One Hundred Years of Crossing Snelling Avenue

[One of the lovely Snelling Avenue sidewalks.]

Last fall, the Saint Paul City Council passed the Charles Avenue friendly streets bicycle boulevard. How do I know? I came across this important story in my notes today. (Then I remembered.)

Here's the relevant bit from the Pioneer Press story from the public hearing:

The St Paul City council approved the Charles Avenue bicycle boulevard plan yesterday. The most important part of the project is a series of pedestrian medians and traffic diverters at the four points where Charles crosses the busiest streets: Marion, Dale, Lexington, and (most crucially) Snelling Avenues.

This part of the plan also proved to be the most controversial part of the project, as multiple business owners along Snelling protested bitterly any any design that would made it more difficult to drive around on this very busy street.

This reminds me.

Did you know that I've tried to cross Snelling Avenue every 28 years for the last century? It's true! I just found my trusty journal on the subject.

 

Crossing Snelling Avenue in 1916

"Oh my god I’m late!" You awake with a start from a short nap. "I’ll never make it to the store before they close."

You absolutely need some genuine swine lard for your stewpot, so you rush out the door and thank heavens that you live so conveniently close to W. T. McGillicudy and Son’s General Dry Goods, your local merchant. The shop, which sells everything under the sun, is just a two blocks away across Snelling Avenue.

You wedge yourself into your only pair of shoes, a hand-cobbled pair of lace up boots, and join the mass of people hustling down Charles Avenue on the last nice day of the year. The wind must be blowing the right direction, which means that soot from the factories is blowing the right direction. What a glorious morning!

"AOOOOOGA." The horn blares and you turn your head to see the grill of a pale yellow 1914 Mitchell Speedster growing larger, heading straight down the edge of Snelling, straight for you.

"You there! Ragamuffin! Mind my motorcar!" A dapper gentleman wearing a flatbrimmed boater shakes his begloved fist at you.

Lucky for you, the horseless carriage is only traveling at 16 miles per hour. You easily step out of the way, elsewhere onto the wide dirty street. You spit into the dirt and easily weave past a horse-drawn wagon, just like a dozen other people wandering across the road.


Crossing Snelling Avenue in 1933

"Hey, wake up." Jimmy tugs at your elbow. "Wake up."

"What?" you moan. Jimmy is your best friend, but he's annoying.

"Let's go down to Snelling and mess with the streetcar," he says.

"OK OK one second." You hike up your knickers and grab your cap. "OK already. Geewillikers."

You and Jimmy head out the back door so that his father doesn't notice, and walk down the alley to Snelling.

The street is full of people, a slow march of cars and trucks running alongside and two big green and yellow streetcars running down the middle. You sneak through the traffic as one of the big cars stops in the middle of the street and a dozen people climb down the streetcar steps onto the bricks below.

"Now." Jimmy's voice is like a dart in your ear. You're standing just by the bumper of the large machine.

You grab the cord holding the pole up to the back, both at once, and yank it to the side. It pulls off the wire with a clunk, and you hear the high whirr of the streetcar's fans start to slow.

"Hey! Somebody grab those kids!" The conductor shouts.

"Let's go!" Jimmy yells and runs off to the other side of Snelling. You chase after him. Somewhere in the distance a horn honks, a whistle blows, and you hear voices but you don't care.

Crossing Snelling Avenue in 1956

"Well, at least I'm not late," you think waking from your daydream. Work starts in a half hour. Plenty of time to walk there if you get going.

It's a warm day, a bit overcast, and you're thirsty. "Why not stop at the store?" you think. A glass of soda pop would be crackerjack.

It's on the other side of Snelling, and you walk up to the curb. The pale blue car approaches you and slows down. It's old man Grundy's car, his arm out the window. He stops to let you cross the street. "Move it along, skip," he yells out. "I'm not a spring chicken." Grundy drives away.

"I wasn't born yesterday," you mutter under your breath.

Two blocks away, behind you, the last streetcar in Saint Paul  pulls into the old garage on the corner for the last time. Later that day, a mobster from Minneapolis sets it on fire.


Crossing Snelling Avenue in 1973

"Oh crap." You wake with a start. "I'm late."

You had promised to pick up a can of Spam for on your way to Franky's house for dinner. Luckily there's a corner store on the corner. The only problem is that its on the other side of Snelling.

"Good thing I'm a locally respectable sprinter," you think, lacing up your new blue Adidas sneakers recently purchased at a locally-owned shoe store.

You crouch on the side of the concrete curb. Your legs tense with anticipation. A stream of large American sedans flows by, huge fenders glinting in the late-afternoon smog.

All your hours playing Frogger at the arcade drift through the back of your head as you crouch. Wait... There, off in the distance, a break in the three lanes of southbound cars.

You dash into the street, hurdling an AMC Gremlin and landing clean on the other side in the middle of the street.

All at once a huge grill appears before you, the letters F O R D growing larger as the SUV appears seemingly out of nowhere.

"What's an SUV?" you ask yourself, before rolling out of the way, and reaching out for the narrow strip of concrete between the two sides of traffic.

Not wanting to lose your momentum, you launch yourself back into traffic.

"Good god, I’m gonna die," you think, not for the first time.

Luckily your brand new pair of Adidas keep their precious grip on the light black asphalt, warm in the summer sun. Reaching out, the world seems to slow down and your fingers wrap around the mailbox. You are safe on the narrow beige sidewalk. You look back at the uninterrupted stream of cars, and somewhere, someone is singing a song. But you can't hear it. All you hear is the sound of unmuffled motors grumbling away. All you smell are the fumes of fully-leaded gas. 

Crossing Snelling Avenue in 1998

"Hey can I get a ride to the store?" asks your long-time live-in companion Margot, jostling your shoulder.

"Hey, I was sleeping," you mutter. "Which store?"

"You know, the only store. Target." says Margot, her blue beret jaunty and askew.

"Oh yeah. My car is making this weird noise lately. Can't you use your car?" you ask.

Margot wrinkles her nose. "Flat tire," she says. "That's why I need to go to the store."

