Fast, Furious and Fined
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Your award-winning, Park nonprofit community resource St. Anthony Park / Falcon Heights www.parkbugle.org Lauderdale / Como Park July 2016 Summer Bugle Blowout One-day music and art fest coming in Fast, August. furious Page 3 and fined Police plan series of weekend stings to stop area street racers. By Roger Bergerson In early May, some St. Anthony Park residents south of Como Avenue got a wake-up call—literally—that the street-racing season was underway. In the early hours of Saturday, May 7, dozens and dozens of high- performance cars moved through the neighborhood in caravan style, clogging Raymond Avenue and causing considerable unease among residents. “About 1:30 a.m., about 50 cars came past my house” north of Energy Park Drive, Adam Granger reported in a subsequent online posting. “It was amazing and surreal. Como Fest They weren’t speeding, and the nuisance they caused was due to the Como neighborhood sheer number of them, not to any is throwing a month- single behavior.” Farther south on Raymond, long party in July. near Territorial Road, Brad Page 3 Engelmann awakened to find the street jammed in front of his home. It’s time to hit the road “I will admit, this racing stuff has not previously bothered me,” he Last month, we asked readers to tell us about their favorite close-to-home summer jaunts. We said. “At times there were openings wanted to hear about things to do in the city, or day trips, or places you can get to in a day’s drive. on Raymond and cars would Several of our readers responded, so turn to pages 12 and 13 to find out more. Photo by Becky accelerate around the corner in front Kapell of Long Avenue, many making U- turns in crowded traffic.” What was all this about? Sgt. Chris Byrne, of St. Paul Police Traffic Enforcement, said it was likely street racers moving en masse to their next race site. His job Raymond Ave. project (probably) is to curtail such activity. Street racers, he explained, are won’t start until 280 project ends groups of young people, mostly male, who congregate on Friday and Saturday nights at various sites By Kristal Leebrick around the metropolitan area. In There is one bright spot in the dark cloud of 2016 summer road work: The Raymond Avenue reconstruction project many cases, they are influenced by between Como Avenue and Energy Park Drive probably won’t begin until the Highway 280 reconstruction project the Fast and Furious movie series and ends. the Street Outlaws show on TV. That is, if the 280 project ends in early August as currently planned. The lengthy review process for the Raymond For racing, they favor highways Avenue project came to an end in May and the City of St. Paul will open bids July 6. Work could begin in August, Patriotic essays or places such as the warehouse project engineer Barb Mundahl said, or after the Minnesota State Fair ends on Sept. 5. district around University Avenue “Since we stipulate that the construction must cease during the State Fair, it will be up to the contractor whether and Vandalia Street that feature long they will start something in August or wait until after the fair,” she said. “The upside is that the work on 280 should Meet the winners of straightaways. (While fleeing police be done by the time we start.” the annual July 4 at the University and Vandalia The completion date for the Raymond Avenue project is June 30, 2017. The project will be in two stages, essay contest. location in 2009, a race spectator Mundahl said, with work being suspended over the winter. The road will be open during that time. slammed her vehicle into one driven Through mid-July, Highway 280 traffic will continue to be restricted to a single lane in each direction between by an innocent bystander, killing Broadway Street and Como Avenue. The highway is closed north of Broadway. There will be two weekend full-road Page 22 him.) closures to resurface the highway between Como and Broadway. Those closures are tentatively planned for late July Regular police patrol officers are or early August, one weekend for each direction. You can sign up for email updates on the 280 project at www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/hwy280/. Street racing to 9 2 PARK BUGLE n JULY 2016 CITY FILES Como Park restaurant's contract with the city. click the newsletter icon in the right Thursday of each month through Rec. The city will ultimately decide The District 10 Como Community Committee members will develop column. October. If you have garden surplus whether or not to approve the Council meets at 7 p.m. on the third surveys and other ways of assessing to sell, there is no charge to be