The prospect of a five-mile elevated bikeway running along Summit Avenue — the longest continuous stretch of Victorian homes in the nation — has prompted more than a third of the 30 candidates for St. Paul City Council to speak out against the plans, which were approved by the council in May despite opponents’ concerns about potential impacts to trees, parking and aesthetics.
Seven candidates from across the city’s seven political wards gathered Wednesday at Cochran Park by Western and Summit avenues for a speak-out. The candidates pledged that, if they win office, their first act would be to repeal the Summit Avenue regional trail project, which has yet to be funded.
“It’s one of the most beautiful streets in the country,” said Ward 1 candidate Travis Helkamp, noting the avenue has longstanding in-street bike lanes. “We don’t need to tear it up for a bike lane that it already has.”
The event was organized by Robert Bushard, a candidate for the Ward 4 office currently held by Council Member Mitra Jalali.
In addition to Bushard and Helkamp, speakers at the event included Ward 2 candidate Peter Butler, Ward 3 candidate Patty Hartmann, Ward 3 candidate Troy Barksdale, Ward 5 candidate Pam Tollefson and Ward 6 candidate Gary Unger.
Several other candidates — Ward 2 candidate Bill Hosko, Ward 1 candidate James Lo, Ward 5 candidate David Greenwood-Sanchez and Ward 7 candidate Dino Guerin — said they were unable to attend but sent statements of support, according to Bushard.
St. Paul Public Works officials have estimated that installing a protected bikeway raised to be level with the sidewalk could lead to the removal of some 220 trees from the avenue, which is overdue for a full reconstruction in any event. Opponents believe tree impacts could be four or five times that number.
“The Summit Ave Regional Trail Plan is predicated on the false assumption that ‘Summit Ave needs to be reconstructed anyway, because the infrastructure is 100 years old,’” said Bushard, in a written statement. “The infrastructure is not broken and does not need repair or replacement that requires destroying the avenue and up to 950 trees.”
He noted that storm sewers were separated from waste sewers in the 1990s. Electrical upgrades could, in theory, be accomplished by driving 20-foot pipes carrying electrical wire underground for the entire block, like a raceway, as has been done along Cleveland Avenue, he said.
City officials have called a regional trail an important east-west connection linking existing bike trails along the Mississippi River to trails closer to downtown, and noted that a protected bikeway would invite all ages to enjoy the avenue.
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