The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

June 4, 2012

North Mankato council approves transit plan

By Mark Fischenich The Free Press

NORTH MANKATO — North Mankato will have two bus routes rather than the single route currently covering the entire city under a new Mankato-North Mankato transit improvement plan approved by the city council Monday night.

“The goal was to provide a faster and more direct bus service with less stops,” said interim North Mankato City Administrator Mike Fischer.

The new second route, named Route Four, will be dedicated to lower North Mankato, running on Belgrade, Range, Webster and Center before returning via the Veterans Memorial Bridge to downtown Mankato. The new Route 5 will use the North Star Bridge to Belgrade and then focus exclusively on North Mankato’s hilltop, heading up Lee Boulevard to Tower, then James Drive to Lookout and finally hitting Carlson, Lor Ray and Howard drives north of Highway 14.

With separate routes dedicated to the two sections of the city, climbing aboard the bus won’t mean a marathon trip of numerous stops before the bus connects to Mankato’s Cherry Street transit hub where riders can connect to buses traveling to Minnesota State University and Mankato’s east-side shopping district.

“It was a milk run,” said Councilman Bob Freyberg of the existing city-wide route.

Surveys taken as part of the transit study showed a strong interest in routes that got where they were going without so many stops and so much time.

“Speed was rated No. 1,” said Freyberg, adding that the changes are aimed at boosting ridership by dealing with that complaint. “The hope being that if they could increase the speed, they’d increase the ridership as well.”

Because leaders from both cities were looking to make improvements without increasing transit subsidies, the changes come with downsides — particularly that some riders will need to walk farther to get to a bus stop before getting the faster trip once they’re aboard.

In North Mankato, that means buses will no longer travel south of Lee Boulevard or serve Commerce and Northway drives. The original proposal also eliminated any service north of Highway 14, something North Mankato officials insisted be restored to provide transit service to manufactured home parks and major employers in the city’s industrial park.

Fischer said the new routes are expected to begin on Aug. 20.

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