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Hamline Midway Coalition
Resolution regarding the Snelling University Capacity Study Adopted by the
Board of Directors - April 17, 2007
Whereas the purpose of the Snelling University Capacity Study (SUCS) was to
investigate solutions to current and projected congestion at the
intersection of Snelling and University Avenues; and
Whereas those solutions were based on defining "transportation capacity"
as "automobile capacity," i.e., on the movement of motor vehicles through
the intersection rather than movement of people and goods through the
intersection; and
Whereas the SUCS was conducted by municipal officials whose expertise lies
in engineering solutions to traffic problems, i.e., in maximizing efficiency
of streets to carry automobiles; and
Whereas the SUCS was based on assuming that University Avenue is and will
remain the transit corridor (see page 1 and maps on pages 26, 30 and 35) and
Snelling Avenue is and will remain an automobile corridor (see page 1 and 3,
and maps on pages 26, 30 and 35); and Whereas the process of conducting the
study did not include community members or experts on non-motorized
transportation, public health, or environmental health; and
Whereas Snelling Avenue is one of the few north-south routes leading into
Saint Paul and is the heaviest traveled of these routes in the City with the
highest traffic counts in the state; and Whereas the intersection has had
the worst air quality in the state as a result of the high levels of
automobile traffic and continues to have poor air quality; and
Whereas the SUCS states on pages 3 and 4 that the study was conducted
without consideration of the larger economic, social, public health,
environmental, or transportation context of the intersection; and
Whereas the ultimate cause of congestion is dependent on the increasing
number of vehicles at the intersection from both local and regional sources
as well as the turning behavior of those vehicles at the intersection; and
Whereas increasing the capacity of streets to carry automobiles invites
the public to continue to choose private automobiles as their preferred mode
of transportation, thereby creating a future continuing need to increase the
capacity of the streets to carry more automobiles; and
Whereas the trips along University and Snelling Avenues include local,
mid-range, and regional trips; and
Whereas those trips and the congestion that they produce directly affect
the neighborhoods of Hamline Midway, Merriam Park, and Snelling-Hamline, as
well as indirectly affecting all neighborhoods on the western side of Saint
Paul; and Whereas the three proposals put forward by the SUCS displace the
congestion currently existing at the intersection and projected for the
future further to the east, west, north and south into the neighborhoods
rather than reducing the congestion; and
Whereas the three proposals each have a high probability of increasing
cut-through traffic through residential areas surrounding the intersection;
therefore
Be it resolved that the Hamline Midway Coalition (HMC) requests that the
SUCS be considered as only one set of data used in developing a solution to
current and projected congestion and transportation needs at the
intersection; and
Be it resolved that the HMC requests that additional data sets be
collected and integrated into a thorough, contextualized study of capacity
issues and transportation needs at the Snelling and University intersection;
and
Be it resolved that the HMC requests that the City of Saint Paul and other
municipal entities, including Metro Transit, along with community members
from the directly affected neighborhoods and experts on non-motorized
transportation, public and environmental health, and the local business
community develop a process by which a solution can be found to the
transportation capacity issues at the intersection that includes all the
contextual elements relevant to the issue; and
Be it resolved that the HMC expects this process be based on assumptions
of sustainability, of capacity defined as movement of people and goods
rather than as movement of automobiles, and of concepts of local, mid-range
and regional trips, and of healthy communities; and
Be it resolved that the HMC expects the sought-for solution recognizes the
need to address ways to change behaviors controlling individuals' choices of
transportation mode; and
Be it resolved that the HMC demands that the solution must include
increasing transit options throughout the area to reduce demand for
automobile trips, including and especially along Snelling Avenue; and
Be it resolved that the Hamline Midway Coalition agrees to participate in
this process in a timely, respectful, thoughtful manner, recognizing the
constraints on finances that face the City and State, and working to
alleviate those constraints in concert with the City of Saint Paul.
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PATRICK D. SHEEHY
Sheehy & Associates | Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota Work =
1-612-747-8346 | Skype = padraigian