"Why don't we use our third car?" I ask.

"Yeah but it's parked over there," Margot gestures westward, to the other side of Snelling Avenue.

"Oh yeah," you groan. "OK, I'll get it."

You step out onto the Snelling Avenue sidewalk, and walk seven blocks out of your way the the nearest stoplight, to press the beg button. After only seven minutes, the traffic light changes, showing the white WALK sign for a split second before starting to blink an orange warning. You hurry across the seven lanes of traffic and reach the other side just in time. Now its only seven more blocks to the car and home.


Crossing Snelling Avenue 2014

"Oh, I'm late." you mutter to yourself. "Look, its a CVS with a fake second story and frosted over windows. I bet they have the toothbrush I need so desperately." You're old by this time, and you say everything out loud now in a gravelly voice.

"Hey look," you mutter astonished, "a median and a crosswalk." You're old and slow but you can make it across the street now, and thanks to the city's innovative and successful pedestrian safety campaign, all the people driving cars stop for you and wait patiently while you hobble across the street in your velcro shoes.

Problem solved!

As you totter across the street, a passing chickadee craps on your toupée.


Update (from a friend):

Crossing South Snelling 2094:

You need to get a 200 gigabyte chip for your food activation ray at the Astromart on the east side of Snelling, but finding a break in the hovercraft traffic at 5pm is next to impossible. You wish they'd improved pedestrian crossings the way they did North Snelling at the beginning of the century. You make it across the first two lanes, narrowly avoiding a 240mph Sport Utility star cruiser who is video conferencing with his relatives on Mars and doesn't notice you as he whizzes by on the way to his suburban home in Waterloo, Iowa. Then, as you're crossing the third lane...

Reading the Highland Villager Op-Ed Extra #7

[Crosswalk flags at Grand Avenue; photo by me.]

Flashing signs to raise the profile of pedestrians on Snelling; Whether or not signs make them safer will depend on how pedestrians use them

by Dale Mischke

If you drive, bike or walk near the intersection of Snelling and Lincoln Avenues, you may have noticed orange flags on both sides of the crosswalk. You may also have seen pedestrians waving the flags as tjey cross Snelling, hoping to catch the attentin of approaching motorists. The flags are the brainchild of Gena Berglund, associate director of Macalester College's High Winds Fund, who crosses Snelling onfoot several times a day between her Macalester office aher Macalester-Groveland home.

For the past two weeks, High Winds Fund staff have kept about 14 of the flags in two plastic cyliners attached to the posts of the flourescent pedestrian crossing sgns at Lincoln. They are there for anyone to use to "narrow the risk" when crossing busy Snelling, according to High Winds Fund director Tom Welna.

In the last couple of years, three Malaester employees, two students and two neighbors have been hit by cars while trying to cross Snelling at Lincoln, according to Welna. Among the victims were Swinta Kay, 20, and Yacine Diouf, 19, two Macalester freshmen who were struck and seriously injured on May 28 in the southbound lanes on Snelling. Diouf was released from the hospital a day or two later. Kay suffered a traumatic brain injury and as of mid-June was still hospitalized, though in stable condition, Welna said.

Welna has been lobbying city and state officials for the past 18 months to install pedestrian activated signals at the crosswalk on Lincoln -- flashing lights that would give Snelling motrists a more visible warning of the presence of pedestrians. Installing four signs with signals on the boulevards and median would cost about $15,000, Welna said, and the High Winds Fund is willing to pay it.

Macalester's High Winds Fund -- established in 1956 by former Mac student and longtime Mac benefactor DeWitt Wallace to prevent the kind of urban blight he had seen in other neighbohroods surrounding colleges -- paid close to half the cost of the landscaped medians that were installed on Snelling between St. Clair and Grand Avenues in 2010. The medians were intended not only to beautify Snelling, but to slow traffic and provide a mid-street refuge for pedestrians, making it easier and safer for them to cross the street.

Welna met last week with St. Paul Public Works and Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) officials to discuss possible improvements to pedestrians afety at Snelling and Lincoln. "We want to do the right thing, something all parties can agree to," said Steve Misgen, a metro traffic engineer for MnDOT.

MnDOT had been hesitant to install pedestrian-activated warning signals at Snelling and Lincoln. Will motorists confuse the flashing pedestrian lights at Lincoln with the traffic signals at Grand? Misgen asked. Will pedestrians be emboldened to cross Snelling without giving motorists enough time to stop? [How dumb do Mischke and MnDOT think that people are? Seems like the answer to that falls somewhere between a potato and an adolescent orangutan.] Nevertheless, MnDOT and Public Works officials agreed on June 18 to give the pedestrian-activated flashers a try.

Sometime prior to the beginning of school in September, MnDOT will attach at High Winds' expense four rectangular Rapid Flash Beacons to the pedestrian crossing signs on the curbs and median on Snelling at Lincoln. Once activated by a pedestrian, the beacons will flash, warning motorists of the need to stop before the crosswalk. The flashing will continue for about 15 seconds, giving pedestrians enough time to cross all four lanes of Snelling. MnDOT will also install cameras at the intersection to record how pedestrians and motorists behave both before and after the flashing signals are installed. [Hey how about automatic red light cameras, NTOR laws, streets with 20 mph design speeds...]

Minnesota's crosswalk law states that where no traffic stoplights are present, motorists must stop to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians crossing within a marked crosswalk and at intersections where there is no marked crosswalk. Pedestrians should not make any suden moves in leaving the curb, nor should they walk or run into the path of a car so close it could not possibly stop.

In the case of the Mac students struck on May 27 -- and a local resident who was hit by a car there just a few days later -- the first Snelling motorists to approach the intersection stopped in the near traffic lane, but a second motorist in the far lane did not. Coming up from behind, the second motorists may not have seen the pedestrians starting to cross or realized why the first motorists stopped.

