Sunday, January 28, 2024

Minnesota Court of Appeals

The SOS legal team filed a brief with the Minnesota Court of Appeals. We are sharing the brief with all of you because it includes our best arguments for why the City of Saint Paul should conduct an Environmental Assessment Worksheet now, to finally address the issues ---

1. How many trees will be uprooted and destroyed? (our expert says 1,000 trees conservatively)
2. How will the symmetry of of the streets (curb lines) on the east half of Summit be impacted? (Bolton Menk engineering firm hired by the City said -- don't do it.)

Bottom line -- if the City wants the best for its constituents, why not conduct the EAW and deliver the answers.

For your reading pleasure, click the link below to read the brief:

In the Matter of the Petition for an Environmental Assessment Worksheet for the

Summit Avenue Regional Trail Project

Timeline:

• The City must file their response brief by February 5, 2024.
• The Court of Appeals will assign a panel of judges.
• A date for oral arguments will be assigned.

Stay tuned here for all the play-by-play action.

If you are on nextdoor.com for your community, there has been a lot of chatter representing all sides pertaining to safe biking, separated trails vs. painted bike lanes, tree preservation - or lack there of - in Saint Paul. It may be enlightening. And we also encourage you to share content on our savesummitavenue.org website and our social media channels all linked on the bottom of our website.

Coming Up

Public Hearing on the new bike plan

Friday, February 2, 8:30 am, Room 40 City Hall (Basement). The Saint Paul Planning Commission has set a Public Hearing to take public comments on the Saint Paul Bicycle Plan to put in 150-200 miles of separated bike trails across the city. Formal comment on the Bicycle Plan can be made in any of the following ways: 

• In-person on February 2
• By emailing bikes@stpaul.gov
• By U.S. Mail to Saint Paul Planning Commission, c/o Jimmy Shoemaker; 800 City Hall Annex; 25 West Fourth Street; Saint Paul, MN 55102

All email and U.S. Mail comments must include name and address. Comments should be received by January 31 at 4:30 pm. Let's be sure that the Planning Commission hears from us (Avalanche...deluge).

Here are a few bullet points of serious issues to keep in mind that are similar to the concerns for Summit Avenue:

We need to protect the mature tree canopy.

The city's bike trail plan for Summit Ave shows the trail will cut into the grass boulevard by three feet on both sides for over 62% of the length of the avenue. The increased risk to boulevard trees will be catastrophic, as well as the loss of green space. Will this be the formula for the rest of the city too?

We prioritize safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

Retaining existing on-street bike lanes is the safer approach. We want bike lanes marked for higher visibility and driving lanes narrowed to add more buffer and slower traffic everywhere in the dense city neighborhoods.

Parking needs to be preserved as an accessibility right.

Not only do residents need parking in front of their homes, schools and churches need parking, as do area businesses. This is a significant accessibility issue.

More data/research can be found at Who is Save Our Street?

Please send written comments, even if you plan to speak at the Hearing.

Here's a link to the city-wide St. Paul Bike Plan:

City-wide bike plan

We are very grateful for donation made to the SOS campaign. The work continues and we ask that if you can contribute, please do!

·     The litigation efforts take money, and we need your help financially. 

• Please go to the website savesummitavenue.org to donate, or send a check to the following address:

Historic Summit Avenue – SOS

c/o Francis Luikart

1905 Summit Avenue

St. Paul, MN 55105

• Our legal team will provide regular updates to SOS Sustainers (>$500)

• Remember that SOS is a 501(c)3 non-profit.

Historic Summit Avenue

dba Save Our Street

EIN 92-3253633

• If you would like to host an event for friends and neighbors to support SOS, please let us know and we will have a member of our ‘speakers bureau’ attend to provide an update.

Photo taken January 2023. Let's protect our Saint Paul trees doing the important work year round:

storing carbon, providing shade, emitting oxygen and providing an overall atmosphere of calm.

ABOUT SOS (Save Our Street)

Save Our Street is a citizen group that seeks to educate and advocate for the preservation of the historic streetscape of Summit Avenue as a treasured St. Paul destination and a safe, tree-lined, multi-modal corridor for generations to come. SaveSummitAvenue.org

SOS Steering Committee Chair: Gary Todd Grtodd@comcast.net 651-470-4720

SOS Public Relations Carolyn Will carolyn@cwcommunications.info 612-414-9661