Monthly Archives: August 2012

Parking permit signs are here

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In case you have not noticed, the new Area 21 parking permit signs are up. For most residents of Area 21 this just means that you no longer need permits to park in the evening or during the summer months. But for residents of Lincoln Avenue whose address is odd between 1943 and 2009 or even between 1944 and 2022, this means you need to buy a parking permit to park on the street. It is not clear when enforcement of the new parking requirements will start, but any permit you buy today will be valid through August 2013, so there is no reason to delay.

Please see the city web page on residential permit parking for instructions. Note that you will need your driver’s license showing your Lincoln Avenue address, your current vehicle insurance card, and the make, model, year, color and license plate number for the vehicle. There are alternatives if any of these present a problem for you, see the instructions or call traffic operations at 651-266-9777 for details. Permits cost $10 per vehicle.

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Parking permit signs coming soon

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Area 21 will soon get its new permit parking signs. Monica Beeman confirmed that the traffic sign folks already have our new signs in production and hope to get them up before St. Thomas begins the Fall term on 5 September. Of course, there are many priorities for the staff, from the state fair to other projects downtown, so it could be they miss that target date, but Monica is certain the new signs will be here soon.

For those of us who live on the eastern two thirds of Lincoln Avenue between Cleveland and Prior, this means we need to purchase a parking permit soon. Our addresses are already listed as part of the Area 21 parking permit zone, so we can pick those permits up any time. Please see the city web page on residential permit parking for instructions. Note that you will need your driver’s license showing your Lincoln Avenue address, your current vehicle insurance card, and the make, model, year, color and license plate number for the vehicle. There are alternatives if any of these present a problem for you, see the instructions or call traffic operations at 651-266-9777 for details. Permits cost $10 per vehicle and they will be valid though August 2013.

Rain Garden Update

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I’ve seen some puzzled faces and been a bit puzzled myself as I’ve watched the rain gardens being built as part of our Prior/Goodrich RSVP project. Today I gave Forrest Kelley from the Capitol Region Watershed District a call and asked a few questions. I thought I’d share what I learned.

There are actually two different types of rain garden being built on Lincoln as part of the RSVP project. One is the shallow depression that will be planted with native grasses and flowers, the second is a deeper tree trench.

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The tree trenches have been “maximized for water retention” (in other words, made pretty deep) in order to feed the trees that will be planted there. These tree trenches are also the rain gardens being planted with regular grass sod. Right now they make the boulevard look a bit like a mini-golf course, but that will change once the trees are planted and grow larger.

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The native plant gardens will not get sod, they will remain a dirt boulevard for now. They will probably get some soil treatment (a few inches of special soils), but the plantings won’t arrive until Spring. Forrest said a date in the spring is being worked out by CRWD and Saint Paul, and we’ll get word of what it is once it is set, but that date is likely not till next Spring.

All of the rain gardens will get the small concrete ledge in the boulevard, next to the curb cuts. These help manage erosion and give us a place to gather up soil that might otherwise get out of the garden.