People may complain that too many motorists are not aware of the state's crosswalk law, but look around and it seems more people are aware of the law then ever. The problem may be in how the law is interpreted on a busy street like Snelling where stopping in traffic cam be hazardous for motorists. If you're a motorists amoung a stream of cars on Snelling, do you stop for a pedestrian on the curb and risk being rear-ended, or keep going in the belief that the pedestrian ought to wait for a bigger break in the traffic? If you're a pedestrian, do you leave the curb knowing that the law is on your side, or wait until two lanes of traffic have stopped before you cross? [I can't really comment on this paragraph. It hurts me.]

Of course, the crosswalk law can only do so much in protecting pedestrians from a run-in with a 3,000-pound vehicle traveling at 30 mph. Like the marked crosswalk or the florescent pedestrian crossing signs aready in place, the new pedestrian-activated flashing signs may not prevent another serious accident from happening at Snelling and Lincoln. When traffic is too heavy to wait for a break in the cars, pedestrians may still be safer simply taking the one-block detour ot the signalized crossing at Grand and Snelling.

Dale Mischke is co-editor of the Villager.

Reading the Highland Villager Op-Ed Extra #10

[Cleveland Ave before picture; dangerous street next to a University.]

Pros and cons of two road projects
By Michael Mischke

Two local road projects -- one all but a done deal and the other just a proposal -- share two common features: the laudatory goal of making the streets safer and the potential to cause serious unintended consequences. Let's examine the pros and cons of each.

Dedicated bike lanes on Cleveland Avenue along the 2.75 mile stretch from Eleanor Avenue in Highland Park to University Avenue in Merriam Park were approved by the St. Paul City Council on March 17. The controversial $362,000 project pitted individual bicyclists and bicycle advocacy groups against local residents and businesses who are concerned about the resulting loss of on-street parking on the narrower stretch of Cleveland north of Randolph Avenue.

In just the most recent battle in the ongoing war between bikes and motor vehicles in St. Paul, the bikes won 5-2 before the City Council. Ramsey County is now expected to give its blessing to the bike lanes. (Cleveland is a county road!)

[This is the only part of the column that annoyed me, the idea that there is a "war" between cars and bikes or that "individual bicyclists and bicycle advocacy groups" were "pitted" against local residents and businesses. 

The reality is the bike plan is part of a much larger movement. For years in Saint Paul there have been people from all over the city working on improving street design, walkability, and bike access for a whole bunch of different reasons including safety, sustainability, livability, personal and public health, and even local business reasons. Highland and Mac-Grove are full of people that want safer streets for bicycling, and there's a lot of local support for better streets and bike lanes that go far beyond the usual bike advocacy suspects. That's one reason that the Council vote was 5-2 in favor of bike lanes, and the Highland District Council vote was 14-0 in favor of the ped medians. 

In my experience, safer streets don't come at the expense of cars. On the contrary, making Snelling safer, and adding bike connections from Highland Village through both Colleges all the way to University Avenue, will improve the  neighborhood in many ways, including making it safer for drivers. Once you stop thinking that convenient parking is the only thing that matters, street design is no longer a zero-sum game.]

There's little doubt that bicycling on Cleveland will be safer and more popular after parking is banned, the bike lanes are striped and the speed limit is reduced from 30 to 25 mph.

There's also little doubt that another north-south designated bike route on the western end of St. Paul is desirable for the growing number of people who are biking for recreational and commuting purposes.

However, the loss of nearly all of the on-street parking for Cleveland Avenue residents and businesses will mean more traffic, and parking congestion on nearby side streets and the real possibility that customers of Cleveland businesses will opt to make their purchases where parking is more convenient and plentiful. There are already 10 resident-only permit parking districts near Cleveland Avenue owing to the presence of St. Thomas and St. Catherine universities. The added parking pressure on streets outside of those districts can be expected to create a push for expanded permit parking districts, thereby compounding the problem.

The Highland District Council has not come up with a plan to construct a series of center medians on Snelling Avenue between Randolph Avenue and Ford Parkway. There too the goal is to create a safer street by slowing down traffic, creating a safe haven for pedestrians crossing the street, and eliminating half of the left turns on to and off of Snelling from and to local side streets.

However, there too the benefits come at a cost beyond the estimated $2.25 million tab for construction. the eight-to-10-food-wide center medians would mean the elimination of nearly of the on-street parking on the east side of Snelling, pushing those vehicles onto local side streets. The elimination of half of the left turns to and from Snellign would force more motorists to use side streets to get where they're going. And access to the parking lots of local businesses would be restricted, further exacerbating parking and traffic congestion in abutting residential areas.

But Snelling serves the parking needs of more than just residents and businesses. The worshipers at three churches along that length of Snelling also use the street for parking, as do the people who attend services at three funeral homes, watch hockey games at the Charles Schulz Highland Arena, and hop buses to the Minnesota state Fair with the satellite shuttle service that operates annually from Gloria Dei Church. Those people too would be forced to find alternative parking elsewhere.

The board of the HDC voted 14-0 on April 7 to recommend going forward with the Snelling medians. The City Council must sign off on the project, as must the Minnesota Department of Transportation because Snelling is a state highway. Construction could begin next year.

Both of these road projects have the potential to improve the quality of life for people living in and traveling through local neighborhoods on these two arterial streets. But they also have the potential to increase parking and traffic in nearby residential areas and adversely affect the business that operate along those streets. A good case can be made that the cons outweigh the pros.

Michael Mischke is the publisher of the Villager.

[Well, I like this editorial because it least Michske lays out the facts in a pretty straightforward way, although his description of the Cleveland Avenue situation differs markedly from my own. The only strange part is the very end of the column, where Michske comes to the conclusion that convenient parking trumps walkability and safety. That's exactly the opposite conclusion that I make.

I think it boils down to a difference in vision for Saint Paul. Michske sees the goal of competing with the suburbs, places (as he says) "where parking is more convenient and plentiful." Presumably Michske's ideal kind of commercial land-use for Saint Paul would be one of the few places where the retail has a distinctly suburban character, like the Midway Shopping Center, the Highland Lunds' strip mall retail area, or maybe the Kowalski's or Trader Joe's stores. All of these buildings place parking front and center, and use a suburban design that values easy parking over walkability, a quality streetscape, or connection to the neighborhood.

