The following is a communication from the Edina Transportation Commission about a proposed bike path in the Lake Edina area. Please consider voicing your support to the City Council and Mayor Hovland. They are scheduled to discuss it at the May 7th meeting.
ETC Advisory Communication
Date: May 2, 2013
Subject: Support for Lake Edina Park path
SITUATION
The Park Board considered the proposed Lake Edina Park path at their April 9, 2013 regular meeting and did not support going forward with the path at this time. The Transportation Commission considered the path at its April 25, 2013 regular meeting and voted to support construction of the path this year.
Background
The Lake Edina Park path would be a 10’ wide bituminous multi-‐use path located on the south edge of Lake Edina Park. The path would connect to Parklawn Avenue on the east and Kellogg Avenue on the west. This path is shown in the Comprehensive Bike Plan as a primary bike route. The path is in the 2013-‐2017 CIP for construction in 2013. Residents in the Lake Edina street reconstruction project area identified a need and support for this path. Residents in the Parklawn neighborhood submitted a petition in support of this path. The path will serve the 9MCRT. The final alignment of the regional trail in this area has not been determined. The current proposed alignment runs along the south edge of Fred Richards Golf Course to Parklawn. The path would connect residents to the trail. The path is consistent with Living Streets principles. The draft Living Streets policy reads: “The City will seek opportunities to overcome barriers to active transportation. This includes preserving and repurposing existing rights-‐of-‐way, and adding new rights-‐of way to enhance connectivity for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit.” The path serves transit users and could encourage transit use by residents in the South Cornelia neighborhood. Preliminary engineering for the path has been completed. City Engineer Wayne Houle indicated that his department would perform final engineering and that Public Works would install the path. Costs are anticipated to be less than identified in the CIP.
Analysis
The Lake Edina Park path would connect neighborhoods and remove a barrier to active transportation by providing a safe and convenient paved route across public land for use by cyclists and pedestrians to access key destinations. There is strong resident support for this path. The path will serve the 9MCRT and students in the Parklawn neighborhood who attend Cornelia School. That said, as a connection between neighborhoods, the path has utility apart from these uses. It is not likely that a repurposing of Fred Richards Golf Course or the final alignment of the 9MCRT would impact the utility of the path in this location. The project is in the CIP for 2013 and preliminary engineering has been completed. The anticipated final cost of the project is less than identified in the CIP.
Recommendation
The ETC supports construction of the Lake Edina Park path in 2013.
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