urbanMSP

Makes ya wonder if the car obsessed county engineers purposely required the removal of trees and parking to garner opposition to cycle tracks...

Makes ya wonder if the car obsessed county engineers purposely required the removal of trees and parking to garner opposition to cycle tracks...

[Facepalm]

I have become that cynical, as well.

I decided to try the Greenway for the first time yesterday since it was daylight and there were apt to be a number of people around. I did enjoy it and will probably do it again, my only suggestion would be a grade separated crossing of 28th- couldn't they have extended the Sabo bridge around the corner. It looks like they took lanes away from cars just to make it easier for bicycles and pedestrians to cross. There seemed to be a lot more spandex & helmet types than on the Chain of Lakes trails, but there were still plenty of apparent casual bicyclists. I have a Trek road bike, but I find my hybrid is more suited to the city trails.

I parked on the East River Parkway, then went through downtown (my first time there in a year and a half) to the Cedar Lake trail, then Kenilworth before returning on the Greenway. I know a lot was made on the money spent on the Cedar Lake Trail, but I think it was a good investment, like the BIg DIg the end result is something wonderful for the city that will last generations. I usually ride around the chain of lakes once a week, and then a longer 12-15 mile loop. It would be nice if they could eventually get the trail done along the north Mississippi so I could ride around that way, and then Victory parkway and the Bassett Creek trail. The Hennepin County bicycle map really is a great resource.

It looks like they took lanes away from cars just to make it easier for bicycles and pedestrians to cross.

Not easier, safer. The four-lane configuration created what's known as a double threat, in which a car in one lane yields to the traffic in the crosswalk but a car in another lane does not. I'm not sure if there were ever any incidents here, but certainly we've seen similar crashes in Minneapolis. Since vehicular traffic counts on this segment don't come close to justifying more than two lanes (looks like the AADT has been 6-8k for the last 15 years or so, except for last year when Hiawatha was closed I think), they decided to go with a safer at-grade crossing. While it would have been fairly cheap and a decent solution to have an overpass (probably a separate bridge with an earthen embankment between 28th and the Sabo bridge would be cheaper than bridge the whole way), the refuge island was certainly immensely cheaper.

Out of curiosity, how do you access your AADT numbers?

It's a great outcome and one which does not seem to affect traffic much. Everyone slows (cars and bicyclists) and the refuge island allows for everyone to negotiate the crossing without over-engineering.

I'd love to see refuge islands all over our cites in places where there's a high-traffic undivided street and no signal to allow pedestrians/bicyclists to cross. Another successful example is Grand Ave just west of Snelling. It's easy for a walker or bicyclist to negotiate crossing one lane of traffic, then doing the same for the other direction. Refuge islands can also provide a place for vegetation and other streetscape improvements that help beautify a neighborhood.

My refuge island wish list: 42nd St/17th Ave, 44th St/Cedar Ave, 47th St/Cedar Ave, 46th St/15th Ave. Any others?

If traffic is actually that low what about just restriping the whole street to a two or three lane configuration?

Out of curiosity, how do you access your AADT numbers?

http://www.minneapolismn.gov/publicwork ... fic-counts

If traffic is actually that low what about just restriping the whole street to a two or three lane configuration?

I would say that's a good idea, not sure why they went with the awkward merge at the refuge island.

My refuge island wish list: 42nd St/17th Ave, 44th St/Cedar Ave, 47th St/Cedar Ave, 46th St/15th Ave. Any others?

Coming this fall 2013 to a neighborhood near you:
http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups ... 088785.pdf
http://www.minneapolismn.gov/bicycles/p ... Connection

Good. I had been an advocate of that median at 17th/42nd (I hope they can do one at 17th/46th as well) but I hadn't heard back when I asked if it would be implemented.