Personally, I think the strength of Saint Paul's small businesses comes from creating walkable places without large parking lots in between all the buildings. People don't shop or dine in Saint Paul because its easy to park. They come for the unique neighborhood businesses, the quality public space, and because our streets are beautiful and historic. The more we can entice people out of their cars and onto the sidewalks of Selby, Marshall, Grand, St. Clair, or Cleveland, the more our businesses and communities will thrive. Safer, more walkable, more bikeable streets are a big step in the right direction.

If they are thriving, and as long as parking meters are voted off the island, high-demand areas like Grand or Selby Avenues will always be places where it's rare if you find a parking spot in front of the business. That means that  people will always complain about parking, either because its too expensive or too difficult. The solution isn't to pave more of our city for parking lots, but to create safe and inviting streets that people enjoy. Improving Saint Paul's streets and sidewalks will mean that customers will more gladly walk a few blocks or pay a few bucks. Great streets will make our unique local businesses all the more inviting. That's why, for both these projects, the pros greatly outweigh the cons. In fact, it's no contest.]

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SNELLING-UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT AND SOCCER STADIUM

[The place we're talking about.]

There's a "public meeting" tonight co-sponsored by Neighborhoods First, a group I quite like that has spearheaded the efforts to re-think Ayd Mill Road as a pedestrian, park, and bicycle space instead of a half-assed freeway.

To me, re-developing the "superblock" at Snelling and University is the same kind of thing: taking a space for cars and making it a space for people.

But there are lots of unanswered questions like these:



Q: WHERE WILL I GO TO GET DRIVE-THRU FAST FOOD ONCE THE MCDONALDS IS GONE?

I worry about this a lot. If this development happens as planned, soon there will only be the drive-thru at the Taco Bell, Hardees, Wendy's, Arby's, White Castle, Popeye's, and Culver's to get fast food while sitting in my idling car.

(Thankfully there's always the bank McDonalds and the McDonalds two miles to the West.)

[I'd like to get rid of this drive-thru as well.]

Q: WILL IT FINALLY BE SAFE TO CROSS SNELLING AVENUE ON FOOT?

Good god I hope so, but history tells us otherwise.


Q: SOCCER IS DYING YOU GUYS

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world.


Q: WILL THEY BE ABLE TO EXPAND OR IMPROVE THE SNELLING AVENUE SIDEWALKS?

One big tragedy about the situation is that MnDOT just spent millions of dollars reconstructing Snelling Avenue and the I-94 bridge but didn't really figure on safely accommodating lots of pedestrians. Of course, they even came up with a plan to do so full of good ideas.

But, you know, MnDOT.



Q: DO I TRUST BILL MCGUIRE?

[Private park built by Bill McGuire and "given" to the city of Minneapolis.]

About as much as most billionaires.

Which is to say, no. I'm not a fan of the for-profit health care business, for example. But at least he's better than Zygi Wilf? (Note: very low bar.)

I'm also not a fan of privately owned "public" parks. But Gold Medal Park could be worse? It's OK for meeting up for large group bike rides and it's photogenic, even if it is mostly useless as a true public space.

So I don't know. At least he's been coming to meetings and answering questions.

To me, the important variable is the surrounding development, and at first glance, the initial plans are very encouraging

But plans are one thing, and actual construction is another. It would suck if the development didn't actually happen. Getting strip mall owners to redevelop their property is difficult. That's my #1 fear.

[Planned land use.]

Q: WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE BOWLING ALLEY?

I hope it can move into new space, but bowling pin machines are extremely unmovable and the alley has sixteen (!) thirty-two (!!) of them.

[The bowling alley is under here.]

Q: WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE LIQUOR STORE?

It's a good liquor store. It's kind of like Saint Paul's Chicago/Lake Liquors, if Chicago/Lake Liquors had a parking lot that was twenty times larger.

I bet it'll be able to move into a new building if the owners want, though the timing might be tricky. Target sells booze now but I don't shop there if I can help it.


Q: WHAT ABOUT FINANCING?

[Early Metrodome rendering.]

From a simple financing perspective, the Metrodome was the best stadium of all time. But it sucked.

Point being that stadium financing is a terrible thing. I wish there was a blanket ban on public dollars going to fund private sports stadiums. So thanks Obama for that.

Even if there were a ban, it's likely that government would still pay for things near sports stadiums such as roads or other infrastructure (e.g. almost useless pedestrian ramps to light rail platforms heading the wrong direction).

Tax-funded infrastructure is a thing that happens for many developments, from a parasitic Walmart store to a residential cul-de-sac development to the very existence of a thing like a freeway or a transit line (at least, if it's not using a "value capture" financing model). This relationship holds true about a lot of things, and the city would likely be spending millions of dollars building new streets for any development that went into this site. (There were plans on the books years ago.)

[From the already-existing Snelling-University plans for a re-built street grid.]

I respect people who adopt black-and-white attitudes about stadiums, but for me the question is more relative. For example, I think Target Field is really well-designed and just about the best baseball stadium we could have built in Minnesota. I wish it hadn't cost so many tax dollars because I don't like that at all.

(Note: I also wish the Minneapolis Convention Center didn't get big subsidies. And oil companies. And freeway construction and maintenance. And the defense industry. More stuff too.)

Thus the relativity. If Target Field hadn't been built, would there have been tax-paying development on that site? Probably someday. Maybe even today. Would there be as much development in the North Loop? I don't know. It's awfully close to the garbage burner and the city's homeless shelter "LULU" zone. So it's hard to say.

Financing aside, I think Target Field is the best-case scenario for stadiums in the Twin Cities. The Vikings stadium is the worst. Actually, Target Center isn't that great either.

But that's a big caveat. Including financing, you'd have to say that this proposal seems like the best-case scenario. Then I'd rank the regions' stadiums like this: Saints (scale!) > [tied] Gophers football  =  [tied] Wild >  Twins (because of the $$$) > Wolves > Vikings (death star).

Would the Twin Cities be better off if all these stadiums simply had never been built? I have no idea.

Probably maybe?


