Gold Line Gets Green Light, $120M Pledge From Washington County

WASHINGTON COUNTY, MN — Plans to build a rapid bus transit line to connect the Twin Cities to the East Metro took a crucial step forward last week as county officials approved a pledge to contribute $120 million toward the project.

The Washington County Board of Commissioners voted Feb. 8 to approve funding for the county’s share of the $505 million Gold Line project, a 10-mile transit line that would offer bus service every 10-15 minutes during rush hours.

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The Gold Line is expected to operate in transit-bus-only lanes, with most to be built just north of Interstate 94. Plans call for 21 “full-amenity” stations in St. Paul, Maplewood, Oakdale and Woodbury. The Gold Line will stop at Union Depot in St. Paul, allowing commuters to connect to the Green Line light rail.

Construction on the Gold Line is expected to begin later this year, with services to launch in 2024 or 2025, according to the project’s timeline.

The Gold Line is expected to cost about $505 million to build, with local governments splitting the cost with the Federal Transit Administration. Washington County and Ramsey County are each responsible for covering about 24 percent of the total cost.

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Washington County spent about $44.5 million from 2018-2021 for project development, engineering and right-of-way work completed during the project’s design phase.

The county is expected to spend about $77.5 million over the next four years for its share of construction work on the Gold Line.

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Officials are set to fund Washington County’s share of construction costs through local option sales taxes — about $37.5 million from 2022-2025 — along with about $13.8 million from the county’s local options sales tax fund balance.

The county also plans to use $26.3 million raised from yet-to-be-determined bonds, according to budget documents approved in December.

The Washington County board also voted last week to approve contingency funding and spend $198,017 to remove a portion of a noise wall along the Gold Line route. Ramsey County will pay the same amount for the wall to be removed.

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The recent funding approvals by Washington and Ramsey county officials will be submitted to the Federal Transit Administration to receive the “full funding grant agreement” from the federal government. The FTA is expected to contribute about $239.3 million toward the Gold Line project.

Commissioner Lisa Weik called the funding approvals “very important final steps” before construction can begin on the Gold Line later this year.

She also noted the project was included in President Joe Biden’s budget for 2022, which she said was an “encouraging” and “positive” sign for its funding future.

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“Today’s actions get us closer to our broader vision … of connecting to a modern, multimodal, regional transportation system,” Weik said.

“This project and others in our pipeline will help residents get around in faster, cleaner and more affordable ways,” she said, adding the Gold Line will also help the county meet its net-zero emission goals with part of the fleet to be hybrid, electric buses.