In this battle over a Minnesota bike lane, the cars won

Sofia Barnett, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jul 29, 2026

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EDINA, Minn. -- At first glance, Wooddale Avenue looks like any other suburban street.

It carries traffic between neighborhoods, schools, churches and parks. Visitors park along its curbs. Families cross it on foot.

For cyclists, however, Wooddale represents one of the last missing links in Edina’s bike network.

And after months of public debate and a packed council chamber, the Edina City Council voted unanimously July 21 to largely leave the street’s striping intact, rejecting proposals that would have removed on-street parking to create new bike lanes.

The decision capped one of the city’s most closely watched transportation debates in recent years and highlighted a challenge that plays out across the Twin Cities. Cities like Edina have spent years adopting plans to become more walkable and bikeable. Turning those visions into reality on streets built decades ago for cars has proven far more difficult.

Wooddale became the latest test.

The city had already planned to resurface the street as part of its pavement management program, creating a rare opportunity to rethink how the existing roadway could be configured. Staff developed five options, ranging from keeping the current layout to removing on-street parking for new bike lanes.

Edina isn’t the only place grappling with how to retrofit roads built around cars while pursuing plans for safer walking and biking. Just a few years ago, St. Louis Park faced pushback about adding bike lanes to its stretch of Wooddale. Debate over a bike trail along Summit Avenue played into St. Paul’s mayoral election last fall.

In Minneapolis, proposed changes along Lyndale Avenue South have sparked months of public debate, underscoring how routine street projects can become flashpoints over parking, traffic and competing visions for neighborhood streets.

Wooddale quickly became a rallying point for residents on both sides of the debate. It also galvanized the newly formed Edina Bike Alliance, whose founders, Taylor Bruhschwein and Jake Vandelist, argued the corridor represents one of the city’s best opportunities to create a safer north-south route for cyclists.

“We think this is kind of a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put in bike infrastructure that feels safe for everyone,” Vandelist said.

Full bike network?

On Wooddale today, painted bike lanes leave riders just a few feet from passing vehicles traveling about 35 mph, he said. That’s not a street many parents would trust their children to ride on.

“If Edina is ever going to build out a full bike network, Wooddale has to be involved in this area of the city,” Bruhschwein said. “There just isn’t a second viable option.”

The group initially supported installing protected bike lanes along the corridor, a change that would have required removing on-street parking. As opposition from residents grew, the alliance shifted its position, instead urging the city to delay resurfacing until a future reconstruction project when the roadway could potentially be widened to accommodate protected bike lanes, sidewalks and parking.

To some neighbors, though, the proposal illustrated not a failure of bike infrastructure, but a failure of planning.

For Edina resident John Crabtree, the debate wasn’t simply about preserving parking in front of homes.

He questioned whether the city’s own data justified a major redesign, noting officials identified only one bicycle crash along the corridor over the past decade. He also said what began as a routine resurfacing project gradually evolved into a broader redesign that many residents hadn’t anticipated.

“This scheme has all sorts of problems with no really good solutions,” Crabtree said. “It was a project which ended up, for various reasons, developing a life of its own, which it never should have done.”

Edina City Council Member Julie Risser said the recent vote should not be interpreted as opposition to better bike infrastructure.

“I am a biker,” Risser said, noting that Edina has lagged behind neighboring communities in building connected bike routes. “We have been failing in terms of putting in the needed infrastructure for a really long time.”

Instead, she said, the council’s concerns centered on the process.

Risser argued that eliminating a significant amount of parking deserved broader public discussion before reaching the council. She also said future bike investments should be more intentional and shaped earlier by residents.

But competing visions for Wooddale — or other streets — are unlikely to disappear.

The city has adopted plans calling for expanded bicycle infrastructure, safer streets and reduced dependence on cars. Staff argued Wooddale’s traffic volumes and layout make it an appropriate corridor for upgraded bike facilities under city plans and state guidance.

The council’s decision may settle Wooddale for now. The broader debate over how Edina, and many first-ring suburbs like it, balance cars, bicycles and neighborhood priorities is far from over.