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When a federal judge ruled that Canadian Pacific Railway had no obligation to give up land for the St. Paul Greenway, the trail easily could have been declared dead. But local advocates aren’t letting the ambitious plan flat line just yet.

Late last month, St. Paul Smart Trips packed a gymnasium for a visioning session that breathed new life into the Greenway concept — an off-road path for cyclists and pedestrians that would connect the Twin Cities.

The air buzzed with energy and excitement as a crowd of more than 120 listened to presentations from Laura Baum, Smart Trip’s residential outreach specialist, and then broke off into smaller groups to get their vision down on paper.

Baum says the participation sent a loud and clear message that residents want the greenway built, no matter how long it takes. And Smart Trips is taking the mantle to make sure it happens.

“They encouraged us to keep at it and continue to build support for the project,” she says. “The legal setback was certainly a disappointment, but we’re energized by the enthusiasm we continue to hear from people and plan to keep working to get a world-class biking and walking facility built in this corridor.”

With just one meeting Smart Trips added another 50 signatures to its petition and rallied residents for monthly meetings to maintain the momentum.

Read more from Smart Trips about the Greenway project.

St. Paul Smart Trips held its second annual Transportation Summit on March 3. According to the organization, “Over 100 representatives of St. Paul workplaces and neighborhoods attended the two hour networking and informational event. Speaker highlights included:

Councilmember Russ Stark spoke about how a new transportation committee will address all modes of transportation and provide a more cohesive perspective on the needs of pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, drivers, youth and the disabled.

Councilmember Melvin Carter spoke about the impacts of the three new Central Corridor light rail stations planned for the intersections of University Avenue at Western, Victoria and Hamline avenues.

Robin Caufman from the Central Corridor Project Office gave updates on the whole of the Central Corridor project including information about mitigating construction impacts on traffic and commerce.

Bruce Howard gave an overview of Metro Transit’s plans for the year including a sneak peak at a new website feature that allows users to track bus locations in real-time on a map.

Karri Plowman from the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce / OnBoard Midwest spoke to the benefits of high speed rail and the Union Depot project.”

Learn more: Star Tribune article on the new transportation committee
View: Slides from the presentations (PDF 6.2mb)
View: Photos from the event
More on St. Paul Smart Trips