Current traffic calming and stop sign changes under consideration include:
17th Ave at 26th St: Curb extension on SE corner facing 26th St
17th Ave at 28th St: Curb extension on NW corner facing 28th St
17th Ave at 32nd St: Miniature traffic circle, Remove stop signs for 4-way yield
17th Ave at 33rd St: Switch stop signs from north-south to east-west
17th Ave at 34th St: Miniature traffic circle, Remove stop signs for 4-way yield
17th Ave at 36th St: Miniature traffic circle, Remove stop signs for 4-way yield
17th Ave at 42nd St: Median (pdf) with bicycle and pedestrian cut-thru, Motorist left turn prohibited
18th Ave b/t 41st St and 43rd St: Speed bumps
17th Ave at 45th St: Mini traffic circle, Remove stop signs for 4-way yield
17th Ave at 46th St: Median with no turning restrictions
17th Ave at Minnehaha Pkwy: Curb cut and path connection to Minnehaha Creek bike path
12th Ave at 53rd St: Speed bumps and pedestrian crosswalks, switch stop signs from north-south to east-west

http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups ... 090003.pdf

I hope they're not seriously planning on implementing this bicycle boulevard without resurfacing 17th Avenue. Between 46th and 40th anyways, it's just a hair smoother than the surface of the moon.

I've reached out to Shaun Murphy to see if the neighborhood can partner with the city to beautify these new medians/islands at 42nd/45th/46th.

Also wishing this included some sort of path along what would be 14th or 15th Aves between 58th St and 60th St, or a path along the rural-style section of Cedar Ave/60th between Edgewater and the Bloomington Ave bridge over Hwy 62: http://goo.gl/maps/N2rWu

I'm kinda torn on the idea of a bicycle boulevard. I get that they're going after skinnier streets with existing low (car) traffic volumes most likely because they're seen as low-hanging fruit options; increase bicycle mobility because people will feel safe there (likely existing low speeds) at a low cost. But that ignores that the busy streets are busy for a reason - the STUFF is there already (businesses, shopping, restaurants, etc etc). Instead of calming them, reducing space devoted to single-occupancy vehicles, etc, they're deciding to push bicyclists further from the action (where they'll end up anyway to park their bikes). The name is a bit odd, as well, since most of the things they discuss are just general traffic calming design elements and then a picture of a bike on the street. If all streets traveled at ~20 mph people wouldn't need to be told that biking on street was safe.

http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups ... 279001.pdf

This also goes to show how much we need to frame the ideas to property and car owners. What a bike boulevard is NOT: "An off-street multi-use path in your front yard" & "A “No Parking” zone in front of your house" (emphasis added). This lends credibility to the false idea that on-street parking in front of houses is supposed to be for local property owners.

I know it's not free, but it would be nice to see every major N/S avenue have dedicated bike facilities. As you move east, they cut off as they link up with the Hiawatha trail (assuming traveling straight north like that would be with the intent of getting to downtown).

Also wishing this included some sort of path along what would be 14th or 15th Aves between 58th St and 60th St, or a path along the rural-style section of Cedar Ave/60th between Edgewater and the Bloomington Ave bridge over Hwy 62: http://goo.gl/maps/N2rWu

Three Rivers is developing the latter as the Intercity Regional Trail:

http://71.6.142.67/revize/cityofrichfie ... tation.pdf

Here is the layout for the Minneapolis segment:

http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups ... 093455.pdf

Nice. In that case, all I ask for is a curb cut on Nokomis Parkway at 17th Ave S and a short piece of pavement to connect 17th Ave S to the Nokomis bicycle path. This would create a solid connection all the way down 17th Ave, around Lake Nokomis, and down to Richfield. Also, if the plan is to build a dedicated walk/bike bridge over 494 at 12th Ave, why don't they just move it a little closer to the plane of this path and do it at 16th Ave a half mile east? This would also limit conflict points between path users and 12th Ave freeway ramps to 494.

Strib article on planned cycle tracks. Looks like the odds are good for Washington, less so for Minnehaha.

^ I'm curious why Mclaughlin feels that Minnehaha isn't the place for a cycletrack? Not enough traffic (both bicycle and auto) and/or not enough businesses on Minnehaha. If no cycletrack on Minnehaha it would be nice to have the lrt trail paved over the bumpy sidewalk style we have now. Plus the trail around Lake is practically non existent- I know that is one the city's to-do list, but would be speeded up with improvement/compromise on Minnehaha