Gold Line BRTOD

Client: Washington County; with Crandall Arambula

Project: This project for the METRO Gold Line bus rapid transit station-area planning worked with Washington and Ramsey counties, multiple city partners, and major employers and institutions for 10 stations areas along this eastern corridor to develop and implement inclusive and tailored stakeholder engagement.

Building on previous work for the Gold Line, the project addressed:

• Complex technical content, huge variety across the 10 station areas, multiple phases, and an extremely long overall project timeline
• Communications and engagement in multiple languages
• Close coordination with City Councils, commissions, district and community councils, expert agency staff, and various advisory bodies
• Worked with the cities to support outreach to a range of community and organizational stakeholders

After completing a robust engagement design and implementation plan reflecting the commitment to an inclusive process, we worked closely with the cities, counties, and community partners to engage a wide range of stakeholders including:

• St. Paul community councils and various committees to engage directly and host community sessions with a diverse range of participants
• Harding High School in St. Paul, to engage over 350 students (report)
• Wilson High Rise (public housing) to engage residents
• 3M in Maplewood, to engage senior staff and nearly 700 employees (employee survey report)

Materials and techniques were graphics-heavy to help participants understand the technical content, and provided/presented in various languages and customized to specific audiences to support authentic engagement. Results are guiding final station-area plans and future access and development decisions.