Edina traffic report shows rising pedestrian-safety requests; planning commission proposes 10–15 year parking workplan

Edina’s traffic safety coordinator reported a rise in pedestrian-safety and traffic-calming requests in 2024, and the Planning Commission presented a multi-year strategy to inventory parking and update parking policies over the next decade.

Traffic safety coordinator Nick Balar told the council on March 4 that the city received 202 traffic-safety requests in 2024 and that pedestrian-safety and traffic-calming requests have increased, in part because residents submit issues more readily using the city’s 3-1-1 app and because recent reconstruction and lane changes have shifted traffic patterns. “A lot of people are just noticing when they're out and about, hey, I can take a quick picture, submit this on my phone,” Balar said.

Balar described the city’s process for handling requests: staff intake, traffic-study analysis, review by the traffic safety committee, public comment to the Transportation Commission, and final council action. He said 47 requests were reviewed by the traffic safety committee in the period, with items ranging from signage changes to intersection control and crosswalk approvals.

Separately, Planning Commission members David Alkire and Ryan Day presented results of a 2024 work-plan item that recommends four broad initiatives: a quantitative parking inventory/audit by commercial node; a follow-up update to the 2022 off-street parking ordinance (including reviewing commercial minimums, transit incentives and EV parking guidance); an on-street parking plan that prioritizes pedestrian, bike and tree improvements; and targeted district-parking planning for downtown nodes. Alkire described the work as “writing the menu, we’re not actually cooking the food,” meaning the commission is proposing areas of inquiry and sequencing rather than immediate ordinance text.

Council discussion ranged from how the parking audit and the comprehensive-plan schedule should be coordinated to whether paid parking or parking-benefit districts would be feasible in Edina’s smaller commercial nodes. Commissioners noted the district-parking model at 50th and France and recommended studying replicability in other nodes; some councilmembers emphasized the need to include behavior-change strategies (for example, nudging drivers to use district parking rather than curb spaces) as part of future work.

The council accepted the Planning Commission’s advisory communication and referred the report to staff for incorporation into future work-plan decisions. Earlier in the meeting the council adopted the Traffic Safety Report of 01/28/2025 by motion (see Votes at a glance).