I heard you groan: “Why are we still talking about Ayd Mill Road, especially amidst a global pandemic?!?” Well, my friend, we’re talking about it because our Public Works Department and highway departments around America are continuing to pave things. Like a Cyborg Terminator Coronavirus, highway departments will keep paving until the day civilization ends […]
It’s with no joy that I write yet another column about Ayd Mill Road, Saint Paul’s crumbling concrete albatross. I’ve been at this for years, and you are not familiar with this long saga, here’s a quick primer: A quick, legal timeline of AMR decisions from 1999 – 2010 (Neighborhoods First!) A longer, illustrated timeline […]
The Saint Paul Public Works “five-year plan” (PW 5-Year Plan) received a not-so-subtle edit this year, moving $3.569,917 dollars slotted for the mill and overlay of Ayd Mill Road in 2021 up to this year, re-paving the city’s most controversial four-lane third rail. To me, the decision runs counter to Saint Paul’s stated transportation, environmental, […]
Do you want the bad news or the worse news? The bad news is obvious if you’ve been driving around Saint Paul in the last month or so. I’m sure you’re aware of the potholes. They are bad! We’re talking potholes as big as poodles, ruts the size of the Twinkie from Ghostbusters. We’re talking […]
A podcast conversation a few weeks ago made me start wondering what the Ayd Mill valley looked like in the early 20th century. Thanks to the Minnesota Historical Aerial Map Archive (and their amazing new interface), we can find out! Here are some shots of the South terminus of (what today is) Ayd Mill Road […]
The podcast this week is a conversation with Mike Madden, co-founder of the grassroots neighborhood group Neighborhoods First. Our discussion was intended to be a intro course on the Ayd Mill Road, call it AMR 101, all about the history of the road from the 1860s all the way to the 21st century, where the […]
Dan Marshall • February 8, 2021 • 9 Depending on who you ask, the Charles Bikeway has either succeeded or failed since construction began in 2012. Despite strong neighborhood support along its 3 1/2 mile long run, only some of the features of a proper bicycle boulevard have actually been built.
Eric Ecklund • December 7, 2020 In my previous post I discussed rail-trails, which are abandoned railroad right-of-ways repurposed as trails. The Twin Cities has many of these, but the region also has several so-called rail-with-trail corridors. Rail-with-trails are trails alongside active rail lines. They provide a safe path for people, deterring trespassing on railroad property while still allowing train movements, […]
Andy Singer • November 23, 2020 This fall, Saint Paul completed five major new bikeways, the most in the city’s history. We’ll look at all five of them and discuss some of the political and design work that enabled each of them to happen. Como Avenue First up is a multi-use, off-street trail on Como Avenue between Raymond Avenue and Hamline […]
Dan Marshall • October 29, 2020 In a few weeks, the Robert Piram Regional Trail will officially open between Saint Paul and South Saint Paul. Here’s why it just might be the Twin Cities cycling community’s new favorite trail.