Saint Paul presents 2026'2030 five-year capital plan; Common Sense program staged over 20 years

Public Works Director Sean Kershaw and staff presented Saint Paul's draft five-year capital plan for 2026'2030 to the City Council Budget & Finance Committee, highlighting funding sources, major 2026 reconstruction projects and staging for the 20-year Common Sense local sales-tax program.

"Happy to present our 5 year plan to you today for the next 5 year term of 2026 to 2030," said Nick Peterson, Public Works, at the start of the presentation. Peterson said the plan shows funding across five years but noted "there's just one year of funding that comes with it," signaling that the department will focus on confirmed 2026 dollars while programming later years as revenue projections firm up.

Peterson detailed recurring city programs that fund streets: annual street reconstruction bonds (about $12,500,000 for reconstruction plus $3,000,000 for residential mill-and-overlay, "a total of 15 and a half million dollars" annually), municipal state aid (MSA) funded primarily by the state gas tax and limited to MSA routes, capital improvement bonds for items such as sidewalk…