What to know about Rochester’s future rapid transit system as construction begins

ROCHESTER – The latest round of construction to shake up the downtown area gets underway this week as crews begin laying the groundwork for Rochester’s long-anticipated Link Bus Rapid Transit system.

The work marks the start of multiyear effort to reconfigure one of the city’s busiest streets into a bustling transit corridor connecting downtown with Mayo Clinic, St. Marys campus and thousands of parking spaces.

At a cost of $175.5 million, the transit project is the largest public investment made to date as part of Destination Medical Center. It also comes as Mayo Clinic ramps up construction of its $5 billion expansion downtown.

Here’s what else to know about the transit line.

With more than 21,800 vehicles a day, congestion along Second Street has long been a challenge for commuters and city planners alike.

But what to do about it initially divided local officials.

Rochester Mayor Kim Norton advocated for a rail line to be built downtown, arguing anything short of that wouldn’t live up to the expectations of Destination Medical Center (DMC), the state initiative aimed at supporting Mayo’s downtown growth.

But after 2019 cost estimates showed permanent streetcars would cost more than three times the bus option, the DMC Board opted to choose rubber over rail, despite the mayor’s opposition.

To proponents of the project, the bus system will offer many of the same benefits as a built-in rail line but at a fraction of the cost. That includes dedicated transit lanes and seven-day-a-week service.

“This is more than a bus system,” Patrick Seeb, DMC’s director, said at the time. “This is a rapid transit system that uses an electric bus vehicle but has the amenities that would be expected of a high-quality transit system.”

Originally intended to be operational next year, plans for the transit line have been delayed after cost estimates for construction came in over budget.

The project is now estimated to be completed by 2027 at a cost of $171.5 million, up from $115 million just a few years ago.

The bus system is being paid for using state and local DMC funds, along with a nearly $85 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration. About a third of the budget has already been spent preparing for construction and ordering a fleet of 60-foot electric buses.

Efforts to shift commuters away from car dependence have taken on new urgency as Mayo Clinic accelerates construction on its multibillion-dollar “Bold. Forward” project, which is expected to create thousands of new jobs.

Today, more than 70% of commuters travel downtown alone in a vehicle, while only 10% use transit.

City officials hope to reverse that pattern with the planned transit line. By 2040, DMC plans call for fewer than 50% of commuters to get downtown by car, while tripling the number of transit users.

“We know we need to have fewer vehicles traveling through downtown, and to do that we need to be able to move more people more efficiently,” said Josh DeFrang, the city’s construction project manager for the bus line.

To make the transit line attractive for commuters, Mayo Clinic is covering operational costs to make the system fare-free — not only for its thousands of downtown employees but also the general public.

Reliability, DeFrang said, will also play a critical role. While most of the city’s public buses operate every half hour, the rapid transit service will run every five minutes during peak periods, and every 10 to 15 minutes at other times.

Work on the transit line will add to the dizzying amount of construction already happening downtown.

While initial infrastructure work beginning this week will be limited to about one block of Second Street between 11th and 12th avenues SW., the biggest disruption is slated for later in the summer.

That’s when the city plans to shut down traffic in both directions near St. Marys. The work, expected to last 16 to 18 weeks, will reroute commuters to Civic Center Drive, which is often already congested during rush hour times.

DeFrang said road work will also pick up on the far east end of the 2.8-mile route, near the Mayo Civic Center and the future 6th Street bridge.

For some downtown businesses, the construction only adds to the woes of what has been a challenging past five years. As a result, DMC has opened a third round of Main Street Economic Revitalization Grant funding, with priority given to businesses affected by work on the bus line.

Where are all these new transit users going to park their vehicles for the day? The answer lies in a what being dubbed a “transit village” planned on the far west end of the bus line.

There, Mayo is building a massive 2,500-spot parking ramp on 14 acres that had previously been used to handle fewer than 1,000 cars.

But plans for the transit village are not expected to end there. Working with Kraus-Anderson Construction, Mayo plans to build out space for retail, a transit station and hundreds of new housing units.

In February, the DMC Board authorized the use of city tax increment financing to jumpstart development. The funding will allow the city to use up to $40 million of new tax revenue created from the property to fund future developments on the site, such as affordable housing.