Q: WILL THERE BE "TEMPORARY" SURFACE PARKING LOTS ON THE SITE WHILE WE WAIT FOR THE PROPOSED MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT?

If so, I hope it's VERY short-term.


Q: WHEN WILL THE RAINBOW FOODS SEE THE WRECKING BALL?

I hear it's the first to go, but it still won't be soon enough.


Q: WILL THERE BE TRAFFIC?

Yes. The corner of Snelling and University will always have lots of car traffic.

Should we keep half of University Avenue as a giant surface parking lot because traffic is bad on Snelling Avenue? Hell No.

Is traffic better or worse with the Green Line than it was before? I think it's about the same. Maybe even a bit lower. Certainly, people drive a bit slower and more safely. That's kind of interesting if you think about it.



Q: WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE DIVE BARS?

[Hot Rods.]

Won't someone think of the dive bars?

I'm thinking about the dive bars. I hope half of them stay around for a long time to come. I really don't want to see the old two-story University Avenue buildings torn down.


Q: WHAT ABOUT NOISE?

Hm. Honestly, a lot of people were worried about noise at the Saints ballpark, but it hasn't proved to be a problem at least not according to my Lowertown friends who have a performance space next to the Farmers' Market. I have heard that soccer stadium designers think very carefully about noise.

You know what noise really sucks? The constant sound of a thousand cars and trucks driving on a freeway or on Snelling Avenue which is pretty much a freeway at least by technical designation. Soccer fans literally sing, which is better to me than the sounds of an engine-braking semi truck. But like I said, I doubt anyone will be able to hear it from very far away.


Q: HOW WILL I BIKE TO THE STADIUM?

Let's say I'm a 22-year-old person living in somewhere to the Southwest in either Minneapolis or Saint Paul, within about a 10-mile radius of the new stadium. Riding a bike would be ideal! Too bad there's no direct way to get there.

Here's the route suggested in a recent city presentation:

[Pascal doesn't connect to Selby. which means you have to ride on Snelling or Hamline, which both suck.]

I think the team and the planners should take this problem very seriously. I doubt they will spend any meaningful money on solving the problem, which would be too bad.

One idea would be a few more Charles Avenue-style bike/ped crossing medians.

Another grander idea would be turning one lane of St. Anthony Avenue into a protected bike lane. Maybe even Concordia, too. Someone suggested that to me a while ago and at least it's intriguing.

Even bigger idea? Ayd Mill Road linear park / bike connection to Pascal Street.

The biggest idea? Greenway connection to Minneapolis.


Q: WILL THERE BE A TIF DISTRICT FOR THE MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT?

We don't know. At least CM Noecker raised the issue. I'm skeptical but open-minded on TIF but would like clarity and transparency about how it's used and the conditions for termination.


Q: WHAT WILL BE THE NON-MOTORIZED MODESHARE FOR SOCCER GAMES?

In Portland, I heard it was 70%. In Ottawa, I heard that they have a unique ticketing/parking system that reduces demand to the point where they didn't build very much on the stadium/development site.

This is what we should be focusing on.


Q: WILL PEOPLE PARK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD?

Yes, sometimes I'm sure that will happen. People park in lots of neighborhoods. Lots of people thought that when the Green Line was being planned, that the neighborhoods would fill with cars. Has it happened? I don't know. Not much?

Will it be hard to park near your house if you live in Hamline-Midway? Slightly harder maybe.  It depends on where exactly you live. How many cars do you own? How far can you walk while remaining in a good mood?

There will be 12 17 soccer games a year. I think it'll be OK. If it's horrible, there are some quick-fix solutions, though like traffic, the "parking problem" is not going to magically disappear.



Q: WILL THE NEW SKYSCRAPERS BLOT OUT THE SUN?

Hey they're pretty tall! It's kind of mindblowing to see the before-and-after photos.

Here check them out:

The big change reminds me of two or three other neighborhoods, all in Minneapolis, that have been utterly transformed in the last decade or so. I'm thinking of the Mill District, which used to be a sea of surface parking lots and a one-story liquor store and is now a dense mixed-use neighborhood providing thousands of people with homes and lots of tax revenue for the city. For me, the change is one for the better. In 1996, my friend and I used to pay $1 a day to park in a parking lot where the Guthrie is located today. I'm not nostalgic about it.

Stadium Village around the University, and Washington Avenue in particular, is almost unrecognizable compared to 5-6 years ago. It used to be a car-choked death trap with a few middling stores, a car repair place, the Army/Navy recruiter (still there!), brutalist institutional architecture, and unromantic "student houses." Today there are thousands of new units of housing and shiny new retail places (though Big 10 is still my favorite), and the street has become a walking/biking/transit paradise full of people.

You might say the same thing about the many new apartment buildings that have been built along the Midtown Greenway in Uptown. It's a dramatic positive change.

For decades, Snelling and University has been a giant trash-strewn parking lot with a run-down strip mall, a Radio Shack, a few vacant lots, a couple drive-thrus, an underground bowling alley, and a decent liquor store. It's been a terrible place to walk or bike or wait for the #21 to show up. Nearby development like the CVS (or even the Spruce Tree) have left a lot to be desired.

To me, these plans look revolutionary in a good way. It's about time Saint Paul started seeing some dramatic steps forward. Minneapolis has a few examples and Saint Paul has lots of opportunities for similar positive change. Details are important, but let's not lose sight of the big picture in the mind-numbing chaos of a lifetime of parking lots and honking cars.

Reading the Highland Villager #153

[Villagers in the foyer of the downtown Lunds.]

[Basically the problem is that the best source of Saint Paul streets & sidewalks news is the Highland Villager, a very fine and historical newspaper. This wouldn't be a problem, except that its not available online. You basically have to live in or frequent Saint Paul to read it. Until this newspaper goes online, sidewalk information must be set free. See also: Three Reasons Why I Re-Blog the Highland Villager.]  

