A public outdoor patio will replace the Starbucks drive-thru on the corner of Snelling and Marshall avenues that has become both a staple and a hassle for the hectic intersection since it was built five years ago.
Residents of the surrounding neighborhood have submitted complaints to the city about the drive-thru backing up traffic for years and after a ten-month pause in window service, Starbucks voluntarily decided to close the drive-thru permanently, according to a statement by Nicole Goodman, the Director of St. Paul’s Planning and Economic Development department.
“Their management spent time with City leadership from both PED and Public Works in examining the concerns raised by the community,” Goodman said. “After thoughtful consideration, Starbucks came back with a creative solution that will benefit the neighborhood.”
Due to the high rate of traffic around the intersection, the St. Paul City Council began providing traffic control at the Starbucks in 2018 to help ease the congestion at the intersection, but the use of police resulted in employees at the location threatening to boycott the store in 2020 following reports of tense interactions between police and patrons of color.
“The line would go into the busy street, and I’m shocked people didn’t get into accidents daily,” St. Thomas senior Laurél Bertomeu wrote in a direct message. “I would avoid Marshall in that area as much as I could because it was so bad.”
Starbucks officially closed its drive-thru in 2020.
Whitney Wenner, a student at St. Catherine University, wrote that she went to Starbucks two to three times a week before the drive-thru closed, but after service was paused, she was discouraged from going as often.
“I miss the drive-thru because it’s frustrating to leave my car to go inside to grab the drink when I’m in my pajamas,” Wenner wrote, “so the (closing) discourages me from going to Starbucks as often. However, the drive-thru line was always super long.”
Under the new proposal, the pavement that was used for the drive-thru line will be replaced with a patio for outdoor seating, a walk-up window and a bicycle repair station, according to an email sent out to the public by the Seattle-based company after discussing the location with St. Paul PED in February.
Starbucks currently operates six locations in the Highland Park area, but only one has a functional drive-thru.
“It’s annoying the drive-thru is closed, but it’s better because of it,” Bertomeu wrote.
Elijah Todd-Walden can be reached at todd5861@stthomas.edu.