafe Racer’s breakfast sandwich is served on two palm-sized arepas, golden-fried and crispy on the outside and sweet and pillowy on the inside. Get it simply with eggs, cheese, and bright salsa criolla — or upgrade with kielbasa or roasted veggies. Luis and Christine Patiño’s Seward cafe serves other breakfast staples, too, like criolla omelets and arepas with jam.

Chef Jamie Yoo’s deliciously messy Seoul Sunrise breakfast sandwich is layered with a fried egg, breakfast sausage, American cheese, lettuce, kimchi slaw, and pomegranate-glazed bacon that Yoo cures in house — then it’s slathered in an herby chermoula aioli and crunchy chili oil. Abang Yoli offers a few simpler breakfast sandwiches, too, for on-the-go breakfasts.

Chef Justin Sutherland’s egg sandwich shop, Big E, caused a bit of a stir when it debuted with a menu of $14 to $17 sandwiches. But these sammies are a full meal, really, more than a breakfast bite — they house whole burger patties (the “Rocket Man”) and hunks of steak (the “It Was All a Dream,” smeared with Welch’s grape jelly). For a classic breakfast experience, get the “Dance Yrself Clean,” a bacon-egg-and-cheese sandwich punched up with Cry Baby Craig’s aioli.

Wrestaurant’s breakfast sandwich is chef Jeff Rogers’ brunchy nod to New York’s iconic chopped cheese. Loaded with scrambled eggs, sausage, American cheese, and a silky combo of cream cheese and mayo, it’s a morning power move, served with fries.

A Ramsey County proposal to build a streetcar on West 7th Street in St. Paul is inching toward a milestone.

In the works since 1989, local officials convened by Ramsey County will decide later this year how to move forward with the project, dubbed the Riverview Corridor.

Some West 7th corridor users are balking at the concept, which would cost $2 billion to build. It would be in service by 2033 with a projected weekday ridership of 11,000 by 2040. It would also be at least two minutes slower than the bus route it would replace, the Route 54, which runs between Maplewood and the Mall of America via West 7th Street. As a result, planners are studying a $121 million option to convert the 54 into a rapid electric bus line instead and on Thursday will present details on the plan.

West 7th, also known as Fort Road, has been an important transportation, commerce, and cultural corridor even before Minnesota became a state. Public transit, however, came later, in the form of a horse car in the 1880s. The route was converted into a streetcar that connected St. Paul’s East Side with Fort Snelling in 1890. It was replaced by several bus routes beginning in 1952.

Ramsey County first identified West 7th as a light rail corridor in a 1989 planning process. They studied running light rail on West 7th in the late 1990s. However, they recommended upgrading the West 7th bus line instead, with rail to come later, because of the lack of available funds and political will at the time, according to reporting from the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

The bus line proposal involved the 2004 realigning of Route 54, which was created in 1992 to connect downtown St. Paul, the airport and the Mall of America. As of 2022, Route 54 is the third-busiest St. Paul transit route by ridership, with just under 4,000 weekday boardings.

In 2012, Metro Transit recommended that the 54 be converted into the region’s second arterial bus rapid transit route in the region and received $30 million in state and federal funds to do so. However, Ramsey County and the city of St. Paul asked Metro Transit to halt the project, as they wanted to study a streetcar line for West 7th. The agency obliged and returned some of the funds, reinvesting the rest to extend the 54 to St. Paul’s East Side and Maplewood Mall in 2018.

The current streetcar proposal, which Ramsey County decided on in 2018, would run between the Mall of America and St. Paul’s Union Depot. From Union Depot, the streetcar would use Kellogg and West 7th before crossing the river on a new double-deck bridge and follow Highway 62 to the Fort Snelling Blue Line station. From there, the streetcar would share tracks with the Blue Line to the Mall of America, serving both airport terminals along the way.

Some West 7th merchants and residents, such as Soliman Soliman, believe the streetcar can benefit their community. “It can bring some type of exposure to not just our business, but also neighboring businesses,” said Soliman, a West 7th resident who runs Nubian Lab, a barber shop nestled in Sibley Plaza, the strip mall located at the western edge of West 7th Street.

Closer to and within downtown St. Paul, the streetcar would share lanes with private vehicle traffic, starting at either Grand Avenue or Victoria Street.