Headline: HDC OKs plan to install median on Snelling Avenue
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: If the city somehow gets money from the State to build a median on the Southern end of Snelling Avenue [much like the median next to Macalester, where multiple people have been hit by car drivers while trying to cross the street]. The city would pay 3/5 of the $2M cost, and a State grant would cover the rest. [I think this is the last of the 8-80 money?] Neighbors are concerned about traffic and parking. Article quotes CM Tolbert on Snelling: "It's like a freeway at times." [It's specifically designed to be a freeway, in fact.] The neighborhood group wants 10' medians, but would settle for 8' medians with trees. [Better question is why not do a road diet here? Traffic counts are low enough, then you could add bike lanes or something.] Article discusses "Z-style crosswalks." MnDOT will have to sign off on any changes. Parking bays might be added by the funeral home or churches. Article quotes one neighbor: "I find crossing Snelling to be terrifying." Business owners are worried about access to parking lots. Article quotes owner of the piano store: "I like the idea and its goals; I just think it could cause trouble." [Little known fact: pedestrian medians have been the leading cause of vagrancy and crime in American cities since 1976.]
 

Headline: Sale of Penfield could net city $7.85M
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A downtown mixed-use apartment building that the city developed on its own is being sold for a profit. The money will go to clean up the Snelling-Univeristy site. Years ago when the building was financed using TIF money it was controversial. The TIF district will cease when the building is sold. [Meaning tax revenues will go into the general city coffers. Maybe downtwon density is a winning proposition?]


Headline: Another full summer of road work begins
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Roads require expensive maintenance on a regular basis. Article includes picture of a bicyclist "watching warily for an opportunity to cross Lexington Parkway." [This is highly unusual.] Article lists projects, including the construction of new ADA sidewalk ramps on Cretin between Ford and Summit, which were not installed during the"terrible 20" emergency paving thing a few years ago [but probably should have been]. After complaints from disability groups, the city is finally installing them. [Better late than never.]


Headline: Commission denies Nova Academy's appeal; Modified plan allows four-story apartment building near school
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The Planning Commission voted to allow an apartment building to be built in the Victoria Park area near a school there. The original master plans for the site were very different [because half the site cannot be built on because of unforeseen pollution]. Neighbors are concerned about traffic and parking. [I have heard that the school offers busing only for people living in Saint Paul, but many or most parents drive their kids there.] The school has a strange half-owned parking lot.


Headline: The greening of Central; School's parents raise half a million to transform south end of campus
Author: Kevin Driscoll

Short short version: Saint Paul's oldest high school "looks like a prison." A group of people want to make it look less like a prison. Ideas include: an outdoor classroom, a nicer fence, rain gardens, a nicer parking lot entrance. They are raising money to match the rest of the funds. [Fun game to play in the car while traveling: "school or prison"?]


Headline: Garden Theater restoration given six months to get going
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: And old movie theater on West 7th Street that people have been trying to restore for many years is applying for money to maybe restore it before it gets demolished. Article quote a neighbor who saw the film The Blob at the theater. It closed in 1959. [Wow.] The theater "has not parking lot of its own." [I don't understand how people can think this building will have a future if it has no parking lot.] Neighbors are concerned about traffic and parking.


Headline: Thirty-nine projects are wishing on a STAR grant or loan
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The city has a fund where different projects apply for money.  Lots of projects are applying for money.


Headline: Demolition delayed as groups attempt to save old fire station
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A developer wants to build a hotel [on a block that has long been dilapidated] and to tear down an old fire station that dates to 1871. Article includes quote from developer: I've saved a lot of buildings, but I'm scratching my head about this one." Article quotes neighbor: "this is a neighborhood that values its history and we value our historic structures." [Unless they're being demolished for parking lots?] The building has been used as a warehouse. Demolition has been delayed with a court order.


Headline: Neighborhood groups hold forum on proposed stadium
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Two grassroots neighborhood groups had a meeting about the new soccer stadium and surrounding development. Neighbors are concerned about traffic, parking, noise, and property values.


Headline: Neighborhood meeting set on Linwood School addition
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A arts school on Osceola Avenue might expand. Neighbors are concerned about traffic, parking, and the "scale of the neighborhood".


Headline: Financial adviser eyes Bayard property for office, residence
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A financial advisory might open an office on Bayard. It is zoned residential but has traditionally been mixed-use.


Headline: HPC raises a bottle to the history of brewing on West 7th; Vote returns gigantic beer, billboard-like signs to Schmidt site
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A 60-year-old giant beer bottle sign and billboard by the brewery on West 7th Street can stay.Apparently it is a "contributing structure." An anti-billboard group does not like the sign because of its inaccurate beer choices. [See my story on the group.] The neighborhood group had been using the sign to advertise Grain Belt [which is a Minneapolis-now-New Ulm beer and completely inappropriate]. The signs will have to be changed to advertise local businesses. Nobody knows how old the beer bottle is.


Headline: City Council to adopt new regulations governing group homes: But it rejects increasing the minimum distance between sober houses
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The city used to have a lot of categories for "congregate living facilities" but is reducing them to just a few. Sober houses in particular will not be required to be farther apart than they already are. Neighbors in Merriam Park are concerned about sober houses, density, traffic, noise, and parking. The City Council voted to keep the zoning changes as it, and not require sober houses to be more spread out. Zoning for these types of housing had not been changed since 1991. [I see both sides of this, and agree that group homes should be spread out through the city. But don't see why people in recovery were singled out.]


Headline: St. Paul seeks grant to address unstable slopes in Lilydale Park
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The city is trying to get $4.5M from the state to stabilize bluffs along a park that collapsed in a landslides a few years ago, killing two young people. Article includes some history of the area. Park advocates are sad about the loss of beautiful spaces along the bluffs. There is some debate about how to spend money if they get any money.

[Villager read while listening to Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte.]

Reading the Highland Villager #190

[A couple Villagers lurking in the periodicals.]

[Basically the problem is that the best source of Saint Paul streets & sidewalks news is the Highland Villager, a very fine and historical newspaper. This wouldn't be a problem, except that its not available online. You basically have to live in or frequent Saint Paul to read it. Until this newspaper goes online, sidewalk information must be set free. See also: Three Reasons Why I Re-Blog the Highland Villager.]



