Bicycle lanes can calm traffic, save lives and invite loyal new shoppers to small businesses, or they hurt commerce by eliminating parking, decrease safety by narrowing traffic lanes and complicate life for residents.

The St. Paul City Council received an earful from dozens of business owners, homeowners and cycling enthusiasts who squared off on either side of three proposals to install in-street bike lanes along 1.5 miles of Cleveland Avenue and on segments of Front Avenue and Lexington Parkway.

The council approved the bike lanes along Front and Lexington 6-0, with council member Dave Thune absent, and those along Cleveland from Highland Parkway to Randolph Avenue. But in light of what he described as the most public feedback he’s received in advance of a resolution, council member Chris Tolbert persuaded the council to hold off deciding whether to ask Ramsey County to restripe another stretch of Cleveland this summer.

“This is a tough issue, and we’ve received a lot of public engagement,” said Tolbert, who represents Mac-Groveland and Highland Park. “There’s a lot of strong feelings both for and against. … I don’t think we as the city have done enough to fully vet this and fully mitigate this … with the neighbors.”

Over the objections of City Council President Russ Stark, the council voted 5-1 to accept Tolbert’s amendment to delay a decision on the Mac-Groveland portion of Cleveland. The amendment asks the St. Paul Department of Public Works to come up with a public outreach strategy by August, reopen public discussions, look into parking strategies and alternative routes, as well as funding for them, and report back to the council with a recommendation by year’s end. Bike lanes from Randolph Avenue to Highland Parkway in Highland Park can still proceed.

The city’s plans call for 5-foot-wide and 6-foot-wide bike lanes along Cleveland Avenue from Highland Parkway to Summit Avenue. Room would be created by narrowing existing car lanes and eliminating parking on one side of the street between Grand and Randolph avenues. The lanes would be painted during Ramsey County’s street mill-and-overlay resurfacing project this summer, at minimal cost to the city.

The corridor, highlighted in the citywide bicycle plan that was adopted by the council in March, connects the University of St. Thomas, St. Catherine University, Highland Village and commercial cross streets such as Grand, St. Clair and Randolph avenues. Overall, Cleveland — a major north-south city thoroughfare — connects Shepard Road to Transfer Road.

Similar in-street treatments are planned for Lexington Parkway between Nettleton Avenue and West Seventh Street, and for Front Avenue between Lexington Parkway and Dale Street.

All three bike routes have drawn some level of criticism, as well as their share of fans, though none more than Cleveland Avenue.

The Cleveland lanes would require removing parking on the west side of Cleveland between Grand and James avenues, except for parking bays south of Grand and St. Clair avenues. Parking would also be removed on the east side of Cleveland between James and Randolph avenues. Based on traffic counts, city planners said, they believe the area could handle the loss of parking spaces. Many residents said the planners were mistaken.

To mitigate parking concerns, city staff recommended instituting time-limited parking along the south side of Grand Avenue between Finn Street and Cleveland, among other options.

They recommended increasing the existing permit parking in the area to include 10 residential properties from 57 Cleveland Ave. to 115 Cleveland Ave.

Residents said narrowing busy traffic lanes could be dangerous. “Cleveland is just too narrow a street to safely accommodate bike lanes,” said Mac-Groveland resident Marcia Adair, in a letter to the council. “They’re great on Fairview, Summit and similarly wide roads.”

Justin Pope of Pope Automotive said he rarely sees bikers on Front Avenue, which will get treatments similar to those on Cleveland. He didn’t understand why cyclists would be prioritized over local business patrons and residents who drive. “I service 12 cars a day,” he said.

Others said that resurfacing the road and adding lanes to Front Avenue would bring out more bicyclists and devoted shoppers.

“Cyclists are hyper-local and much more likely to patronize local stores,” said Mike Sonn, a Mac-Groveland resident and co-chair of the St. Paul Bicycle Coalition.

“Fifteen minutes on my bike puts me at the Half Time Rec (sports bar on Front Avenue), whereas 15 minutes in my car puts me at the Rosedale Mall,” he added.

Council member Dai Thao said he received letters and emails from any number of fans and opponents of the bike lanes on Front Street. Thao said the lanes will make life safer for bikers. “I think it’s natural for us to fear the unknown and the changes,” Thao said.

Council member Amy Brendmoen encouraged Front Street residents and business owners to monitor progress. “The good news is it’s only paint on the road,” she said. “If it’s a colossal failure, it’s not going to be (impossible) to change.”