Summit Avenue residents plan new lawsuit over bike lane

The fight over building new bike lanes on Summit Avenue is heating up again, as a group of residents remain worried about how many trees could be cut down — and threaten an environmental lawsuit to block construction.

The residents’ group, Save Our Street, claims St. Paul has underestimated how many trees would be cut down to reconstruct Summit Avenue and add off-street bicycle lanes.

The group held a meeting Thursday that drew over 100 residents of Summit and nearby streets. Neighbors grew agitated as they accused city officials of misleading them and ignoring their concerns about trees.

“We have yet to see a straightforward, ‘Here’s how many trees are going to be lost from the Mississippi River to the Cathedral,’” Robert Cattanach, a Summit Avenue resident and attorney who has represented Save Our Street in court, said at the meeting. “They will tell you one thing and they will do another.”

Summit Avenue is set to be reconstructed in 2028 and 2029 using funds from the citywide sales tax passed in 2023, and the city is planning to use the reconstruction to build new bike lanes at sidewalk level, separating bicyclists from both cars and pedestrians.

Fearing damage to trees and loss of parking, and raising concerns about trail design, snow clearing and access for people with limited mobility, area residents have organized to oppose the reconstruction and the bike lanes.

Though the St. Paul City Council and the Metropolitan Council voted to approve the projects in 2023, Save Our Street is organizing a campaign to pressure council members to reverse the votes, with leaders urging meeting attendees to call their council members.

Last year, Save Our Street won a public records lawsuit against the city, with a court finding the city had improperly withheld public documents and ordering St. Paul to pay damages.

The information fight has intensified the suspicion with which the Summit Avenue group views St. Paul officialdom.

After a short presentation from Save Our Street leaders, residents started asking questions: why the timeline seemed to have moved up, and why this trail on Summit Avenue should be a priority when other streets and bike lanes in St. Paul appear to be in worse condition.

Public Works Director Sean Kershaw offered to answer questions about the city’s plans. As Cattanach handed him the microphone, some residents hissed at Kershaw, while others shouted, “Why are you here?” and “We don’t want you!”

When the room quieted, Kershaw said the Summit Avenue Regional Trail plan was merged with the larger plan to reconstruct Summit Avenue after voters passed the sales tax referendum in 2023.

Another resident asked to know the names of city staffers working on the plans, but Kershaw said residents could direct complaints to him, Parks Director Andy Rodriguez and their elected officials.

After a few questions, Cattanach took the microphone back from Kershaw as residents kept asking questions about the street.

The deaths of cyclists in 2018 and 2009 spotlighted the danger of Summit’s heavily-used bike lanes and spurred ideas about a safer option.

Cattanach and others at the meeting Thursday said they thought on-street painted bike lanes would be safer than the proposed separated design.

But others said they have felt safe riding lanes away from cars, like the ones on Como Avenue near the State Fairgrounds, and on Bryant Avenue in south Minneapolis.

Kershaw said the debate is also about the infrastructure below the street — the century-old water and sewer lines that have opened sinkholes across the Twin Cities.