Headline: Council is poised to rezone Snelling for higher density; Change raises concern about congestion, pedestrian safety [Pedestrian safety?]
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: There was a study to change the zoning of properties along Snelling Avenue from 70s-era single-use zoning to mixed-use TN zoning [which is much better at improving pedestrian safety, by the way]. More density would be permitted. There was a hearing at the City Council. Neighbors are concerned about traffic and pedestrian safety. There is a aBRT transit line along Snelling now. There would be a mix of densities allowed. Neighborhood groups and the Planning Commission support the plan. Some people think Saint Paul needs more housing. Others thing that TN zoning will “lead to increased traffic congestion … greater hazards for pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles and the loss of the neighborhoods’ character.” [More density is good for pedestrian safety. Dangerous places are ones that are completely auto-oriented and encourage speeding.] One man said he wanted it all to be TN3 [the highest density zoning]. A woman in a wheelchair liked the plan also. One man is worried that Snelling has no medians. [This is fairly true! Also it has little to do with the zoning.] One man is worried about speeding on side streets. [Lots of solutions for that! Note: it passed on a 6-1 vote with CM Thao voting against, for some reason.]


Headline: Controversy over Ford site plan coming to a head
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The City Council will finally take up the Ford site zoning and public realm plan. There will be testimony at Council Chambers. There was a meeting at a church, and there were both red and green signs.  CM Tolbert got an amendment passed to reduce some heights, probably. Neighbors are concerned about traffic. One man quoted saying: “I don’t know how many of you pay rent, but it keeps going up.” [This is true.] Others are happy with the planned-for parks, or would like even more parks, depending. Quote from one woman against the plan: “It’s like frosting a cake before you bake it.” [Cake metaphor! Only cake metaphors from here on out, please. "Cake eaters." "Let them eat cake." "If I knew you were coming I'd have baked a cake."  "Three-layer cakes." "Can't make a cake without breaking a few eggs." "That's a-spicy cake-ball!" "There is no 'I' in C-A-K-E." &c.]


Headline: Bike-pedestrian trail plan progresses; New trails would provide a safe link to parks and trails in West End and Highland Park
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: An unused railroad spur could become a bike/ped trail. There will be drawings. More study is happening. There might be transit on the corridor also. The trail corridor is sometimes wide but sometimes not as wide.


Headline: BZA denies variances for 19th unit at Sannah’s apartments on Grand
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The Board of Zoning Appeals said that a guy who owns an apartment, and who used to play soccer, can have a parking variance but cannot add one more unit to it because he could not “prove practical difficulties.” [What about impractical difficulties?] If the property had TN zoning, it would be another story. [This is an example of why the Snelling rezoning seems wise.]


Headline: Council looks at midnight closing, other changes for city’s skyways
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The City Council is debating whether or not to let skyways closer to the public earlier. There was a public hearing. There is a list of new rules about what you cannot do in the skyways, which includes a lot of things that were probably already against the rules. Quotes CM Noecker: “We really need to raise the bar in our skyways.” People with disabilities are upset. People who own buildings are also upset but for different reasons. Quote from one owner: “The absurdity of the plan is breathtaking. It won’t work.” He would like more police in the skyways instead of security guards. One owner is locking their doors even though they are not supposed to. Young people hang out by the train station. There is a debate about whether “leaning”, “lounging”, or “kneeling” should be against the rules, or whether only "laying on the floor" should. [Oof da. These property owner quotes are not good. This is a truly depressing situation. Do the building owners simply want to privatize the skyways like in Minneapolis? Probably they do. That seems wrong given the public funding. I still would prefer having the skyways systematically and gradually removed. I would like this whole issue to go away and be replaced by one that had centered on the improving of actual public spaces. The new rules passed 5-2, IIRC.]


Headline: St. Paul seeks to restrict menthol tobacco sales
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The city might ban sales of flavored and menthol smokes like they just did in Minneapolis. Guy who owns a Frogtown gas station is upset. There is a coalition of convenience stores and gas stations that is upset also. [This is right up there with the all-powerful plastic bag lobby, except they are not all-powerful. When I was on Hennepin Avenue earlier this summer I saw this same group handing out fliers at the gas station with city council phone numbers listed on it. It had no effect.]


Headline: Selby-Victoria, Selby-Milton mixed-use projects gain support
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A group is going to try and build buildings on the long-vacant lots on Selby now. Neighbors are concerned about parking. Two restaurants opened up recently near there that are popular. The new building has a parking variance but whether it is needed depends on whether the building develops as “live/work” or not.


Headline: Committee discusses options for revitalizing Selby’s streetscape
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: There is some money for trying to improve the street along Selby between Dale and Lexington.There will be renderings. Ideas include lighting, murals, rain gardens, hanging baskets, spaces for the jazz fest. [Seems good. But meanwhile a few blocks away neighbors are concerned about parking.]


Headline: Planning begins for new play areas at Expo, Obama schools
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Two schools will get some new playgrounds.


Headline: Work finally set to begin this fall on Snelling Ave. medians
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Snelling will get medians between Randolph and Ford Parkway. [See also, crossing the street on Snelling Avenue.] They will be 8’ wide, and be done by spring. A funeral home will get a turn lane / curb cut. [I bet the guy who runs the other funeral home that did NOT get a curb cut by the Charles Avenue bikeway median is pissed.]


Headline: UPDC requests zoning study of Marshall west of Snelling
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A neighborhood group wants to look at zoning on Marshall because they are worried about “the loss of historic homes and the development of taller infill buildings.” [Personally, I am not aware of much / any Marshall development except for right along the river? And those buildings seem great.] Some people want a development moratorium. CM Stark has to make the request.


Headline: Council approves license for Alchemy health, fitness club
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A person can open a health club on Cleveland Avenue now. Neighbors are concerned about parking, noise and vibrations. [Like people grunting really loudly?]


