Transportation

Metro Transit closes Uptown Station temporarily, citing public safety issues

The uptown transit station in the dark
The Uptown Transit Station on Hennepin Avenue near Lake Street in Minneapolis.
Courtesy of Tony Webster | Flickr

The Uptown Transit Station will close Wednesday evening after security issues in the last several months.

Metro Transit says the indoor waiting facility will be shut down until new security measures are put in place. An indoor transit center in downtown St. Paul was shut down temporarily a few months ago after a double homicide at the location.

Drew Kerr, spokesman for Metro Transit, said the station is at a tipping point.

“It's also a place though over the last few years where we've seen other activity happening, people that are there not to get a bus but do lots of other things,” he said. ”So we now are really at a tipping point at that location where we felt we had to do something and what we're doing now is closing the indoor waiting station until we are able to get security on site.”

The Met Council is voting on security contracts to provide support at several transit stops where there have been recurring issues.