Share Your Feedback on Street Types

The team has developed initial recommendations for street types downtown and is looking for your feedback.

Phase 1 Community Engagement Summary

Thank you to everyone who participated in the first phase of community engagement for the Downtown Streets and Sidewalks Plan. The Plan team received an incredible amount of feedback from the Community, with the online survey capturing over 1,600 unique responses! This extraordinary response is indicative of how much interest there is in improving downtown streets and sidewalks. Thank you for sharing your voice! 

The team has been working hard developing a summary of the feedback received and applying it to the next steps in the planning process.  Click here to read the full summary 

Key Takeaways 

The purpose of the first phase of community engagement was to get feedback on: 

  • Existing challenges with downtown streets and sidewalks
  • Proposed Plan vision and goals

The most common words people use to describe their vision for downtown streets and sidewalks include safe, clean, vibrant, and friendly, as depicted below:

An image of the most common words people used to describe their vision for downtown Saint Paul streets and sidewalks. Most common words include safe, clean, vibrant, and friendly.

Additionally, key themes emerged around safety, connectivity, construction, beautification, and infrastructure improvements. People also gave ideas regarding specific types of travel. Such as: 

  • Sidewalk Improvements: Beautification and enhancements to sidewalks and better pedestrian infrastructure in high-traffic areas​
  • Bus Experience: General appreciation for existing bus network, but desire for more frequent service, less bus bunching, less transit delays, and more reliability on 5th & 6th ​
  • Green Line: Dissatisfaction with slow travel speeds and getting stuck on the train between downtown stations. Concerns about personal and community safety​
  • Biking Infrastructure: Strong support for completing the Capital City Bikeway network and expanding bike infrastructure to address existing gaps between Downtown and adjacent neighborhoods​
  • Event Coordination: Calls for better coordination during events between traffic routes, parking, and transit options

Want to know more about what people said? Click here to read the detailed analysis. 

Next Steps 

The team is developing a long-term street network that responds to these themes.  This proposed long-term network will be available for review at this website soon (Summer 2025). You’ll also see the project team at downtown community events & presenting the network to stakeholders and residents. Sign Up for email updates to be alerted to events and formal feedback opportunities. 

Purpose and Overview

The Downtown Streets and Sidewalks Plan will examine all the needs that downtown’s street network must serve and determine the best way to fit the many pieces together. Our work will identify how Downtown’s streets and sidewalks can prioritize an enhanced pedestrian experience and reduce automobile dependency.

The Saint Paul Climate Action and Resiliency Plan identifies a goal of reducing single occupancy vehicle commuters by 40%. As a historic regional employment center poised for evolution, downtown Saint Paul’s transportation system plays a large influence in reaching this goal. Recent multimodal transportation investments in downtown streets include the Capital City Bikeway, Green Line LRT, Gold Line BRT, and others, which have begun to lay the groundwork for a multimodal downtown that relies less on single occupancy vehicles and has a complete network of efficient and low-stress alternatives. 

Additionally, the Downtown Investment Strategy envisions significant future growth in residents, employees and visitors. The downtown public infrastructure, streets, and sidewalks must be ready to support that growth in a sustainable way. The Downtown Streets and Sidewalks Plan determine the best way to achieve this. 

Plan Timeline

The Plan will be in development from Fall 2024 to Spring 2026 and transition through four phases of work: Create the Vision and Goals, Propose Street Types and Network Options, Refine Network and Start Case Study Corridors, and Document the Plan. Public feedback will be used to inform each step. 

Printable image of the process graphic

The Downtown Streets and Sidewalks Plan has four key technical steps. Public Feedback will be used to inform each step.

Plan Leadership

The Downtown Streets and Sidewalks Plan is led by the Saint Paul Department of Public Works and is guided by a Technical Advisory Committee composed of government agencies and community organizations. A roster of the groups involved in monthly TAC meetings can be found in Documents. 

The Plan will be improved with more involvement. Sign up for email updates today to stay informed of study progress and be alerted of moment for formal public feedback. 

Study Area

The primary study area for the Downtown Streets and Sidewalks Plan is bounded by I-94/I-35E freeway on the north, Highway 52/Lafayette Bridge on the east, Shepard Road on the south, and Kellogg Boulevard on the west. This area is entirely within Planning District 17 (the CapitolRiver Council). The study will consider the gateway connections and corridors to each of the adjacent districts and neighborhoods from this primary study area.

Map showing the Downtown Mobility Plan area including downtown Saint Paul and surrounding

Documents

Last Edited: July 29, 2025