St. Louis Park council approves bid for Cedar Lake Road–Louisiana Avenue reconstruction amid resident concerns about lane width

The St. Louis Park City Council on the consent agenda approved the bid for the Cedar Lake Road and Louisiana Avenue Improvements Project Phase 2, a reconstruction that includes a roundabout at Cedar Lake Road and Louisiana and new pedestrian and bike features.

Council members acknowledged resident concerns about a reduction in Louisiana Avenue’s planned travel-way width from 36 feet to 28 feet and said the city’s engineers weighed multiple factors — including emergency access, transit, snow removal and tree preservation — when recommending the design. "This stretch of Louisiana is the sole access for Fire Station Number 2, and it's imperative that the 10 foot wide fire trucks can maneuver safely around vehicles that pull over to let them pass," Council member Burrough said, adding that staff also accounted for buses, snow and service vehicles.

Burrough outlined several design elements included in Phase 2: a new sidewalk on the east side where none exists now; enhanced pedestrian crossings with user-activated flashers; preservation of most mature trees along the corridor; and a designated alternative bike route to protect tree canopy. Burrough said the corridor carries roughly 16,500 vehicles per day and that engineers used professional judgment rather than a single prescriptive lane-width standard.

The council chair noted that item 5E was on the consent agenda and that the council would not take public comments at the meeting; written comment cards were entered into the public record. The consent agenda, which included the Cedar Lake/Louisiana bid award, passed on a voice vote.

Council members who spoke in support of approving the bid emphasized the multi-year planning and public engagement that preceded the vote and said approving the lowest responsible bidder was the next step to move a decade-long project into construction this summer.

The contract approval authorizes staff to execute the construction contract; no separate roll-call vote for the individual contract was recorded in the minutes beyond the consent motion.

Next steps identified by staff at earlier stages of planning include scheduling construction and coordinating tree protection and temporary traffic control; the transcript did not specify funding sources or a construction start date.