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Managing editor

Residents on Ninth Avenue N. in Anoka and 119th Avenue N.W. in Coon Rapids will receive bus service for the first time in November.

Letters have been mailed to those residents by Metro Transit spelling out the details of the Anoka Traveler Route 811 which will operate on those streets effective Monday, Nov. 16.

That’s when the Northstar Commuter Rail service starts and the new route will use a small, cutaway bus to connect residents with the Coon Rapids Riverdale commuter rail station on Northdale Boulevard.

According to the Metro Transit letter, there will be five trips to the train station in the morning, timed to meet each southbound train to Minneapolis.

In the evening the Route 811 bus will be at the Riverdale station to make connections with all five northbound trains to bring commuters back home, the letter states.

Route 811 begins at Riverdale Crossing Shopping Center at Northdale and Round Lake boulevards in the morning, goes north on Round Lake Boulevard to Bunker Lake Boulevard, then west on Bunker Lake Boulevard and 38th Avenue to Seventh Avenue, south on Seventh Avenue to Main Street, east on Main Street to Ninth Avenue, south on Ninth Avenue to 119th Avenue, then east on 119th to Northdale and north to the station.

In the evening, the bus will follow the same route from the station to Riverdale Crossing.

There will be stops on the bus route between Riverdale Crossing and the rail station at Seventh Avenue N. and Garfield Street, Main Street and Ninth Avenue and 119th Avenue and Round Lake Boulevard.

In the morning buses will leave Riverdale Crossing at 4:56 a.m., 5:46 a.m., 6:16 a.m., 6:46 a.m. and 7:16 a.m., arriving at the Riverdale station at 5:16 a.m., 6:06 a.m., 6:36 a.m., 7:06 a.m. and 7:36 a.m., respectively.

Late afternoon and evening buses will leave the commuter rail station at 4:17 p.m., 4:47 p.m., 5:17 p.m., 5:47 p.m. and 6:37 p.m., arriving at Riverdale Crossing at 4:37 p.m., 5:07 p.m., 5:37 p.m., 6:07 p.m. and 6:57 p.m., respectively.

The fare for the Route 11 bus will be $2.25 during the rush hours (6 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 6:30 p.m.) and $1.75 at all other times.

Customers using a Go-To Card, Metropass, U-Pass and Go-To College Pass to pay their bus fare will receive full credit toward the train fare.

Bus riders using a cash or stored-value card for their bus fare will get a $1 discount on the train fare when showing a transfer.

Train fare from the Riverdale station to downtown Minneapolis is $4 one-way on weekdays with a $3.25 charge from Riverdale to the other stations - Big Lake, Elk River, Anoka and Fridley.

Peter Bodley is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it