As City Council plans to vote on the southeast bikeway improvements March 2, Senior City Engineering Project Manager Jack Sullivan said the project will help enlarge the quality of transportation choices in the area.

“Our goal is to achieve a better network of mobility choices for the community, so biking and walking in addition to automobiles throughout the community,” Sullivan said. “By doing these projects with Connect the Park, it allows for everyone to have access to these types of facilities.”

According to junior Liam O’Gara, he has a hard time crossing the road during the night, which will be adressed by the plans goal of adding  

“It would make it a lot easier because that road right now is kind of a mess when it comes to bikers, especially when it comes to night because it’s dark and it’s really hard to cross that road and I think some paths would make it easier,” O’Gara said.

According to Sullivan, the project won’t directly impact the high school, but it will create a web of bikeways and paths that connect.

“It starts down at the Edina border and works its way up into the Rec Center area,” Sullivan said. “It doesn’t get too close to the high school, but it connects with a number of other trails and bikeway systems that we expect to either have in place this summer or in the next couple of years with southwest light rail and these other projects that are coming online.”

According to Sullivan, the project will make it easier for people who can’t drive to get around the city.

“One of the great things about the additional sidewalks and bike facilities that we are adding to town is that you don’t need to have a driver’s license, you don’t need to own a car to be able to get around town efficiently and safely,” Sullivan said. “I think all those individuals that are trying to access school and businesses and recreation, this gives them other opportunities.”

According to junior Clayton Horstman Olson, he wants to see a larger effort by the city to create bike paths that are strictly for biking.  

“I would like to see some more strictly bike paths made in addition to the bike paths on the roads because sometimes that involves making a two-lane road into a one-lane road for the bikes,” Horstman Olson said. “That can make it harder for right-hand turns and just slow down traffic,” Horstman Olson said.”

According to Sullivan, the project will add markings and signs to the roads so bikers and drivers know how to interact.

“We also have some intersection enhancements that we are doing ,so a lot of activity happens at intersections,” Sullivan said. “So making sure it’s well defined where the bikers go and where the automobiles navigate the intersection is really important.”

According to Sullivan, the southeast bikeway is just a small part of the city’s plan to enhance the transportation facilities in St. Louis Park.

“We are building out a system, so the southeast bikeway is what we’re looking to build in 2020,” Sullivan said. “It’s connecting to the much larger, broader community and the bike and pedestrian infrastructure we have already in place around town are coming in the near future to really create a system so that you can get from one end of town to the other via these modes of transportation.”

According to Horstman Olson, he hopes by building bikeways the city will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide it’s producing.

“It’s helping us get away from a carbon-based transportation system and getting us more to a bike-friendly and environmentally clean way of getting around,” Horstman Olson said.