Snow causing residual delays for Metro Transit

Metro Transit continues to recover from last week’s heavy snowfall. Service has mostly returned to normal, but there are still delays for some buses and light rail trains.

Friday night, long delays were reported on both the Green and Blue lines in downtown Minneapolis. Spokesperson Drew Kerr said most of the problems are due to the switches used to move trains between tracks.

“As the switches move, snow gets in there, ice gets in there, we have to go and clean them out and make sure they're functioning properly,” he said. “That's something that our track teams are out working on, on a continual basis. We try not to have delays but with the weather as bad as we’ve seen, it’s tough to keep up with."

Kerr said snow-covered streets may also cause delays on bus routes as drivers have to slow down for safety.

“With the build-up of snow, [streets are] not maybe as wide as they would be under normal conditions and so, you know, navigating around parked vehicles or snow berms, those type of things might slow us down a little bit, but by and large we're getting here we need to go in the amount of time that we say we're going to get there,” Kerr said.

He says crews are working to clear snow from light rail and bus rapid transit stations and bus shelters, recognizing that many stops present a challenge to navigate due to large piles of snow.

“We would ask that if you're a property owner, if you're a building resident, if you're next to one of these stops and you can get out there and help clear a path, do some work that would be really beneficial to us as we try to do what we can do to make these stops and shelter areas as accessible as possible.”

Kerr encourages transit riders to use tracking tools to plan trips and minimize time outdoors.