“I’m beginning to know what Charlie Brown feels like,” lamented Dave Pasik. “I keep running to kick that football, and the last minute, Lucy pulls it away.”
At Wednesday night’s St. Paul City Council Public Hearing, the football is the Jefferson Avenue Bikeway, or at least parts of it. Charlie Brown is cyclists, Jefferson Avenue residents, disability advocates, and pedestrians. Lucy is Council Member Chris Tolbert and the rest of the City Council.
The Jefferson Avenue Bikeway, a bike boulevard that will be realized on Jefferson Avenue from Mississippi River Boulevard in the east to the High Bridge in the West, has a lot of history in planning. At about 2:31pm that night, local blogger Bill Lindeke tweeted:
Editor
“Big St. Paul meeting at St P city hall at 5:30,. Last minute amendment stripping out much of the Jefferson bike plan: show up if you can.”
Mary Turck asked me to check out this last minute maneuver. I hopped on the bus and ended up on the same bus as Bill, them disembarked at the same stop and biking down the same road to City Hall. I’d never seen his picture, but I knew it was him. He looked and biked like a writer.I went through the City Hall security checkpoint where the guard confiscated my wine corkscrew and bottle opener (I work in the service industry) and my helmet. I then changed into long slacks so I could kinda sorta look like a reporter. Ward 3 Legislative Aide Nicole Wittig-Geske was working double-time to get people copies of the amended Jefferson Bikeway resolution (PH 12-69) and to sign us up to speak for or against the resolution. The amendment (please click the link in the previous sentence for text) removes most traffic circles, and modifies the crosswalks and pedestrian signals at some intersections. This was a dodgy question, as many were for the resolution before amendment but against the amendment.
At about 6:40pm, we arrived at the public hearing for PH 12-69. Tolbert introduced the amendment to the resolution, then Council Member David Thune amended the amendment, asking that one of the traffic circles removed by Tolbert’s amendment be moved to Jefferson and Duke.
Emily Erickson, St. Paul’s Sustainable Transportation Planner, gives an overview of the project’s four-year history. In February of 2008, the City applied for federal funding for a bikeway on Highland Parkway and Jefferson Avenue. Only Highland was approved, but the Highland District Council voted down the bikeway. In 2009, the City considered reapplying for Jefferson Avenue only, and soon, the Macalester Groveland Community Council and the West Seventh/Fort Road Federation issued letters of support. In March 2009, Transit for Livable Communities allocated federal money to the project. The next 15 months had extensive public hearings (there have been 23). Elements of the project were approved by City Council. Then came two more years of testing and public hearings.
The design features approved include bike lanes, sharrows, cyclist-specific way-finding signage, dynamic speed display signs, a speed limit reduction, traffic circles, improved lighting, advanced crosswalk signals, zebra-style crosswalks, two-sided parking, and removing or adding stop signs.
After Emily’s presentation, the public comment portion began. There were 4 against the bikeway resolution in any form, 16 for the resolution without amendments, and 4 for the amended resolution, roughly. The opposed spoke first.
Gary Fisher (which may be a pseudonym, as it is also a bicycle brand) of Saratoga Street spoke first against the bikeway. “We don’t have any money.” Colleen Kelly of Juliet Avenue said, “I resent my neighborhood being used as a social experiment.” Larry McEntire, who owns a house on Jefferson, said he “objects to expenditure of additional funds on Jefferson,” and that it was fine the way it is. He followed with saying that advanced stoplights are unnecessary because “exercise bikers don’t stop anyways.”
The next two speakers had signed up to speak against the resolution, but were in fact against only parts of it. Brian Valento of Macalester Avenue said he was pro-everything in the resolution except what he called “concrete crop circles.” Jessica Treat, Lafond resident and Executive Director of St. Paul Smart Trips, said that “’good enough’ misses the point… calm and safe streets.” She said the last minute amendment “subverts public process.”
At this point, it became clear that the division of those for and against the resolution was confusing and flawed, and it was decided to give each remaining speaker two minutes. Gary Fisher left the room shaking his head, as it became clear that instead of each side having 15 minutes as planned, the people for the bikeway would have more time than those against.
The first speaker in the for-bikeway-against-amendment group was Amber of Sargent Avenue who spoke with her baby in her arms. She said she chose her residence based on its location, proximity to daycare, and road safety. She said her perspective of what is safe changes dramatically when there is a trailer on her bike. Deb Jeston of Jefferson said that the opposition to the bikeway does not live on Jefferson, but gets disproportionate attention because “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” She said she bikes on the sidewalk because as is, “on Jefferson, cars rule.” Patrick Kampy of Jefferson expressed disappointment in the length of the process and the “Eleventh Hour amendement.” Elizabeth Fable of Jefferson said she was “proud to live on the Jefferson Avenue Bikeway” and was disappointed by the loss of traffic circles. Bob Spaulding, the St. Paul Transportation Committee Chair and the Planning Commissioner, said the resolution before amendment was approved by the Committee 14-0 after much deliberation and should not be changed.
Finally, we had a few people who had signed up in favor of the amendment. Andy Singer of Berkeley Avenue said he likes traffic circles and said that the percentage of cyclists as commuters far exceeds the money spent on cyclists. Jim Skoville, Professor Emeritus of Industrial Relations at the University of Minnesota, said he was in favor of the advanced pedestrian stoplights as people with mobility issues have difficultly crossing fast enough on the old stoplights. I spoke last, saying that the bikeway will be used by Minneapolitans as well as St. Paulites, and that I disapproved of the amendment, but welcomed the overall resolution.
Shaken after speaking without much of a plan (I was busy taken notes and had changed my mind on speaking until my name was called), the Council vote was anticlimactic, though it was what matters legally. The council voted unanimously to approve the amended resolution.
Tolbert then spoke on his decision to amend the resolution. He said that there were five viewpoints to accommodate: 1. in favor of a complete bikeway, 2. in favor of calmer and less traffic, 3. status quo, 4. anti-roundabout, and 5. fiscal conservatism. He said he did not want residents to feel like the decision was shoved down their throats, so he compromised.
I left the room then at 7:42pm, weary of discussion, and tried to make sense of what happened. The majority of interested parties did not find out about the amendment in time. Of those who did, the consensus of Jefferson residents was to keep the resolution as is – with traffic circles. The plan will go forth without.
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