METRO Gold Line Bus Rapid Transit

The METRO Gold Line is Minnesota’s first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line that operates primarily within bus-only lanes. As the general contractor building the line, Ames Construction drew on its deep experience and resources to fulfill numerous components, including 10 miles of dedicated bus lanes, 19 bus stations, eight new road bridges, two new pedestrian bridges, 43 retaining walls, and eight noise walls. Two additional bridges were rehabilitated.

The challenges of this project related to its size, scope, aggressive schedule, and the demands of urban reconstruction. The line connects the Minnesota cities of St. Paul, Maplewood, Landfall, Oakdale, and Woodbury. Ames coordinated continuously between jurisdictions, subcontractors, designers, and stakeholders while prioritizing public safety and the well-being of neighbors and businesses along the route. 

This project called for a wide range of construction techniques and scopes, including cast-in-place walls, MSE walls, lagging walls, block walls, soil nail walls, bridge rehabilitation, full bridge construction, water main, sanitary sewer system, and storm sewer system. Crews carefully excavated around 500+ utility conflicts involving a dozen utility owners. Ames assigned a full-time utility coordinator to work alongside the owner’s utility coordinator to resolve the conflicts quickly and safely.

With new bridges, bike paths, and parking, the project benefits everyone along the line, even if they don’t regularly use BRT. An early project milestone was the opening of the Bielenberg Bridge over I-94 in November 2023. This new bridge provides a direct connection between the cities of Woodbury and Oakdale.