Why am I always writing about transportation?
Some of you may be wondering why the Ward 4 e-news often seems transportation heavy. I wanted to take a minute to explain why transportation issues are often at the top of my priority list.
I believe that after public safety, developing our "human capital" - the education, skills, and abilities of the people (particularly children) in our community - is perhaps the most critical thing we can do to assure a better future. The City, however, plays only a supporting/minor role in this area, with education and "human services" being largely the domain of the school district, and county, state, and federal governments. Transportation infrastructure (along with land use policy, i.e. zoning and planning) is also a fundamental building block of a livable and sustainable community, and it is one where local government plays a primary role.
The competitive advantage of cities is that we live and work in proximity to so many other people. Both the literal marketplaces of old and the figurative "marketplace of ideas" thrive on proximity and daily interaction with a diverse group of people whose skills and abilities complement our own. Transportation infrastructure expands the sphere of our connections, improving our access to all of those interactions - economic, social, cultural, etc. - that make up our lives.
From the 1930s through the end of the last century, most transportation infrastructure in the City of St. Paul was designed to provide for faster and more free-flowing movement of cars. The underlying idea behind these changes made perfect sense - make it easier for people to get to where they want to go in less time. But there are unintended, negative consequences of wider streets, expanded freeways, and bigger parking lots. Accommodating more cars makes it harder to get around in other ways (walking, bicycling, transit). And like other regions (LA, Houston, Atlanta) we can no longer afford to keep adding more lanes and car capacity, and every year we spend more time stuck in traffic.
To be a successful city, we need to attract people to live and work here, based on our competitive advantages. Good transportation infrastructure that balances modes of travel, coupled with appropriate zoning, lures developers to invest and people to live and work nearby. Abundant evidence of this fact can be found along new transitways, roadways, and greenways in our region and around the world.
So I am determined to build on our competitive advantages and make St. Paul an even better place to live and work. Who wouldn't want to be in a safe, attractive, diverse community with good schools, where it is also safe and easy to walk, bike, ride transit, and drive to the places you need to go?
|
New Library Board Chair
 | |
Councilmember Stark with Library Director Kit Hadley
|
I was honored when my colleagues voted for me to become the new Chair of the St. Paul Public Library Board. St. Paul is the only city in the Twin Cities region that still runs its own library system, with all of the other systems being operated by counties. We take great pride in our system of 13 branch libraries, and there is amazing work happening to respond to the changing ways in which residents use and want to use libraries. I look forward to this great new opportunity to continue the tradition of having one of the finest public library systems in the country. We are lucky in St. Paul to have such a strong ally in the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library, and in Ward 4 to have groups that work to support the St. Anthony Park and Hamline Midway branches.
|
Rapid bus routes planned for Snelling Ave and West 7th
Metro Transit recently released the results of a study that looked at 11 of the regional bus system's heavily-used routes, exploring ways to attract more riders and improve service.
The result is a proposal to improve the frequency and quality of service on Routes 84 and 54, on Snelling and W. 7th streets. Off-board fare collection, traffic signal priority, and at-grade boardings, and fewer stops, among other changes, would reduce bus travel times by nearly 30% on the Route 84.
Improved service on Snelling could be a big boon for Ward 4 and the City of St. Paul, improving connectivity to the green line (formerly Central Corridor) from the Como, Hamline-Midway, Union Park, and Macalester Groveland Neighborhoods. The downside from an overall mobility perspective would be that in order to help bus travel times, the buses would stop in the travel lane on Snelling rather than pulling out into dedicated bus stops. Though the open houses on this concept wrapped up on March 7, you can learn more and find contact information for submitting input here.
|
Discover Central Corridor and construction segment 2 businesses!
Light rail construction is back, which means it's the season once again to support your favorite University Avenue businesses in the construction zone AND find new favorites! Discover Central Corridor is a great resource to find out what's happening on the Avenue and to find new businesses to support.
|
2011 Light Rail construction: a retrospective
2011 was the heaviest year of light rail construction for Ward 4. In mid-March, Walsh Construction began removing pavement at University and Emerald. By December 1, the vast majority of the work in the Emerald to Hamline segment was completed, including new water mains, sewers, street, sidewalk, permeable boulevard pavers, street lanterns, and colored concrete crosswalks. Partially completed were the Westgate, Raymond, Fairview, and Snelling station platforms, the embedding of rail in the guideway, the planting of trees in the boulevard, and the area between Prior and Cleveland Avenues. In all, 82 businesses were granted 99 forgivable loans (up to a total of $20,000 per business) to help relieve the impact of lost revenues during construction. Overall, many of the more established and unique destination retail type businesses lost less in sales than they anticipated, while the smallest businesses seemed to lose a larger percentage of their revenues (20-60%).
The Neighborhood Commercial Parking Program came into full swing, building 11 off-street parking projects where 86 new spaces were created, in addition to improving entire parking areas. Additional funded projects, including two at the northern corners of Snelling and University moved into final design work.
Over the course of the year, the pace of construction was quite uneven. It started too slowly, and too much of the street was torn up at once. As spring turned to summer, the pace of construction picked up, and by the fall the contractor (with the help of dry, mild weather) was able to make up for lost time and get the vast majority of the work completed.
There were a number of localized challenges, from a gas main being severed requiring the evacuation of a block, to cross-streets being closed unexpectedly or for longer than originally anticipated.
I continually alerted Met Council and the contractor to the issue of confusing, poor, and sometimes downright dangerous pedestrian crossings and access. We heard stories or witnessed firsthand people in wheelchairs needing assistance to navigate around the construction zone because sidewalks were blocked, signage was inadequate, or both.
Some of the traffic that would normally be on University Avenue was displaced, and as a result many of the smaller, quieter streets just off of the Avenue saw an uptick in traffic. My office worked with St Paul Police to increase enforcement on those side streets.
The new University Avenue, now coming into clearer perspective, is a very different, much improved place. It looks remarkably better, and traffic movements along the street are much more smooth and predictable. At night, the new pedestrian-scale street lanterns that replaced the old "bent straw" highway lights give the street a warmer, more human-scaled feel. Crossing the Avenue as a pedestrian seems much safer and easier, as one only has to focus on crossing two lanes (from the same direction) at one time.
As 2012 construction begins, the lessons learned from 2011 will hopefully be applied effectively by the Metropolitan Council, in concert with the contractors.
In the meantime, developers are beginning to line up projects and invest along University Avenue. To name a few projects in the works:
- Construction is underway to convert the Chittenden and Eastman building into apartments (at University and Raymond).
- The former SpinCycle (Simpson & University) is being converted into a new Culver's restaurant, and the retail building on the other end of the block is being refurbished.
- Episcopal Homes is planning another expansion onto the former Porky's site that will add a Memory Unit as well as additional assisted and independent living.
- Project for Pride in Living is planning to build workforce housing apartments above new retail stores at Hamline and University, on one of the former card dealership lots.
- Habitat for Humanity is moving ahead with plans to build its new offices on the site of the Zimmerman Building at Prior and University.
One small step at a time, our vision of a more vibrant and bustling community along University Avenue is being realized. Several of these projects will add to the City's property tax base, reducing the burden ever-so-slightly on other property taxpaying properties. |
|
