In 2013 FSI partnered with the Desnoyer Park Improvement Association (DPIA) to address the challenges of, and begin envisioning changes to, Pelham Boulevard. The project is named “The Golden Mile” because Pelham Boulevard is exactly one mile in length, and the spectacular trees that line the southern half of the boulevard display beautiful gold in the Fall.
Of particular relevance is the fact that Pelham Boulevard is part of the Saint Paul Grand Round, but was yet to be designed as such. FSI and the DPIA hosted three events in 2013 that engaged hundreds of residents and produced many opinions about how to transform streets in the neighborhood. This project included a collaboration with Transit for Livable Communities, who provided formal concept plans for Pelham Boulevard that reflected a transportation advocacy perspective. See the DPIA and FSI Collaboration Report and FSI Pelham Boulevard Parking Study for DPIA for the full picture of results from the 2013 work. Our work on Pelham also ties in to the Raymond Station/Missing Link and Better Bridges projects.
Saint Paul Grand Round Planning
The City of Saint Paul is now began engagement and planning earlier this year for several sections of the Grand Round, including Friendly Streets project areas along Pelham Boulevard and the Raymond Station Area. As part of the 8-80 Initiative, this project will increase activity and vitality on our streets and public spaces by continuing the vision set forth for the Saint Paul Grand Round over 125 years ago by completing a bicycle and pedestrian loop that encircles the city. Two Friendly Streets project working group members were appointed to the Community Advisory Committee and the FSI Pelham Reports and additional information we collected last year are being incorporated into the design process. Consulting firms involved in the design process will present a draft of a master plan for the Grand Round in late fall of 2015. Visit saintpaulgrandround.org for more information.
Summary of 2013 Results – Presented at the 2014 Desnoyer Park Picnic
It’s been a big first year of success working on traffic calming in the neighborhood! At the 2013 Desnoyer Park Summer Picnic the Desnoyer Park Improvement Association initiated work on Pelham Boulevard with Friendly Streets. Here’s an update!
• We asked people to post their issues about traffic in the neighborhood and gave them choices for solutions.
• In August, we engaged neighbors at the annual block party on Glendale.
• At the Pelham Palooza in September, we closed Pelham and laid out various demonstrations of traffic calming features.
• We walked through hotspots on Pelham with City planners, traffic engineers, and MNDOT bridge engineers, and allowed them to see problems first hand.
• We conducted traffic and bike counts and had various solutions drawn up to share with the City. See link above to a parking study FSI recently completed as well.
• This spring Desnoyer Park made our mark on the Bikeways Plan draft with Pelham registering far more comments than ANY other street in the city. Congratulations!
