In the midst of light rail construction, it's important to reflect on progress, problems, and possibilities.  While construction continues to cause minor inconveniences for most of us, University Avenue businesses continue to be the most directly impacted.  By all accounts, organized efforts to get people to patronize businesses on the Avenue are effective to an extent, but many businesses still report losing customers during construction.

 

With informational workshops starting this week, businesses with well-documented business losses will be able to access a $4 million emergency loan fund and apply for forgivable loans of up to $20,000 per business.  This program is being funded by a combination of the Metropolitan Council and the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative, and is being administered by the City of St. Paul and nonprofit partners.  More details on the emergency fund can be found

here.

 

In the meantime, I urge all of you to continue to find ways to patronize the businesses on University Avenue for your everyday needs.  The Discover Central Corridor loyalty/discount card and accompanying information can be found here. All of the businesses -- from the restaurants to the unique retail stores, the salons to the convenience stores -- could really use some additional business during this difficult construction period. 

 

As the curbs are being poured and preparations are being made for repaving the south side of University between Emerald and Hampden and moving onto the north side the week of June 27, there are also positive indicators of new interest in development along University Avenue: 

• St. Paul Federal Credit Union plans to convert the old Embers site at University/Fry into a branch credit union with their administrative offices above.   
• Project for Pride in Living is planning a mixed-use retail and workforce housing development on the north side of University between Hamline and Syndicate.   
• Episcopal Homes is planning an expansion of their senior living campus onto the former Porky's site.   
• Avalon School is relocating from their building near University and Fairview to the old Sewell Gear Building on Raymond South of University.  
• Planned Parenthood's new clinic and administrative office are under construction at Vandalia and Charles.   
• The Saint Paul Port Authority is preparing to work with a private developer to build a new office/showroom type building at 648 Pelham.

In the meantime, the City is beginning to explore options for the best use of the 2-lanes in each direction on the new University Avenue.  The primary issue being explored is the feasibility of only having one thru lane of traffic in each direction (for all or part of the day) in order to be able to bring back on-street parking, along with pull-outs for bus stops and right turn lanes.  This is fundamentally a question about whether to emphasize access to destinations along the Avenue or throughput of vehicles, given the constraints of the new roadway with light rail running down the center. 

The Nice Ride green bike-sharing program will expand into St. Paul this summer, with 20 new locations within a mile north and south of University Avenue between Minneapolis and Dale Street.  Nice Ride is planning further expansion of the system in 2012, including into downtown St. Paul and beyond.  Nice Ride offers daily rates or an annual membership, in addition to charging for time beyond 30 minutes.  Nice Ride provides a great option for making the last or first leg of a trip on transit, or just a convenient way to get to destinations within a few miles of where you are.  Find more information here. 

 

The bicycles are located at bike kiosks or "stations," and the payment system is all done by credit card, unless you become a member and simplify things further by getting a bike key fob.  A great new "app" on-line gives you real-time mapped information about how many bikes are available at a given station but also where there are available slots to park a bike at the various stations.  My wife, Betsy, adds that the Nice Ride bikes are good for "getting around in lady clothes" and not having to worry about a bike lock or finding parking at popular destinations. 

 

 

Summer is often the season for a variety of nuisance complaints like unmowed lawns to behavior issues like neighbors being loud late into the night.  The Police and the Department of Safety and Inspections want residents to call about problems, as that's the only way we'll find out about them.  Occasionally, our office will get calls from constituents who have been dealing with a problem for a long time but they've never called about it or didn't get an appropriate response. 

 

Your first step should be to call in a code/nuisance issue to Safety and Inspections at 651-266-8989. 

 

If you're dealing with a public safety issue, noise, or a neighbor's backyard fire that's turned into a nuisance, you should call the police.  In an emergency, always call 911.  If it's not an emergency, call 651-291-1111.

 

In either of these cases, if you don't get the results you're looking for, please call my office at 651-266-8640.