Bicycle Plan adopted April 24, 2024

On April 24, 2024, the Saint Paul City Council adopted the updated Bicycle Plan. You can watch video of the adoption at the City Council webpage here. This follows a 2.5 year planning process that included two phases of public engagement and two public hearings. 

Link to Saint Paul Bicycle Plan
Link to Appendix of Saint Paul Bicycle Plan

Because the Bicycle Plan is part of the City's Comprehensive Plan, staff are required to present the Bicycle Plan to the Metropolitan Council. That presentation has not yet been scheduled, but details will be posted to this page when they are known. 

The City of Saint Paul and Department of Public Works staff thank all of the community members who shared their feedback as part of this important plan.  

Please contact Jimmy Shoemaker at 651-266-6204 or jimmy.shoemaker@ci.stpaul.mn.us with any questions. 

Recently completed steps

  1. DONE - A first public hearing took place on February 2, 2024 at the Saint Paul Planning Commission. Feedback collected:
    1. Staff summarized feedback from the public hearing here: Summary of Public Comments
    2. A full record of written comments from the public hearing is here: Email and U.S. Mail Public Comment Received
    3. Meeting minutes from the public hearing, including verbal testimony, is here: Saint Paul Planning Commission Minutes February 2, 2024 
  2. DONE - Based on the feedback from the February 2 public hearing, changes were made to the plan. Those changes are described here:
    1.  For simplicity, staff have noted the changes made to the Plan based on feedback collected during the public hearing. This document describes the changes. 
  3. DONE - Staff presented the final version of the plan to the Transportation Committee on February 26, 2024. 
  4. DONE - Staff presented the final version of the plan to Planning Commission on March 15, 2024. Planning Commission recommended the plan for adoption to City Council.
  5. DONE - Staff will present the final version of the Plan to City Council for adoption on April 17, 2024. This meeting will include a public hearing. 

Next steps

  1. Now that the final updated plan is adopted, city planners and engineers will use the updated Bicycle Plan to make decisions about the design of streets in Saint Paul.

What are separated bikeways and paths? Why is Saint Paul considering them?

Separated bikeways and paths are spaces for people biking that are separated from car traffic by some sort of physical barrier. They can be designed just for people biking, or they can be designed to be shared by people walking and biking. Separated bikeways and paths can be for one way bike traffic or two way bike traffic.

There are many examples of separated bikeways and paths in Saint Paul shown in these photos – and residents and community members have asked for more of them. 

separated bike lane, Wheelock Parkway showing biker separated from traffic and sidewalk space
Sidepath along Como Avenue near Fairgrounds, removed from street
separated bike lane, 10th St downtown

Separated bikeways and paths:

  • Provide a comfortable space to bike for people of all ages and abilities
  • Allow for a narrower roadway, which encourages slower driving speeds and is easier to cross for people walking. By constructing the bikeway outside of the road, the street can be narrower.

Timeline

  • Summer 2021: Outreach to City departments, Council offices, District Councils
  • Fall 2021: Public outreach, events, virtual presentations
  • 2022: City staff review of 2021 feedback, draft updates to plan document and planned bike network
  • Spring and Summer 2023: Public outreach, events, presentation
  • Fall 2023: Staff reference spring and summer feedback, create final version of Bicycle Plan
  • Late 2023-early 2024: City Council plan adoption process
  • We are here. 2024 and future: engineers and planners reference the Bicycle Plan when making decisions about design of streets in Saint Paul

*Timeline is subject to change

Project Materials

Last Edited: May 14, 2024