The assessment roll for the upcoming Margaret Street Bikeway project spans 105 pages of street addresses — more than 500 parcels of land — and adds up to nothing.

To the surprise of many property owners along the route, an important east-west tie-in to St. Paul’s Grand Round bicycle loop around the city won’t cost immediate neighbors a penny in direct assessments when construction begins in August.

The St. Paul Bicycle Coalition hasn’t always seen eye to eye with City Council Member Jane Prince on road projects. But last week they shared a celebratory toast over the $1.97 million in mostly federally-funded street improvements.

Prince joined the bicycle coalition, St. Paul Women on Bikes, St. Paul Smart Trips and other bicycling advocates at the Flat Earth Brewing Company to celebrate federal funding for the Margaret Street Bikeway. It’s one of several street-and-sidewalk improvement projects.

From Highland Park to St. Paul’s East Side, criticism from residents along the routes has been less than expected, in part because of the pain-free price tags. Along Margaret Street, the project includes five traffic circles.

ON THE WEB: More information about bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects in St. Paul.

New sidewalks and related street amenities planned along Margaret Street, McKnight Road, areas near Cretin-Derham Hall High School in Highland Park, and by Washington Technology Magnet School in the North End are shaping up.

Thanks to funding through the “Safe Routes to Schools” program and another federal program, neighbors will not be assessed for the street improvements.

“Our normal process is nearly a 100 percent assessment on the property owner,” said St. Paul City Council Member Chris Tolbert, who sits on the Metropolitan Council’s Transit Advisory Board, which oversaw the city’s “Safe Routes to School” application.

St. Paul is preparing its first-ever pedestrian plan, intended to make walking and biking safer. Officials released a survey Monday to gather input from residents on priorities.

An open house on the plan is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. March 22 at the Arlington Recreation Center. More information is available on the city’s website under “Walking St. Paul.”

SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL

In Highland Park, the Safe Routes to School grant will fund roughly 10 or more new sidewalks — depending upon how bids come in — where none exist within the area bounded by Randolph Avenue, Hamline Avenue, Highland Parkway and Snelling Avenue.

The $498,000 in federal funding will fill in what some might liken to the gap-teeth of the neighborhood’s pedestrian infrastructure by Cretin-Derham Hall, the Expo for Excellence Elementary School and the Holy Spirit Catholic Church and School.

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All pedestrian ramps will be reconstructed to meet modern standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The project requires no assessments to neighboring homeowners.

A similar Safe Routes to School project will begin in 2020 by the Washington Technology Magnet School in the North End, near the site where an 11-year-old boy was hit by a car in October 2014. Bikram Phuyel suffered a traumatic brain injury but recovered.

MARGARET STREET, MCKNIGHT ROAD

Cyclists, especially those who bike from St. Paul to the 3M corporate campus in Maplewood, have long said St. Paul lacks east-west bike routes. Notably on the city’s East Side.

The new Margaret Street and McKnight Road improvements will fill in missing east-west links. They’ll also connect the area to the long-awaited Grand Round bike loop around the city at a new Johnson Parkway road closure.

The $1.97 million Margaret Street project includes new bump-outs, traffic circles and shared-lane markings between Forest Street and McKnight Road, closing Margaret Street to through traffic at Johnson Parkway, and filling in empty sidewalks between Etna and Germain streets.

“They’re putting in (Americans with Disabilities Act) curb cuts along all of Margaret Street, and sidewalks in parts or all of four blocks,” said Andy Singer, co-chair of the St. Paul Bicycle Coalition. “On the west side of McKnight Road, they’re widening the sidewalk from Minnehaha Avenue all the way south to Hudson Road, which is the street just north of Interstate 94.”

Of the total, the city is contributing $720,000 from its Capital Improvement Budget. The other $1.25 million comes from federal aid.

Residents can also expect an off-street bicycle/pedestrian trail on McKnight Road between Hudson Road and Minnehaha Avenue.

Traffic circles will be installed at Atlantic, Hazelwood, Flandrau, Hazel and Winthrop streets.

The Margaret Street project will include an underground infiltration trench at Johnson Parkway to meet storm water management requirements.

Construction will run from August to November, and then resume in the spring of 2019.

FUTURE PROJECTS

The city has also received federal funds to construct an off-street trail along Johnson Parkway between Burns Avenue and Phalen Boulevard. That work is tentatively scheduled for 2020. Related Articles St. Paul rec center hours, aquatics, ice rinks face budget hit

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Work on Wheelock Parkway and Jackson Street — two bike- and sidewalk-safety projects that began in 2016 — will continue this year. In 2020, a sidewalk infill project will construct new sidewalks in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood. Other sidewalk projects over the next several years will cover segments of Larpenteur Avenue, Randolph Avenue and McKnight Road.