In a small tale that reeks of St. Paul conflict and compromise, city workers mistakenly painted a mile and a half of a street with bicycle route markings — then attempted to undo the goof by painting over them with black paint.

Now, Jefferson Avenue from Snelling Avenue to Mississippi River Boulevard is marked with black patches — with most of the bicycle symbols shining through.

So, is it a bike lane or isn’t it?

It is — but it’s not supposed to be marked on the street.

The $1 million Jefferson bike route, approved by the city earlier this year as a way to connect St. Paul cycling routes with those of Minneapolis, was not without controversy. Specifically, a number of residents in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood objected on the grounds that too many bicycles would make the road less safe. City council member Pat Harris, who represents the neighborhood, sided with opponents and became the council’s lone holdout on the project.

Harris said the city didn’t have the money to paint the street markings, much less maintain and repaint them when needed. “I just don’t think the city’s in a position to maintain that,” he said in May when the project was approved 6-1. “We don’t even have the resources to maintain crosswalks these days.”

A compromise was struck earlier this year that prohibited the stretch of Jefferson west of Snelling from being painted with “sharrows,” bicycle share-the-road arrows. Apparently, that bit got lost somewhere down the chain.

Last week, city public works crews painted bicycle symbols and arrows on the street.

“When I first saw them painting the sharrows, I thought it was a Christmas gift,” said Elizabeth Fabel, a supporter of the bike route who lives along Jefferson. “I figured, ‘Oh, well, I guess they found the money to paint them after all.’ ”

The gift wasn’t to be. Constituents called Harris’ office, and the word reached public works. Bright and early Monday morning, city workers were out covering up the markings — or attempting to cover them up — with black paint.

“It was a mistake,” department spokeswoman Shannon Tyree said Monday, referring to the first paint job. “We will be doing follow-up with residents to explain what happened.”

When Fabel saw the crews out Monday morning applying the blacktop version of Wite-Out, she said it frustrated her. “I got really angry,” she said. “What a waste of public resources.”

Tyree said the department is working on determining how much the error and correction cost taxpayers in labor and materials. The overall project was budgeted at $250,000 in city funds and $750,000 in federal funds; it’s not clear whether the mistake affects that budget.

“I’m sure there’s going to be cost ramifications for the error,” Harris said. He hadn’t yet seen Jefferson Avenue, so he wasn’t able to comment on the final appearance. He noted that a portion of the street is slated to be torn up within the next two years. “It was an error.”

Dave Orrick can be reached at 651-292-1159.