a project. Tuesday of each month at the Historic quality, customer service, community vendor. JOTP’s contract with the city Streetcar Station, 1224 N. Lexington access and other measurements. Falcon Heights Please contact Susie at requires that the tennis courts be Parkway. Contact 651-644-3889 or Richard Herriges and Jenny The Falcon Heights City Council meets [email protected] open for public use at posted times. www.district10comopark.org. Larson were appointed as District the second and fourth Wednesdays of or call 651-329-8401 for an The program rents the rec center 10’s representatives on the Como each month at 7 p.m. in Falcon Heights application. The market is looking from the city. Ice Cream Social is July 15 Regional Park Advisory Committee. City Hall, 2077 W. Larpenteur Ave. for musicians to share their talents for JOTP is hoping to form a District 10’s annual Ice Cream Social This committee keeps track of Contact 651-792-7600 or www.falcon - an hour or so at each market. committee in conjunction with will take place Friday, July 15, from traffic, parking and other projects in heights.org. District 12 to improve 5 to 8 p.m. at the Historic Streetcar the park and makes communication and collaboration Station at the corner of Lexington recommendations to the city’s Parks Annual Neal Kwong citizenship St. Anthony Park between the center and residents. Parkway and Horton Avenue. It will Commission. award goes to local boy The District 12 Community Council Alex Manning, JOTP fundraising be a night of free ice cream, plenty of District 10’s representatives will The Falcon Heights City Council meets on the second Thursday of each and community coordinator, is lawn games, live music and hanging be the point people who (1) keep the awarded local resident Austin month at 7 p.m. at Jennings Community inviting residents to participate in the out with the best neighbors in the neighborhood informed on park Johnson the 2016 Neal Kwong Learning Center, 2455 University Ave. committee to brainstorm, discuss city. The entire neighborhood is plans, (2) explain how those plans Youth Citizenship Award. The To find when council committees meet, and help facilitate future projects and invited. could impact those of us who live award was established in 2000 in go to www.sapcc.org or call 651-649- events at the park. The committee The Ice Cream Social is part of here and (3) convey our advice to memory of Neal Kwong who was a 5992. The council offices are located at will work toward getting more ComoFest, which brings fun every Parks leadership. Falcon Heights youth leader and 2395 University Ave., Suite 300 E. community input about happenings weekend in July to different parts of Eagle Scout who exemplified at the center and establishing a the Como neighborhood (see story Residents elect board members voluntarism and citizenship. Solar charging station, public art consistent and collaborative dialogue on page 3). Community members elected two Johnson is an Eagle Scout and part of Hampden Park renovations between JOTP and the Parking is limited, especially new members to the District 10 has volunteered in various activities, Tiny Hampden Park at the corner of neighborhood, Manning said. because of road construction, so board in May. Residents elected Tim including with his church’s fall Hampden and Raymond avenues in Email [email protected] please consider walking, biking, car Post to fill the board’s vacant secretary festival, serving as a teacher’s aid and south St. Anthony Park will be the if you are interested in joining the pooling or taking public transit. position and Mike Ireland to fill a tutor at his school, helping his fellow first St. Paul city park to have a solar- committee or have any questions.— Eagle Scouts with their projects, and powered charging station for park Kristal Leebrick users to charge their phones or other small electronics. Ecumen senior housing update The Soofa Core station is one of The groundbreaking for the 49-unit a number of amenities coming to the senior cooperative at the southeast park this summer as the city of St. corner of Luther Seminary property Paul makes $200,000 in is planned for September. The improvements. project has had an “extreme amount The project also includes a of interest,” according to Dena poured-concrete plaza and ADA- Meyer, senior director of business compliant picnic table on the east development at Ecumen, the end of the park, a bike repair station Lutheran-affiliated developer of the called Fixit (the park is part of the project. Meyer gave an update on the Grand Rounds bikeway), public art project to the District 12 Land Use by sculptor Zoran Mojsilov (who Committee in June.