Don't make Mississippi River Boulevard a one-way street on St. Paul side

I have been a resident of St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood since 1954 when my parents moved into the house I presently call home. Do the math, I was in Kindergarten. I went to Horace Mann Elementary and graduated from Highland Jr. and Sr. High in 1967.
During the period of the 1950s-60s, I saw the Temple of Aaron and the Ford Plant expand into the wild forest and paths along the cliffs that we used to make forts, run and bike; we also built a sandlot baseball field at the south end of the Ford Plant. Life was good. Then progress took out all the trees and thickets, also much of the wild life. Growing up, I recall pheasants along the boulevard. They are gone. Then the dredging and renewal at the base of gorge hat brought in dear and beaver! We used to wander the cliffs and the flats and clean up after all the weekend parties. Today, we have wild turkeys, Bald Eagles (of which I had a nest for three years in my Cottonwood) coyotes and I’ve even seen foxes. Mother Nature moves on.
I read in the Villager, that a ‘majority’ want to return to last summer’s closure and permanently turn the MRB into a one-way street, north only? Seriously? What majority? I was never queried and I have lived here for 66 years. What is the Union Park District Council Transportation Committee (UPDC) and who are the members? The MRB, as far as I can remember, was never meant to be one way. It is a direct route to and from the U of M and other destinations. Growing up during this time, I and many others, road our bikes everywhere, walked or hitch-hiked to the U. Never a problem with traffic, just maybe the weather, and the scenery along the river and the changing of the seasons was just spectacular!

Today, sadly, progress has arrogance about it. Bicycles have become more of a transportation means than it ever was. I believe the Twin Cities ranks very high when it comes to year round transportation (I can’t imagine riding in the winter, but many do). Here, here! I thank those that bike for being cognizant of the environment.
Now, let’s examine the biking community. Majority of those biking are friendly, considerate, just out for a ride or exorcise. For a decade or more, there has been a growing vocal outcry from a select group of the biking community. Racers, high energy elite athletes and others. I commend their conditioning, but, their wishes to impose, on the public, and the powers that be in the government, their perceived right to ride where and how they want is misguided. As an MRB resident and daily driver, I have become a pace car driver rarely going more than 30 mph (speed limit on the MRB is 25 mph) and passed by cars. I have been spit and sworn at, flipped off, drafted behind my vehicle and scared I could hit someone when they ride 2-3 abreast and not yielding to a vehicle that could cause great bodily harm. I wrote an editorial a year ago about an incident I had. Stop signs? Turns? Not yielding! The law says I could be ticketed and prosecuted for running a stop sign. Why, then, is there no enforcement for bicyclist? Bikers, too, must obey the law.
Now that the Ford Plant / Highland Bridge construction is under way and the density is going to increase ‘biggly’ (sorry, couldn’t resist) a one-way MRB does not make any sense. Rather, make the streets within the new community be one-way and leave the MRB alone for those going both north and south to other destinations. The MRB is a valued asset to St. Paul transportation. Maybe to create more pedestrian access, explore extending the sidewalks on the residential side on the city property. It is now mostly grass forcing people to not want to ‘trespass’ on neighbors property, forcing them to stay on the river side of the road. I agree that a northbound bike lane would make sense by increasing the width of the boulevard.
If the MRB is deemed to be a one-way street, where would the traffic be detoured to? Through our neighborhood’s streets where our kids and pets play? Mt Curve? Woodlawn? Montrose? Through other major arteries that already are congested during morning and evening traffic? Maybe we should call for one-way traffic on Cretin, Cleveland, Fairview, Snelling, and Lexington... maybe east-west one-ways on Randolph, Summit and Marshall. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
And what about parking? There is currently parking on the residential side of the MRB. Will that be eliminated? Where do friends and family, park? In the past, there were political events that were very common on both north and south sides of Randolph, when there was a gathering, there would be dozens of cars. Sadly, those folks have passed away, but new activists will be along. What should they do?
One other note: why reconfigure the MRB when streets like Pelham Blvd. desperately need a major scrape and resurfacing?
Dana Rose
Highland Park