Central Corridor merchants balance hopes and fears

St Paul, MN -- Most merchants along the route of the Central Corridor light rail line concede it will be a good thing for Saint Paul in the long run, but they can't help but worry about surviving the immediate future.

"I know it will be a good thing," Mary Milton told KARE Thursday as she pondered the train that will pass right past her Transformation Hair salon on University Avenue. But she concedes she's worried about the loss of on-street parking to make room for the new line.

"We need our customers," Milton remarked, "It will be hard. We don't have a lot of parking now, and if the take what we've got it's going to really have the business down a lot."

She said she hoped her customers who drive cars will make the extra effort to reach her salon during the construction disruption, and afterwards when the parking spots in front of her business disappear.

The Central Corridor, which will connect downtown Saint Paul to downtown Minneapolis, is now deep into the planning stages. The City of Saint Paul, Metropolitan Council and other agencies are seeking ways to offset the loss of the parking, and to keep businesses going through the construction phase.

"The goal is that no one goes out of business, no one loses their home as a result of the construction," Mayor Chris Coleman said Thursday, "But we build on the strengths of this community and make it even better."

A bus tour Thursday sponsored by the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative was aimed at focusing on the brighter side of that equation, toward the opportunities business owners will have to capitalize on new customers the line will bring to University Avenue.

The organization is comprised of private foundations looking to guide key investments to maximize the positive impacts of the new transportation link. The group is financing consultants who are working under the banner of the University Avenue Business Preparation Collaborative, or U-7.

The U-7 group consultants are offering one-on-one advice to merchants for how to tap into the new customers the line will deliver to and through the area, as well as strategies for promoting themselves during the construction phase.

At one stop on the tour, a Minneapolis planning and development official said the Hiawatha light rail line is already affecting decisions by companies.

"In the city of Minneapolis now we are hearing from major employers that proximity to the light rail downtown is a major factor in their decisions to stay and lease more space downtown," Mike Christensen said.

"Increasingly we have companies who aren't interested in dragging their employees downtown to pay $200 a month for parking."

One neighborhood initiative, known as the World Cultural Heritage District envisions the multi-ethnic area known as Frogtown becoming a destination for lunches, day trips and even vacationers.

"Imagine the world in your neighborhood! Imagine the world in Saint Paul," Nieeta Presley of the Aurora/Saint Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation told reporters who rode along on the bus tour.

In the meantime, the University Avenue Business Association continues to hold meetings to discuss the impact of on businesses of the construction disruption. Some members, including Saigon Restaurant owner Lisa Byui has argued in favor of direct cash grants and loans to businesses to compensate for loss of sales while the light rail is being built.

Mayor Coleman said the four-year project will be broken into four segments, so that no one business will be inside the construction zone more than one year.

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