At the Beltline Boulevard crossing, the gate arms come down, the bells ring, and a light rail train rolls through with nobody on board. Up on the new bridge over Beltline, a cyclist on the Cedar Lake Trail doesn't stop for any of it.
On Sept. 26, Metro Transit announced that passenger service on the extended Green Line begins June 12, 2027. The announcement event was held at Louisiana Avenue Station. That date tends to read like the start of something. In St. Louis Park it mostly marks the end. The trail links, the crossings and the first station-area buildings are already in place or nearly finished. This winter, the last one before passenger service, is when the corridor settles into ordinary use around the three city stations: Beltline Boulevard, Wooddale Avenue and Louisiana Avenue.
The trail opened before the train
In May 2026, Metro Transit marked the reopening of the rebuilt Kenilworth and Cedar Lake trails with an event titled "Open Trails to Rails."
Here's what that work added in and near St. Louis Park:
- A pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Beltline Boulevard
- A trail underpass at Wooddale Avenue
- A trail underpass near Louisiana Avenue Station that ties the station to the regional trail
- An underpass at Blake Road, just over the line in Hopkins
Hennepin County, Three Rivers Park District and the cities of St. Louis Park and Hopkins helped fund the trail improvements. Every station will have bike racks, and every light rail car has upright racks for bikes. So the grade separations that will carry people to the platforms next June are carrying people on foot and on bikes today. For anyone who crosses Beltline or Wooddale on the trail, the biggest change from the light rail project has already happened.
The trail network is still growing. In October, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District started building a 1,000-foot trail connection from the Minnehaha Creek Preserve to the Cedar Lake Regional Trail, along with streambank restoration. The district says the link improves access to the regional trail and to Blake Road Station. Expect construction noise, traffic and torn-up soil for now. Work pauses for winter, picks up again in spring, and should be finished by the end of spring 2027, around the time the trains start carrying riders.
The trains are already running
The next stage is the trains, and they've been out on the tracks for a while. According to the Metropolitan Council, Green Line Extension testing started in July 2025 and will continue until opening, with more than 1,500 train runs. The tests people are most likely to notice involve the crossing gates, flashers and signals. The first test phase stopped just east of Beltline Boulevard Station. The third phase covers the whole corridor, Wooddale and Louisiana included, and runs through 2026. After that, Metro Transit takes over the line for its own pre-revenue testing and operator training. The Council says testing can happen on most weekdays, and the public should expect to see trains on the tracks every day from October 2025 until opening.
Since the warning systems are already live, the Council's safety rules apply now:
Never try to beat a train; it can't stop quickly. If you see flashing lights, stop. Trains can come from either direction at any time. Bells mean a train is coming. Don't wear headphones or text near tracks.
The light rail and the freight trains that already pass through the area run on separate tracks, and the Council says testing doesn't affect freight operations. You can photograph or film the test trains from a safe spot in a public area, and the project asks people to tag @GreenLineExtensionMN.
Beltline's station block fills in this winter
Of the three stations, Beltline Boulevard has changed the most on the ground. The city's October 2026 update on the Beltline Boulevard Station Site gave this status for each building:
- Building 3, southeast corner: final finishes, with completion expected in late October
- Building 1, northwest corner: exterior and interior finishes underway
- Building 2, northeast corner: upper-story framing underway
- Parking ramp, southwest corner: exterior finishes going on, with completion expected in late November
The Sherman Associates project is approved for 380 apartments, roughly 19,500 square feet of commercial space intended to be anchored by a grocer, and a ramp of about 592 stalls. Of those stalls, 268 are set aside for light rail park-and-ride. As of Finance & Commerce's June report, no grocer or retail tenant had been named. If the ramp finishes on schedule, park-and-ride parking will be ready about six months ahead of the first passenger.
The Beltline area already had new neighbors before this project. Finance & Commerce reported in June that Roers' Risor, 170 units at 3510 Beltline Blvd., and Opus' Corsa, 250 units at 3440 Beltline Blvd., were complete. The Metropolitan Council's Beltline station page lists Carpenter Park, Wolfe Park, Bass Lake Preserve and the shops and restaurants at Excelsior & Grand as amenities in the station area. On that stretch of Excelsior Boulevard, the Star Tribune covered The Candy Shop's Aug. 1 opening at 4615 Excelsior Blvd. It sells Swedish candy, housemade confections and dirty sodas, and its sister business, Honey & Rye, is a few doors away at 4501 Excelsior.
