To mesh with the Midway, a Major League Soccer stadium will require a new right turn-lane at the intersection of Hamline and Marshall avenues. Beyond that, there are few traffic, parking or environmental obstacles in the way of Minnesota United’s plans to operate a 21,500-seat facility near Snelling and University avenues.

At least, not in the year 2018, its first year of operation, provided that 70 percent of fans come in by light rail and park-and-ride shuttles.

Fast forward a couple of decades, however, and soccer fans leaving a Minnesota United match in the year 2035 might find themselves stuck in a Snelling Avenue parking lot that takes almost two hours to clear. Related Articles MN United stadium: Green space, colored lights and good wifi

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Those are some of the major findings in a new 84-page environmental report from city consultants. On Monday, the city of St. Paul released the draft Alternative Urban Areawide Review, an environmental assessment conducted for the 35-acre site that includes the future soccer stadium and the Midway Shopping Center.

With major new development at the shopping center unlikely to unfold by 2018, the report finds ample parking, public transit and park-and-ride opportunities already on site.

“The 2018 scenario here for opening a stadium … does not require any major infrastructure investment,” said Jonathan Sage-Martinson, director of St. Paul’s Planning and Economic Development Department. “There are a number of things it calls for, like a transportation management plan, but no infrastructure changes.”

Instead, 40 percent to 45 percent of fans — 8,000 to 9,000 people — are expected to roll in on park-and-ride shuttles. City officials said that while details have yet to be worked out, there’s plenty of precedent.

“There are park-and-rides set up all over the metro, really, to get people to and from the State Fair,” Sage-Martinson said. “You also see the same thing occurring with special events like the City of Lakes Loppet, where you have thousands of people coming to Lake of the Isles (in Minneapolis).”

That finding is bound to generate some skepticism among neighborhood residents who have complained that the Snelling-University intersection is already too congested. On social media Monday, some of the claims drew instant skepticism, particularly that the estimates of public transit are overblown.

A public discussion will take place Tuesday night, followed by a hearing Friday morning before the St. Paul Planning Commission on the 35-acre Snelling-Midway master plan and site plan.

The study’s release opened a 30-day comment period ending July 6, at which time the report will be formally reviewed by the city and registered with the Minnesota Environmental Quality Review Board.

TRAFFIC IN 2018 vs. 2035

Minnesota United team owner Bill McGuire and strip mall owner RK Midway have been working closely on long-term plans to redevelop the entire 35-acre Snelling-Midway “Super Block” with offices, apartments, green space and new retail options adjoining a professional soccer stadium.

On top of parking, light and noise concerns, critics have questioned whether the Snelling-University intersection can handle the additional traffic an estimated 35 major sporting events would generate per season.

To answer that question, the report assesses likely conditions in 2018 — when the team hopes to begin play in the Midway — and presumable conditions in the year 2035.

The report finds periods of congestion already occur in the Snelling-University area, and the traffic generated by a new soccer stadium would add up to little more than business as usual.

Beyond typical sewer and waste-water improvements, the already-planned extensions of Pascal Street and Shields Avenue, and the relocation of a traffic signal or two, the consultants found that much of the needed infrastructure for a major sports facility already exists.

They point to Metro Transit’s Green Line light rail corridor, which opened in 2014, the new A-Line rapid bus that will run along Snelling Avenue this year, and planned or existing parking facilities such as Spruce Tree Centre, directly across Snelling from the stadium.

Besides those soccer fans arriving from off-site shuttles, the report estimates, another 30 percent will arrive by light rail. Walking, biking, public bus and chartered shuttles will account for 10 percent to 15 percent of stadium traffic. The rest will show up in their own vehicles.

Sage-Martinson called estimates of the numbers of soccer fans not driving in via their own cars conservative, noting that the study relied on assumptions that most visitors will arrive at the stadium within an hour of the game and leave within an hour afterward.

The experience of light rail-accessible stadiums in cities such as Portland and Seattle suggests that many fans might swing into the Midway much earlier and leave much later to make a day of it, spreading out the transit and traffic impacts.

According to the study, about 22 percent of stadium visitors are expected to park on-site or at the Spruce Tree Centre, which has 350 spaces. Nearby sites such as the Wilder Center parking ramp near Lexington Parkway and University Avenue were not factored in, but those areas could also absorb patrons.

“This does not include all the parking within walking distances of the site,” Sage-Martinson said. “There are thousands of additional parking spaces that are not counted on in this study.”

In the immediate future, according to the study, many drivers who are not heading to the stadium will simply find different routes to their destinations on game days, as they do during sporting events in downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul.

The report states: “It is assumed that 20 percent of background traffic will avoid event traffic by modifying their route or completing their trip at a different time.”

As redevelopment of the Midway Shopping Center introduces more density, such as offices and residences, traffic concerns will likely mount, according to the study.

And 20 years from now, the report finds that traffic backups lasting well over an hour could become the norm, with congestion gridlocking a number of intersections such as Snelling at Concordia Avenue. For a capacity event, on-site parking along Snelling could take almost two hours to clear in 2035.

PUBLIC MEETING TUESDAY, FRIDAY

The report was completed by Stantec, the SRF Consulting Group; Phase One Archeology; Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon & Williams; and Braslau & Associates.

To analyze traffic concerns, consultants examined at least 22 intersections, with input from a working group composed of St. Paul and Ramsey County Public Works, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration and Metro Transit.

The draft report was posted to the city’s website Monday morning, and printed copies are available at the George Latimer Central Library in downtown St. Paul and the Hamline-Midway and Merriam Park branch libraries.

The city will host a community information session from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Concordia University’s Buenger Education Center, 312 Hamline Ave. N. At the session, residents will be able to review the AUAR and submit official public comments.

Residents also may offer comments on the development plan assembled by strip mall owner RK Midway and Minnesota United with input from the Snelling-Midway community advisory committee.

Comments on the master plan will be forwarded to the St. Paul Planning Commission, which will hold a public hearing at 8:30 a.m. Friday in Room 40 of City Hall, 15 Kellogg Blvd. W. The St. Paul City Council will likely review the same materials in August. The plan, revised May 24, is also online at stpaul.gov/midway.