Pierce Butler extension shelved again

By JANE MCCLURE

The long-awaited, much-debated eastern extension of Pierce Butler Rte. is likely to remain curbed. This month the St. Paul City Council is poised to take away remaining project funds and move the dollars to other street work.

The council is being asked to identify $7 million in a lapsed federal appropriation and transfer $2,131,250 in municipal state aid and other dollars.

St. Paul Department of Public Works staff contends that spending money now on other projects is a better approach than trying to amass the millions needed to eventually extend Pierce Butler Rte. from Minnehaha Ave. and Grotto St. to Interstate 35E and the East Side’s Phalen Blvd. The city’s Long-Range Capital Improvement Budget Committee agrees and in November recommended that the money be moved.

Pierce Butler Rte. was platted in 1961. It was named for one of St. Paul’s native sons who served on the U.S. Supreme Court. During the 1980s and 1990s as what is now Green Line light rail was planned, Pierce Butler Route was initially eyed as a rail route. It was later discussed as a reliever street for east-west motor vehicle traffic through the area, especially truck traffic. Semi-tractor-trailers struggle to make the turns onto and off of University Ave. now that light rail is in. Street lights and even a few building awnings have been taken out by turning vehicles.

The extension was also discussed in the 1990s as an industrial area near Dale St. At that time the extension would have run parallel to the area railroad lines. But later planners made the decision to extend the street through to the south.

Controversy and costs aren’t the only factors that have slowed the project. Public Works project manager changes and changes in area district council and community development corporation staff over the years further impacted the project.

Public Works Director Kathy Lantry said extending Pierce Butler won’t be dropped as a project from the Public Works to-do list. But given the high $11 million cost of the extension from the east end to Western Ave. versus other street project needs, Pierce Butler again will wait. Lantry said Public Works will have to look at other sources of funding to get the project done, given the large amount of funding needed.

That echoes concerns raised by Mayor Chris Coleman when he took the project out of the 2016-2017 city capital budget.

That frustrates Ward One Council Member Dai Thao, who cites the many years community members have waited to see the project done. “People have waited for a long time to see something done,” he said. In the Frogtown part of his ward, Pierce Butler’s east end dumps traffic into the already-busy Minnehaha Ave. and Dale St. area.

Thao also objects because land purchased for the extension has sat empty. He said the properties are trash-covered and not maintained, and that people are tired of seeing the properties remain vacant.

Eight years ago, the City Council was embroiled in a debate with two Frogtown businesses, Daisy Huang’s grocery store and bazaar, and Gennadiy Yermolenko’s salvage yard. Yermolenko had spent $1.5 million to redevelop his business near Como and Western avenues. Huang had spent much time and money developing her market. But both businesses were in the way of the street extension.

At that time, plans called for the street extension to start in 2011. Five years later, the lots remain empty, and the street isn’t done. Thao recently described the vacant properties as eyesores during a City Council budget debate.

The Pierce Butler Rte. extension, as planned, would be a four-lane road with a shoulder for bicycle commuters and a separate bike trail. Whether it is a feasible bike route has been a topic for debate among bicyclists, with some saying it provides a fast connection east to west. Others contend that using it as a bike route is dangerous because of truck traffic and vehicular speeds.

The project has long been controversial, with neighborhoods on the east end generally favoring the extension in the past. St. Anthony Park residents and property owners have opposed an extension from Transfer Road to Highway 280 and beyond. In the Midway area, most route-related issues focus on the need for traffic to slow down and make the street safer to cross.