The county developed the Victoria alternative to preserve as much parking as possible, in response to business concerns about losing parking. A 2019 study by the city of St. Paul found about 60% of street parking spaces across up to 14 blocks adjacent West 7th between Grand and St. Clair were occupied regardless of whether or not Xcel Energy Center was hosting an event. The Grand option calls for keeping 35 parking spaces, while the Victoria option keeps 400.

Chong Ku, who owns Thai restaurant Phi Chay, believes a streetcar could address West 7th’s parking problems. “Because we have no parking, they can park far down and ride the trolley up,” Ku said.

However, other businesses such as Bennett’s Chop and Railhouse say they rely on street parking to serve their customers, who visit from as far as Wisconsin. “I’m in the process of planning the expansion that will go out into my parking lot because I need a new kitchen. If I lose the parking on the street, I’m not sure if I will do my expansion,” said owner Joe Bennett, shortly after cooking in his kitchen one Monday evening.

Preserving parking comes with a tradeoff: Streetcars running in mixed traffic could encounter delays, as demonstrated in other cities that have them. But West 7th streetcars traveling to the mall would also have to wait for Blue Line trains going in the same direction to pass before they can continue, exacerbating delays.

It’s why some people like Shannon Joyce, who owns 7th Street Tattoo, think a bus is better. “If [Metro Transit] could make [the] bus show up on time with more frequency it would be a better use of money,” Joyce said.

It’s also why Katie Nicholson, a Highland Park resident, wants the streetcar project to be a full-on light rail project. “If the West 7th corridor is to be considered a future backbone of our transit system … we need to address capacity and travel time from the start. And the best way to do this is by having fully dedicated light rail,” Nicholson told Riverview Corridor policymakers at a January meeting.

It’s unlikely the streetcar proposal will be transformed into a full-on light rail project, as St. Paul currently supports the Victoria streetcar option. “We believe that the additional stops and side-running condition in [the Victoria option] would make [it] easier to cross the street … and [provide] more opportunity for some on-street parking to continue to serve area businesses,” said St. Paul’s Chief Resilience Officer Russ Stark, adding they want to hear from the community before drawing any firm conclusions.

Of course, people aren’t confident in the Met Council’s ability to deliver the project on-budget, considering a project they are building now, the Southwest Light Rail project, is millions over budget and faced numerous delays. Met Council members and others have blamed counties for setting them up for failure.

It’s important to note that this project isn’t yet being led by the Met Council. Generally, counties decide what transit projects should be built, turning them over to the Met Council for construction consideration once they finalize environmental review.

The Met Council deferred comment to Ramsey County on how Route 54 service would be affected if a streetcar or rapid bus line were built. Ramsey County anticipates the 54 being replaced by the streetcar. Jennifer Jordan, a senior transportation planner for Ramsey County, said the county would need to “discuss next steps” if planners and policymakers identify rapid bus as the best route moving forward, which includes whether to extend the proposed Purple or under-construction Gold Lines to serve West 7th.

Transit rider Alex Cruz likes the 54 as it is today. “You can get on at Maplewood and it takes you straight [to the Mall of America] versus having to get off somewhere at West 7th [to transfer],” Cruz said as he took his daughter to the Mall of America one Wednesday afternoon.

Other riders are worried that the streetcar would become rife with fare evasion, crime, and drug use, much like what is plaguing the Blue and Green Lines. But Metro Transit is working on solutions to address the problems on light rail, and transit planners would come up with safety plans if the streetcar concept moves forward.

Some residents and businesses are also concerned about impacts streetcar construction may have on their livelihoods. They referenced the closures that befell businesses on University Avenue during Green Line construction.

Ramsey County Commissioner Rafael Ortega has an idea on how to support businesses through streetcar construction. “One of the lessons we learned in the Green Line was we had, in essence, four companies working on different schedules, unrolling their work at different times. We got together with foundations and the private sector to make sure that there was good signage, that there was support for businesses in terms of marketing,” Ortega said. Jordan, the Ramsey County transportation planner, said the county is open to working with the Met Council on an anti-displacement initiative similar to Hennepin County’s efforts on the Blue Line Extension.

Bennett wants a loan or a grant so he can support his workers during construction, if it happens. “My biggest worry is my employees. If they leave, because they’re not making money, because no one’s coming in because of the construction, then all of a sudden, I’m in a world of hurt,” Bennett said.