St. Louis Park's Train Arrives in June. Most of the New Map Arrives Before It.

"There is genuine excitement with an overtone of relief at being this far in the project that we can see that it's going to happen and carry riders within next year," Met Council Chair Robin Hutcheson told the Star Tribune before the September 26 ceremony at the Louisiana Avenue Station. She announced the opening date there. The Green Line Extension begins passenger service on June 12, 2027.

Most of the other changes around St. Louis Park's three stops at Louisiana Avenue, Wooddale Avenue and Beltline Boulevard have earlier deadlines. The rebuilt trails reopened in late 2025. A new roundabout should be done by mid-November. The Beltline park-and-ride ramp is due at the end of November. Between now and June, the city will look more and more like its finished post-train self, with the trains still sitting idle.

The countdown, in order

Here are the published dates, sorted by when they land. Few of them are actually tied to June 12.

The line itself still has work ahead. Metro Transit says construction, testing and training are continuing along the 14.5-mile corridor. Thousands of tests remain, and workers have begun moving into the new Hopkins Rail Support Facility. On the ground, though, St. Louis Park's part of the story is mostly a winter of punch lists.

Louisiana Avenue: where the date was announced, and where the cones come down next

The ceremony was held at the stop with the most active roadwork right now. The Star Tribune reported that more than a hundred people came out in clouds and light rain. Cyclists rode in from a nearby trail for coffee and barbecue, and families explored the train and platform. The Sun Sailor said visitors tried the train's horn, blinkers and wipers.

A few blocks north, Cedar Lake Road from Rhode Island Avenue to Kentucky Avenue is closed to through traffic. So is Louisiana Avenue from the fire station to the railroad bridge. Businesses stay reachable from Louisiana Avenue to the north and Cedar Lake Road to the east. The city's October 8 update put the first layer of street paving on October 12 and 13, weather permitting. Topsoil, streetlights and rectangular rapid flashing beacons are going in at the same time. The finished corridor gets new pavement, better walking and rolling routes, bike accommodations and a roundabout at Cedar Lake Road and Louisiana Avenue.

If the weather holds, that roundabout will have handled about seven months of daily traffic by the time a train stops nearby. The station itself sits just north of Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital, among light-industrial and retail businesses. More change is coming to this area later. The city's Oxford and Louisiana Area Infrastructure Investment covers sidewalks, a roundabout at Louisiana and Oxford, and a redecked Minnehaha Creek bridge. Design and engagement run through 2026 and 2027, with construction scheduled for 2028 and 2029. Around Louisiana, the train opens in the middle of the rebuilding, not at the end of it.

Beltline Boulevard: the stop that's nearly finished

Beltline is the furthest along. Sherman Associates' approved plan covers 6.6 acres with four buildings, 380 homes and about 19,500 square feet of neighborhood commercial space. It also includes plazas, green space and a 592-stall ramp, with 268 of those stalls set aside for light rail park-and-ride.

The city's October 2026 update lists Building 3, at the southeast corner, in final finishes with completion expected in late October. Building 1 has exterior finishes going on. Building 2 is still in upper-story framing. The parking ramp at the southwest corner should be done in late November. Drivers will keep seeing the same detours for a while. Northbound lane shifts on Beltline Boulevard continue for the rest of construction, and 32nd Street, the backage road on the south side of the site, stays closed. Exterior work and landscaping are scheduled through April 2027.

The trail side of Beltline is already done. Metro Transit's May 2026 release on the trail reopening lists a pedestrian and cyclist bridge over Beltline Boulevard among the improvements. The Met Council names Carpenter Park, Wolfe Park, Bass Lake Preserve, the shops and restaurants at Excelsior & Grand, and the Cedar Lake Regional Trail as nearby destinations. Excelsior & Grand picked up a new storefront this summer. The Candy Shop opened at 4615 Excelsior Blvd. the weekend of August 8, selling imported Swedish candy, other European goods and housemade treats, according to the Sun Sailor.

Wooddale Avenue: the slow one

Wooddale is the exception to this pre-opening wave. Its trail underpass reopened with the rest of the corridor in late 2025. The station-area redevelopment is still a proposal. Sentinel Management Company has proposed a five- and six-story mixed-use project at 5950 W. 36th St. and the adjacent Standal property. It would have about 265 homes, including 58 affordable units, plus 10,500 square feet of commercial space and a public plaza. As of the city's July 2026 update, staff were working to finalize a preliminary development agreement, and planning applications were expected later in 2026.

So on opening day, Wooddale riders will step off into the neighborhood as it already exists. The city's Wooddale station-area plan map names Jorvig Park and Lunds & Byerlys in the station gateway. The Met Council points to the Central Community Center and nearly 200,000 square feet of retail nearby.

Off the line, Knollwood reshuffles on its own schedule

The biggest retail change this season is nowhere near a station. Kohl's at the Shoppes at Knollwood has its last day on Halloween. Bring Me The News reported that the nearly 80,000-square-foot space will be split among three tenants. Total Wine moves in next summer, and Burlington and Urban Air Adventure Park follow in the fall. Total Wine is moving from its current store of nearly 9,000 square feet near the Cub Foods anchor. That leaves its old space as the center's only open storefront. Knollwood already added a Chipotle at 8530 Highway 7 on August 10.

Two more food spots sit on corridors the train doesn't serve, one opened this summer and one still to come. Hoodline reported in July on Sweet Lou's Craft Sausage & Butchery at 6318 Minnetonka Blvd., which does in-house butchery, sausages, deli sandwiches and coffee. On Wayzata Boulevard, Mi-Sant is preparing to open in the former TGI Fridays building at 5875 Wayzata Blvd. The Star Tribune's October 5 restaurant roundup said early next year.

The fall calendar while the work wraps up

The city's events calendar runs straight through the construction season. One stop on it, Wolfe Park, is on the Met Council's list of places near the Beltline station.

• October 16 and 17: The WHNC Annual Halloween Party at Westwood Hills Nature Center, 8300 W. Franklin Ave.
• November 1, 1 to 2 p.m.: Pumpkins in the Park at Wolfe Park, 3700 Monterey Drive.
• November 25: Turkey Bingo at 11 a.m. and free indoor holiday skating, called Turkeys on Ice, at noon at the Rec Center.
• November 27, 6 to 8 p.m.: Disco Ball Ice Skating at the Recreation Outdoor Center.
• December 6, 4 to 7 p.m.: The U.G.L.Y. Sweater Dash, looping through Louisiana Oaks and Oak Hill parks.

By the time of the Sweater Dash, the Louisiana roundabout and the Beltline ramp should both be done, if the weather cooperates. Once the line opens, the trip from Southwest Station in Eden Prairie to Target Field covers 16 stations in an estimated 32 minutes.

If you own near one of these three stops and wonder how a finished roundabout, a new ramp or an opening day might change your home's story, I'm glad to walk the blocks with you and talk it through. Karin Rice Duncanson knows St. Louis Park street by street. Let's Connect.