#Carbucks

July 14, 2018

To whom it may concern,

On behalf of the Saint Paul Bicycle Coalition and its members, I am writing to express our vehement opposition to the revised site plan for the Starbucks drive-thru at Snelling Ave and Marshall Ave. The proposed changes would not only fail to address the ongoing bicycle and pedestrian safety concerns that the drive-thru has precipitated, but would in our opinion only make them worse, creating serious additional hazards under the guise of improvement.

The problems that this site has caused for bicycle operations on Marshall Ave have been well documented. Marshall Ave is a Major Bikeway in the City of Saint Paul's Bicycle Plan (SPBP) and a Tier 1 corridor in the Regional Bicycle Transportation Network (RBTN), and bicycle traffic counts have documented that Marshall is among the most heavily used bikeways in Saint Paul. Despite this, cars waiting for the Starbucks drive-thru routinely and insistently queue in the bike lane on Marshall Ave, creating a dangerous situation in which cyclists are forced to merge with general traffic travelling with difficult sightlines and at high speeds. None of the mitigation strategies implemented on Marshall Ave have succeeded in durably clearing the bike lane, and the most successful strategy so far (flexible posts placed to shield the bike lane) cannot be maintained in winter and has considerable ongoing costs.

We believe that the proposed site plan would not meaningfully address these problems. Moreover, we are alarmed by the site plan's proposal to add additional on-street parking on the south side of Marshall Ave east of the Starbucks site. We object on the following grounds:

1) Previous attempts by Starbucks to increase on-site queuing capacity have had only marginal impact on bikeway safety; whether four cars are stopped in the bike lane or two, the unsafe condition persists. No matter the total queuing capacity on-site, the fundamental problem remains that any excess will inevitably attempt to queue on Marshall Ave.

2) The 5' bike lane proposed for Marshall Ave between travel lane and parking lane is the absolute minimum width allowed by state standards adjacent to a parking lane. Such a narrow bike lane carries a high risk of injury to people on bikes because it leaves little room to avoid "dooring" or other sudden movements by parked vehicles. Because these spots would be intended for high-turnover use, this problem would be compounded.

3) The short tapers on both ends of the added parking place the bike lane in the direct travel path of eastbound vehicles on Marshall Ave. This can create an extremely dangerous situation for cyclists if (as is common) a vehicle fails to precisely follow the proposed lane markings and drifts into the bike lane.

As such, we regard this plan–especially with the additional hazards proposed–as wholly unacceptable. If approved, it will work directly against the City of Saint Paul's stated goals and policies to make biking safer, more convenient, and accessible to a broader range of individuals than currently use our streets.

We therefore strongly urge all relevant bodies and committees of the City of Saint Paul to reject these proposed changes and to revoke the Conditional Use Permit previously granted for the Starbucks drive-thru. If current conditions continue–or even more, if the revised site plan is approved–we believe that it is only a matter of time until serious or even fatal injury occurs. Only you have the power to prevent this. Please make it right.

Sincerely,

Ethan Osten

Co-Chair, Saint Paul Bicycle Coalition