MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Saint Paul Residents Challenge Metro Transit’s H Line Route Through Como Avenue

More than 500 people have signed a petition seeking a route change as Metro Transit moves toward final approval of the bus rapid transit corridor

SAINT PAUL, MN (September 8, 2026). A neighborhood dispute over the planned METRO H Line is intensifying in Saint Paul as residents along Como Avenue push Metro Transit to move part of the bus rapid transit route away from their residential street before the Metropolitan Council gives the project final approval.

More than 500 people have signed a petition seeking to shift the H Line from a section of Como Avenue to Front Avenue and Energy Park Drive between Dale Street and Snelling Avenue, according to reporting on the dispute. Residents argue those streets are wider, better suited to frequent bus service and closer to schools, businesses, apartments and other destinations.

Metro Transit, however, is standing behind the Como Avenue alignment.

The H Line is planned as a bus rapid transit connection running through Minneapolis and Saint Paul, using Washington Avenue, Pleasant Street, 15th Avenue and Como Avenue in Minneapolis before continuing along Como, Maryland and White Bear avenues in Saint Paul. The corridor is currently served primarily by Routes 3 and 80.

Under the recommended plan, H Line buses would operate frequently along Como Avenue, replacing portions of existing local bus service with upgraded stations and other features intended to make service faster and more reliable.

The dispute is particularly acute in Saint Paul's Warrendale neighborhood, where residents say some proposed stations would place larger transit platforms immediately alongside homes.

At Como Avenue and Chatsworth Street, plans call for an approximately 80-foot station platform in front of a residential property. Residents Heather Doran and Diana Novotny told the Minnesota Star Tribune that construction would eliminate a rain garden and replace it with concrete for the station area.

Residents have also raised concerns about traffic, noise, parking, pedestrian safety and the effect of station construction on properties along the comparatively narrow residential corridor.

Their proposed alternative would move the H Line south to Front Avenue and Energy Park Drive for part of its route.

Metro Transit says it evaluated that alternative but does not recommend changing the route. According to the agency, moving buses away from Como Avenue would add approximately two to five minutes to trips, reduce reliability and move the H Line farther from regional destinations including Como Park.

The agency has also argued that the alternative would not improve access to jobs sufficiently to offset those disadvantages. Metro Transit plans separate local bus service along Front Avenue.

The disagreement illustrates one of the recurring challenges surrounding major transit projects in established neighborhoods: improvements intended to benefit riders across an entire regional network can impose concentrated changes on individual blocks and properties.

The H Line would connect a long series of destinations and transfer points across Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Metro Transit's recommended station list includes stops near the University of Minnesota, Como Park, the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, Maryland Avenue, Payne Avenue, White Bear Avenue and the Sun Ray Transit Center.

Metro Transit says the project is intended to provide faster and more reliable service in the Como Avenue and Maryland Avenue corridor, with upgraded stations and amenities associated with the region's growing bus rapid transit network.

Planning for the H Line is occurring during 2025 and 2026, with engineering scheduled for 2026 and 2027. Construction is currently anticipated during 2028 and 2029.

The route has not yet reached its final approval.

Metro Transit released its initial draft corridor plan in March and conducted an initial public-comment period through May. The recommended corridor plan followed this summer, incorporating changes resulting from the earlier engagement process.

A final corridor plan is expected to go before the Metropolitan Council this fall.

That remaining process gives residents another opportunity to argue for changes, although Metro Transit's decision to continue recommending Como Avenue indicates that shifting the route would require the agency and Metropolitan Council to reconsider conclusions already reached during route analysis.

Residents are not arguing against the entire H Line. Their campaign is focused on where the route should travel through their portion of Saint Paul.

That distinction could become increasingly important as the project approaches final approval. The question before transit planners is no longer whether improved east-west transit service is needed along the corridor, but whether the regional benefits Metro Transit identifies along Como Avenue outweigh the neighborhood impacts residents say the current design would create.

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