Como Avenue Trail

The City of St. Paul hired Alliant to design a 1.6-mile segment of the St. Paul Grand Round Trail between Raymond Avenue and Hamline Avenue. This project completes the missing link in the 27-mile trail loop originally envisioned by Horace Cleveland in the late 1800s and greatly improves recreation and non-motorized transportation options for University of Minnesota students and staff, Minnesota State Fair visitors, and Como Regional Park users.

Alliant led stakeholder and community outreach, preliminary and final design. With limited right-of-way available, Alliant conducted traffic studies, a detailed parking study, and a tree inventory to evaluate the impacts associated with multiple design options. The preferred alternative includes a four-to-three lane conversion of a segment of road to provide room for an off-road shared-use trail.

To increase safety and trail user experience, street lighting was incorporated along both sides of Como Avenue for the entire length of the project. Alliant engineers and landscape architects also developed landscaping and wayfinding plans to enhance the trail user experience and visual quality of the corridor, including a gateway node at the Como/Hamline intersection with a kiosk, benches, water fountain, and wayfinding signage.

Alliant designed the replacement of over 50 residential water and sanitary sewer services in conjunction with the roadway reconstruction. Stormwater design includes underground infiltration trenches designed to meet stringent watershed district requirements while avoiding loss of public space or requiring additional right-of-way acquisition. Alliant construction services staff oversaw the construction of the $6M project, which was phased and staged in careful consideration of the Minnesota State Fair and adjacent University of Minnesota properties.