Wooddale and Louisiana are moving more slowly
Beltline will have its buildings up by opening day. At the other two stations, the private development is further behind.
| Station | In use now | Still pending |
|---|---|---|
| Beltline Boulevard | Trail bridge over Beltline; Risor and Corsa apartments | Two Sherman buildings; park-and-ride ramp expected late November; unnamed grocer space |
| Wooddale Avenue | Trail underpass at Wooddale; Zelia on Seven and Arbor Court | Sentinel's 265-unit proposal, with construction unlikely before 2027 |
| Louisiana Avenue | Trail underpass to the regional trail; nearby employers | Early-stage look at part of Loffler's parking lot |
At Wooddale, Sentinel Management has proposed 265 mixed-income apartments, 10,500 square feet of retail and a parking ramp at 5950 36th St. W. and a neighboring parcel. About 20% of the units are planned as affordable. Earlier plans for the site from OlyHi and Roers never went ahead. As of Finance & Commerce's June report, Sentinel had until June 30, 2027 to negotiate the purchase, and the city's planning and economic development manager said construction was unlikely before 2027. In practice, the Wooddale station will probably open next to a site that's still waiting. Nearby, Zelia on Seven, with 217 units, has a one-acre urban forest along the Cedar Lake Trail. Arbor Court, at 3801 Wooddale Ave. S., has 114 units, all affordable.
Louisiana Avenue Station sits in a light-industrial area just north of Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital. Plans there include a park-and-ride and drop-off area on Oxford Street, plus bus connections on Louisiana Avenue. Loffler Companies moved into a renovated 132,000-square-foot former Sam's Club building in 2023. Part of its parking lot is being looked at for redevelopment, an idea Finance & Commerce described as very preliminary. In Metro Transit's announcement, Mayor Nadia Mohamed said many of the city's largest employers, including Loffler, Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital, Japs Olson and NordicWare, are "within just a few blocks of the three new stations." The development near Louisiana is mostly workplaces, not new housing or shops.
The bus routes are still in draft
With the trail open, the trains testing and Beltline's buildings going up, the bus network is the main piece of daily life around the line that hasn't been decided. Metro Transit's Network Now 2026 update proposes changes to Routes 36, 38, 46, 615 and 705. It also proposes a new all-day Route 617 with hourly service linking southwest Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Hopkins and St. Louis Park, and it would drop Route 25L's single weekday round trip. The agency held community meetings in September and took comments through Oct. 4. It expects most of the 2026 proposals to take effect by the end of 2027, and full Network Now implementation by the end of 2028. Some of the bus connections to the new stations may arrive after the trains do.
Dates between now and opening day
The city's events calendar includes a few stops this winter that fit a walk or ride along the trail:
- Saturday, Nov. 14, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.: Walk the Park at Nelson Park, 2500 Georgia Ave. S.
- Late November: expected completion of the Beltline park-and-ride ramp
- Sunday, Dec. 6, 4 to 7 p.m.: U.G.L.Y. Sweater Dash at Louisiana Oaks Park, 3520 Louisiana Ave. S.
- Monday, Dec. 14, 6 to 8 p.m.: Canadian Pacific Holiday Train at Lake Street and Library Lane, with music from 6:15 to 6:45 p.m.
- Monday, Dec. 21, 6 to 8:30 p.m.: Be the Light Winter Solstice Walk at Westwood Hills Nature Center, 8300 W. Franklin Ave.
- Spring 2027: work resumes on the Greenway-to-Cedar Lake Trail connection, with completion expected by the end of spring
- Saturday, June 12, 2027: extended Green Line opens to riders
Meanwhile, Metro Transit staff started moving into a new Rail Support Facility in Hopkins this fall, and the agency is hiring for the extension, with a focus on rail maintenance jobs.
If you're planning a sale or purchase in St. Louis Park around the 2027 opening, it helps to price it on what has actually changed near your block, not on headlines. SellingMinneapolis tracks station-area activity as it happens. Get your instant home valuation, and we'll go through what's open, what's pending, and what it means for your timing.
