St. Louis Park council backs preliminary layout for Minnetonka Boulevard reconstruction

The St. Louis Park City Council voted unanimously to adopt a resolution supporting Hennepin County’s preliminary layout (Concept B) for the Minnetonka Boulevard reconstruction and to continue discussions with Xcel Energy about relocating overhead utilities underground.

City engineering project manager Mark Elgard and Hennepin County project engineer Jason Stabel presented the project scope — reconstruction from Highway 100 to Aquilla Avenue, including full roadway replacement, ADA improvements, signal updates and off-street shared-use trails on both sides of Minnetonka Boulevard. The county recommended Concept B because it preserves more trees, provides an all-ages-and-abilities trail network and minimizes long-term maintenance and operational impacts.

Why it matters: Staff said Concept B keeps the existing number of travel lanes (one in each direction), adds separated multiuse paths to move cyclists off the roadway, and aims to improve pedestrian crossings and stormwater treatment. The presentation estimated current traffic volumes near 12,000 vehicles per day and projected construction in 2028–2029, with final design and utility relocation work in 2026–2027.

Costs and funding: The estimated total cost for Concept B is $39.22 million. Hennepin County’s share is about $26.22 million, which includes roughly $7 million in federal funds; the remaining city cost share was reported at about $13 million. Staff estimated undergrounding the corridor’s overhead utilities would cost about $5.5 million in total (approximately $200,000 for the segment between Highway 100 and Blackstone Avenue and about $5.3 million for the segment between Oregon and Aquilla Avenue). Staff noted that private service reconnections are additional and cited an average reconnection cost of roughly $9,000 per affected service based on work in phase one.

Utility funding options and trade-offs: Presenters described a city-requested special facilities surcharge (CRFS) as a potential funding tool for undergrounding the public-facing distribution lines but said CRFS cannot be used to cover private reconnection costs. Staff outlined multi-year CRFS options and said final monthly impacts would be refined after Xcel Energy provided updated estimates.

Design trade-offs and safety discussion: Council and staff discussed alternatives including on-street bike lanes (which would require widening the roadway and reduce boulevard tree space) and a combined wider cycle-track/sidewalk (Concept A combined), which staff estimated would raise construction costs by an additional $2.8 million and increase tree removals and long-term maintenance demands. Staff and council also noted that state law and post-construction speed studies govern county road speed limits; county staff said reconstructed roadway geometry is expected to calm traffic but that official speed reductions require study and state approval.

Public comments and council concerns: Two residents spoke to the council during the comment period. Lynn Carper asked whether undergrounding would affect an existing religious facility’s roofline/utility arrangement; staff replied that the phase-two work would not impact that facility and that phase one had already addressed related concerns. Resident Justin Joplin, an e-bike user, urged that shared-use trails be implemented with user education and respectful behavior in mind; multiple council members echoed concerns about micro-mobility safety and signage and urged monitoring and possible future signage or striping.

Vote and next steps: A motion to adopt the resolution passed by voice vote, 7–0. The council did not record individual member votes in the transcript; staff will return later this year with additional information on utility undergrounding and in 2027 with a cooperative agreement for the county project. Construction is projected for 2028–2029 pending final agreements and design.

Details drawn from the presentation: Concept B maintains one travel lane in each direction with off-street shared-use paths on both sides; estimated total cost $39.22 million (county $26.22M including ~$7M federal; city share ~$13M); undergrounding estimate $5.5M (segmented); combining certain pedestrian/bike elements could add ~$2.8M and increase maintenance and tree loss; schedule — final design 2026–2027, utility relocations 2027, construction 2028–2029.

The council moved on to communications and community announcements after the vote.