Ayd Mill Road will undergo an estimated 5.2 million dollar mill and overlay project beginning fall 2019, including the addition of bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

The Ayd Mill Road maintenance project is included in the St. Paul Public Works’ five-year capital improvement plan. With deteriorating conditions and an average of 24,000 vehicles taking the road per day, there was an opportunity to move up plans for maintenance.

The 1.5 mile stretch of road is a city-owned street. The project will mainly be funded through street reconstruction bonds and through the city’s general bike infrastructure fund, Lisa Hiebert, public information officer and marketing manager for St. Paul public works, said in an email.

A 2009 city policy requires the addition of bike and pedestrian infrastructure with any road work on Ayd Mill Road. Heibert explained that the northbound lane will include pedestrian and a marked two-way bike lane. The southbound land will have two-way traffic for vehicles. The widths of the current streets are not changing, she said.

“We really take a look at the streets and how can we improve transportation for all modes of transportation,” Hiebert said. “That’s a part of our process when we do any type of street reconstruction or road work.”

Sabreena Boyum, a graduate student at St. Thomas, lives in an apartment near Ayd Mill Road.

“You think that you’re going to break your car every other time that you drive down it, and you have to watch for every pothole. It’s dreadful,” Boyum said.

In the past, the street has had minor fixes.

“They put bandaids on it and filled in some of the bigger potholes,” Boyum said.

The project is still in the engineering phase, so an exact timeline has not been set. While in the engineering phase, St. Paul Public Works will look at the sewage system and signal timing to ensure the safety of bikers and pedestrians crossing the road, according to Hiebert.

Summit Bridge will also be coming down, Hiebert said. Lane and road closures can be expected due to this project.

A definitive time schedule and information on the project will be released to the public next year.

Rachel Torralba can be reached at torr3544@stthomas.edu.