Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Streets And Parking topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council approves Commercial Street rehabilitation, new sidewalks and revised parking on Raleigh/30th corridor
Summary
The council adopted the 2025 Commercial Street Rehabilitation project, which adds about a half‑mile of sidewalk, narrows travel lanes, and restricts parking to one side on targeted blocks to preserve trees and improve traffic flow; staff will advertise for bids in March.
The St. Louis Park City Council approved the 2025 Commercial Street Rehabilitation project in the Wolf Park neighborhood, which includes pavement repair, utility replacement, new sidewalks and a reconfiguration of street widths and parking to improve traffic movement and preserve trees.
Project engineer Aaron Wiesen told the council the staff recommendation is to adopt the project report, approve plans and specifications and authorize advertisement for bids. Wiesen said the project would add about a half‑mile of new sidewalk, install five‑foot sidewalks with five‑foot boulevards on both sides of Raleigh Avenue and 30th Street, and reduce the typical curb‑to‑curb street width in places from 40 feet to 33.5 feet. Under the proposal, parking would generally be allowed on just one side of the street to increase available travel width; staff tested truck turning movements using semi‑truck templates and adjusted curb radii and parking restrictions where needed.
Wiesen said the project is included in the 2025 capital improvement plan and estimated construction cost is about $3,100,000. He said the project will be bid in March, awarded in April and construction would begin in May.
Council members asked about parking times, truck access and the project’s relationship to the Arrive and Thrive gateway improvements. Wiesen said staff conducted a parking study that showed both‑side parking during business hours in some locations and that staff plans neighborhood outreach about potential truck‑parking restrictions. Council discussion also referenced recent new developments near Beltline Boulevard and the desirability of adding continuous sidewalks to support walkable connections.
The council voted to accept the project report, rescind an earlier resolution removing certain parking restrictions on 30th Street, and authorize the new parking restrictions on Raleigh Avenue and 30th Street as described in the staff report.
Next steps: staff will advertise the project for bids in March and return with award recommendations for council approval.
