Furness Parkway

Mission

Furness Parkway is a 16-block linear park in the Hayden Heights neighborhood on the east side of Saint Paul following a former street-car line right-of-way just west of McKnight Road. SPBC’s goal is to help facilitate understanding between proponents of the pathway extension and concerned residents.

Furness Parkway Post

posted 09.20.2010

The park was initially developed in the early 1980s with pathways on the middle 8 blocks from Ivy Avenue to Hoyt Avenue. Other improvements included site cleanup and grading, installing several benches, and planting trees. The current project is to complete pathway development and improvements throughout the length of the park, particularly at the north and south ends. The project has been approved for financing by the City´s Capital Improvement Budget, with partial funding coming in budget years 2006, 2007, and 2009. The project has been approved by District Council 2 and the Saint Paul City Council.

The improvements include:

- Extending path paving from Maryland Avenue to Ivy Avenue, and from Hoyt Avenue to Larpenteur Avenue.
- Install pathway lighting.
- Additional grading and seeding to improve the appearance and maintainability.
- Tree pruning to improve path safety and tree health.
- Signage as required.
- Benches and trash receptacles.
- Property line fencing as appropriate at adjacent private property.
- Tree planting as needed.
- Install crosswalks over the parkway at Arlington Avenue and Sherwood Avenue.

This project has been approved for financing by the City´s Capital Improvement Budget, with partial funding coming in budget years 2006, 2007, and 2009. There is a city project page which will look pretty familiar to anyone who just read the stuff above, but which also has some additional information including improvement cross-sections and a couple of hard-to-read maps.

What

Extensions of the existing pathway at the north and south end. At the moment, with the project approved by the local District Council and the City Council and with funding obtained, it wouldn´t seem that there´s much for us to do. However, the section of trail through the roughly triangular piece of land for the north extension has caused some opposition by neighbors. Broadly speaking, the main concern is that the bicycle path will bring criminal elements close to some local homes, particularly from some crime-prone residences just north of Larpenteur on Beebe. With the path in place, access through the land at the north end will be easier but will also be developed, lit, and more-travelled. In general, bicycle paths do not increase criminal activity, but these neighbors do have a specific identified concern. On the other hand, many residents support the path as attractive public space and useful room for people to exercise and would like to see it completed.

Where

The primary concerns are about the extension at the north end of the trail. Here, the planned path extension goes through a city-owned lot which is currently vacant and not used for anything. The site can be seen on the Google map below.

The current trail ends at Hoyt Avenue, visible on this map. You can see the trail on here dividing east and west at Hoyt. The extension will take the trail from Hoyt up to Larpenteur Avenue East, which forms the northern border of Saint Paul here. The A pin is about the point where the trail goes into the city-owned triangular bit of land that seems to be causing some concern. Click this map to "Sat" view and you can see this wooded piece of land somewhat better.

We've prepared a downloadable map that shows the Furness Parkway Trail Extension´s north end with property lines and street names superimposed on a 2009 aerial survey of the area.

View Larger Map

When

Although District Council 2 has approved the plan and the City Council has passed it, there is some neighborhood opposition and there have been a couple of further hearings with the District Council to hear concerns. Several SPBC members attended the meeting held October 20. This meeting was also attended by about 15 neighborhood residents, a Parks and Recreation representative and of course the council itself. There were statements given both against and in favor of the extensions. In the end, all but one of the district council members voted to proceed. It's not clear that the SPBC support had much effect here; the project has been driven by District Council 2 from the beginning.

Who

This project is in Saint Paul´s Ward 6 represented by Councilmember Dan Bostrom. Go ahead and e-mail him your thoughts. The area is served by Greater East Side Community Council (Council 2 of the 17 in the city).

How

The Saint Paul Bicycle Coalition supports this trail extension project. It helps complete the existing Furness Parkway trail, improves lighting and facilities along the trail, and connects to Larpenteur Avenue on the northern border of Saint Paul. How to support it? Right now, it doesn't appear that there is anything to do. The SPBC sent letters of support prior to the October 20, 2010 meeting and had people there to comment on the project. The District Council voted to recommend proceeding with the existing plan at that meeting. We will monitor the situation to see if there is further action needed.

Further Developments

The Furness Parkway Extension was featured in a Saint Paul Pioneer Press article on the Saturday November 6, 2010. We're quoted, which is cool, and there's a link to this page after the article. The resident quoted in the article is on the District Council and was the only dissenting vote at the October 20 meeting.

So What´s This Look Like, Anyway?

Below are some photos of the Furness Parkway Trail and points of interest. We start at the south end and work north in these photos. If you want to see them in more detail, click on the photo and you can see a larger version.