The Saint Paul Bicycle Coalition met on Tuesday, November 21 at Hygga, a restaurant/bar on 4th Street in Lowertown, from 6:30pm until 8pm.
In attendance were 18 people including: Ethan Osten, Troy Davison, Phil Moody, Mike Foley, Steve Bergman, Bill Lindeke, Emily Parks, Brian ?, Anita ?, Dan Bassett, Bret Peterson, Rich Holst, Paul Sawyer (I think), Gene Gjerdingen, Reuben Collins, Andy Singer and at least two people whose names I didn’t get.
We discussed priorities for next year and which ones we should push for in 2018. These included The Capital City Bikeway (especially St Peter and 10th Street segments), The Earl and Forest Street Bikeways (could each be one-way facilities or a 2-way on Forest) , Western Avenue (between Como and Front), Hazelwood/Prosperity, Hazel and Algonquin.
Though it’s probably the most important, the Capital City Bikeway is more dependent on funding to rebuild streets than the other projects. We discussed if some spots could be done temporarily on the cheap, such as St Peter from John Ireland as far as 11th or 10th …or the segment along 10th. Reuben said that, with its current curb configuration, 10th isn’t wide enough to fit a temporary two-way protected facility that is plowable in winter, unless parking is removed from both sides of the street, which would anger the street’s residents and businesses, particularly given that the final design (pending street rebuild) would only take parking on one side of the street. But Reuben didn’t rule out St Peter and said he’d look into it. If you have further thoughts on any of these projects, e-mail them to Ethan– ethan@saintpaulbicyclecoalition.org
We discussed the latest on the Margaret Street Bike Boulevard. The bikeway traverses the entire east side of St Paul from East 7th all the way to McKnight Road. In the last year, a HAWK signal was installed at White Bear Avenue and push-button Flashing signs were installed at Ruth, both of which have helped make these streets easier to cross. Now the city is proposing to finish the bike boulevard and has obtained federal funding. Specifically, they want to install sidewalks (where none currently exist) on all or parts of four blocks of Margaret, and ADA-compliant curb-cuts and crosswalks on the entire street. They want to add 5 traffic circles (where there are currently stop signs), bump-outs to help bikes and pedestrians get across several cross streets, and a multi-use pathway on the west side of McKnight Road from Minnehaha all the way south to Hudson Road. The latter will involve moving power-poles and some trees but it will enable riders on Margaret to access traffic lig hts at M innehaha, Conway Avenue and, eventually (I think?) 5th, so that they can reach 3M’s campus and points to the east.
The most controversial proposal is to close off the medians where Margaret crosses Johnson Parkway. This is designed to make bicycle and pedestrian crossings of Johnson Parkway easier …but it is also part of a larger plan to close multiple pedestrian crossings on Johnson Parkway so that an off-street pathway can be built on Johnson Parkway in 2020 as part of improvements to the Grand Rounds. At the recent Margaret community meeting, there was very little opposition to any of the proposals except the median closure. There were a few people who supported closing it at Margaret but more widespread opposition at closing other medians (later) as part of the Grand Rounds Improvements. Jane Prince spoke up in support of both the Margaret closures and the more extensive closures that might be associated with a Johnson Parkway off-street trail.
Everyone is urged to write an e-mail supporting ALL the above proposals for Margaret (circles, sidewalks, McKnight Path, bumpouts, and Johnson Parkway median closure at Margaret). This is particularly true if you live in Dayton’s Bluff, in Jane Prince’s Ward, and/or anywhere near Margaret Street. Send your e-mail to Reuben Collins– reuben.collins@ci.stpaul.mn.us, Jane Prince– ward7@ci.stpaul.mn.us and/or your own council member. More information on the project and talking points can be found at– http://www.stpaul.gov/margaret with specific project flyer at– https://www.stpaul.gov/sites/default/files/Media Root/Public Works/Margaret Handout Sept 2017 - Final.pdf
We next heard updates about the Nice Ride Request For Proposals (RFP) process. Nice Ride wants to phase out docked bikeshare in favor of dockless …but they want to control the process to make it a smooth transition and assure that certain issues are addressed (where in the right-of-way bikes are parked, for example) and certain currently underserved communities are getting access (like large parts of St Paul). There were two finalists for Nice Ride’s RFP– “Lime Bike” and “Motivate”. Ethan and some folks from Women On Bikes talked to Public Works Director Kathy Lantry and City Council members about the need for Saint Paul to be involved in the process. Anyone who wants to be part of a working group should e-mail ethan as we created a sign-up sheet at the meeting– ethan@saintpaulbicyclecoalition.org
We heard a brief update on the Greenway Extension. A group called “Extend the Greenway Partnership” has been formed and had its first meeting. It includes members of The Midtown Greenway Coalition, Smart Trips, Prospect Park, St Anthony Park, Union Park and MacGroveland District Councils, The Sierra Club, SPBC, Min Hi LIne Coalition, Major Taylor Bicycling Club and others. At this point, we are trying to grow the group, see if we can talk to anyone at CP Rail, particularly to get permission for a bridge inspection and drum up political interest in addressing this issue and developing a long-range plan. If you’re interested in this or know Non-profit organizations, businesses, agencies or politicians who’d like to join the group, e-mail Andy at– andy@andysinger.com
Finally, the Wabasha bike lane gap between Fillmore and Plato has been fixed and street construction is completed …with the one exception of the area right in front of the Holiday Gas Station. We hope the city will fix this part as well.