The St. Paul City Council approves a proposal for more than 100 miles of new, protected bike lanes in the city.
City Planner Jimmy Shoemaker says the goal is to attract new riders who might otherwise be nervous about riding alongside traffic. Shoemaker says they'll do this by constructing what are called "separated" lanes.
"A separated bike way is anything that has physical separation between people driving and people biking," explained Shoemaker.
He adds that they're well aware critics may argue the new lanes will take away on-street parking spots.
"We'll still have cars, we're not taking away cars," Shoemaker says. "We're just kind of giving space to people biking that have not had it in the past."
He says construction of the new lanes will occur as streets are reconstructed over the next 15 years.
They'll be partially funded by a new 1% sales tax for road repair and replacement approved by voters last fall.
Last May, the Saint Paul City Council approved the Summit Avenue Regional Trail Plan within the 5.4-mile corridor that runs from Mississippi River Boulevard to Shepard Road via Summit Avenue and Kellogg Boulevard. Critics met that with concerns about impacts to trees, parking and aesthetics, saying there was no reason to tear up the street for bikes.
Minneapolis has also invested significantly in making safe spaces for bicycles on roads and regularly ends up on the best cities for biking in the U.S.