Headline: City strives to renovate its rental stock by offering no-interest loans
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The city is going to create a loan fund for fixing up rental properties, from single-family to four-plex. Many small rental properties are run down. The program comes with a commitment from the landlord that they will keep the buildings affordable for the next ten years. [This is a good example of the paradox around affordable rental housing. Fixing up buildings is simultaneously bad because it leads to rent increases and good because it is obviously better. This seems like a program that gets around that dilemma.] 


Headline: Cinema’s on a roll; Renovated Trylon foresees growing interest in Hollywood movies of old
Author: Bob Gilbert

Short short version: Trylon is expanding and will re-open in any day now! [I remember with such fondness the old days of art cinema in Minneapolis, watching movies at Oak Street for example. Trylon is doing exactly that. They are great. Go there and watch movies you’ve never heard of. Now with comfy seats!]

Walkability is in the Details and Cities Keep Neglecting Them

One of the most critical things I’ve learned about active transportation and street design is that you have to use it to understand it. The 1000’ birds-eye view from which most engineers or architects look at a problem does not to justice to the particular demands of creating a walkable space. Similarly, the 40 miles per hour windshield perspective leaves a lot of important factors out of the picture, and many decision-makers that only see projects from behind their steering wheels or peering through an open window. So many important design details are lost. Nothing compares to actual street-level use of a sidewalk.

[The Wabasha Bridge and the West Side.]

Here’s a great example of what I mean. Way back in the winter of 2015, Ramsey County began tearing down the old county jail built along the bluff at Wabasha and Kellogg Boulevard. It’s a prime spot at the heart of downtown, and the county was hoping to spur interest from developers in building something here.

(So far, they’ve had one serious offer. Unfortunately it came with a huge caveat: a demand for a huge publicly funded parking lot. Fortunately, the County rejected the proposal.)

One consequence of demolishing the building, though, was that it removed the sidewalk access to half of the Wabasha Street bridge, one of the critical pedestrian and bicycle links between downtown and the West Side where I live.

I found this out the hard way one winter morning when I began walking up the sidewalk of the bridge on my way downtown. It was a winter day, and the sidewalk was nicely cleared.



Unfortunately, more than halfway up the bridge, I found a concrete barrier with the announcement SIDEWALK CLOSED and a fence installed.

[On that day, the closure would have added 3/4 mile to my walk.]

At this point, there was no way on or off the bridge sidewalk, other than a staircase that led down to an island in the middle of the river. My choices were a) to walk back the way I came, run across a busy road, and walk back on the other side a total of 3/4 of a mile or b) hop the fence and continue walking on the dangerous icy margin of the road while cars sped blindly around the blocked-off corner.

Like any good militant pedestrian, I hopped the fence. It was harrowing.

Later that day, on February 10th, 2016, I emailed my Council Member and West Side neighbor, Rebecca Noecker:

Walking across the bridge this morning was a delight until I reached the middle of the bridge. Apparently the city is closing the sidewalk access halfway through the bridge on the West side. For someone on foot, the only if you want to get across the river are to go down the stairs to Raspberry Island, turn back and walk across the bridge on the other side after crossing the street (only legally back at Filmore, which is quite a walk!), or continue forward and have to hop a jersey barrier and almost get hit by turning cars, made worse because of a fence sign placed right in the sightline. You cannot cross to the other side of the bridge because you will fall to your death. (This has happened once.) 

None of those options are good ones. The city should either keep access open to the crosswalk or close it completely on this side of the street.

Closing off the sidewalk might have seemed like the prudent decision for the County when they planned the demolition, but in reality, it’s a meaningful hindrance for walkability on the West Side. For many pedestrian trips to and from the West Side, having the sidewalk closed means crossing busy streets one, two, or three times. That might not seem like much while you’re driving around or looking at a map, but over time it matters for creating a walkable place

What’s worse, there was no meaningful end point for this needless detour. Nobody at the County has any idea when or if this site will be developed. Waiting for a new building and sidewalk to be built at this bridge might take two years or two decades.

Since my 2016 email, I’ve been chatting once in a while with Council Member Noecker about the sidewalk. According to her, she’s been emailing the County regularly, every few months, to check in on getting the sidewalk re-opened.

Flash forward to today, and it’s two-and-a-half years later.

According to Council Member Noecker, earlier this year the County budgeted money to install an “interim” concrete fence that would allow the sidewalk to be re-opened. Initially there were problems when the installation did not make the sidewalk wide enough, and they had to be tweaked again.

[From February 2016 to July 2018 is two and a half years.]

Finally, just last week, I saw a crane lifting the concrete jersey barriers off the bridge sidewalk and re-opening it to the public. The other day I walked over the west sidewalk of the Wabasha Bridge. 

To many people, this might seem like a very small detail, almost inconsequential. But to me, it was an important step toward making sure that walkability and access are always included in urban street projects. Having both bridge sidewalks open and available to people will make a small but meaningful difference in people’s lives.

PS. There's Always More

This just crossed my desk from a friend. It's a pedestrian closure on Snelling Avenue, another street that is difficult and dangerous to cross on foot.

[Photo taken August 2018.]

Here's the email he wrote:

CM Tolbert and Director Lantry, 

The lack of a safe pedestrian detour around the construction at Snelling & St Clair was brought to my attention this morning. This is completely unacceptable. First, there shouldn't be a sidewalk closed on Snelling Avenue less than a block from an A-Line station. The parking lane should be protected with jersey barriers and made pedestrian accessible for the entire length of the construction zone. No one should be forced to cross Snelling Ave twice to reach the transit station. Second, the "sidewalk closed" sign should be moved to the (only slightly) safer crossing of Stanford. Once the forced crossing is established at Stanford, there should be a painted crosswalk with a middle-of-the-road sign stating "state law requires drivers stop for pedestrians." 

Finally, this happens nearly every time there's a project that necessitates the closure of the sidewalk. Public Works needs to create and enforce a comprehensive plan to address this during the permitting process. If a sidewalk is to be closed, then the contractor must do a better job of accommodating our most vulnerable right-of-way users. 

Please address this specific instance today and work to ensure this is preemptively addressed for future construction projects by creating appropriate procedures.

When it comes to walkability, the devil is in the details. And in Saint Paul, we often get those details wrong.