Bicycle Infrastructure

[NickP]

the root of the issue is the lack of redundancy in our bike infrastructure. Closing one trail is a reasonable thing to do for a project like this but the problem is that all of the alternative routes suck. Biking from where i live in NE to the lakes is way way worse for this 6 year closure.


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Very well said.

[John21]

Here’s How to Get Your Very Own Boulevard Bike Rack

[SurlyLHT]

It's a huge project, I don't know what you all expect? A huge reason for the delays is the tunnel which is costing a ton and will primarily benefit cyclists. As a cyclist and taxpayer I wish they didn't do the tunnel at all, but what is done is done.

I think a lot of the frustration is due to the change from a 2-3 year closure to a 6 year closure. However, the root of the issue is the lack of redundancy in our bike infrastructure. Closing one trail is a reasonable thing to do for a project like this but the problem is that all of the alternative routes suck. Biking from where i live in NE to the lakes is way way worse for this 6 year closure.


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It's way worse to take the Riverfront--> 11ht Ave Bike Lanes -- > Hiawatha trail --> Greenway? If anything exhibited our redundancy that does. The detour also isn't bad and you can get to the lakes easily along Kenwood Parkway. The Downtown biking is no different than any other Downtown biking.

[daveybabymsp]

It's a huge project, I don't know what you all expect? A huge reason for the delays is the tunnel which is costing a ton and will primarily benefit cyclists. As a cyclist and taxpayer I wish they didn't do the tunnel at all, but what is done is done.

I think a lot of the frustration is due to the change from a 2-3 year closure to a 6 year closure. However, the root of the issue is the lack of redundancy in our bike infrastructure. Closing one trail is a reasonable thing to do for a project like this but the problem is that all of the alternative routes suck. Biking from where i live in NE to the lakes is way way worse for this 6 year closure.


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It's way worse to take the Riverfront--> 11ht Ave Bike Lanes -- > Hiawatha trail --> Greenway? If anything exhibited our redundancy that does. The detour also isn't bad and you can get to the lakes easily along Kenwood Parkway. The Downtown biking is no different than any other Downtown biking.

I live in Sheridan so I normally would cross the river at the Plymouth bridge and go along the river to the cedar lake trail. Going all the way to the hiawatha trail->greenway would probably double the distance to get to lake of the isles for me


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[Oreos&Milk]

Here’s How to Get Your Very Own Boulevard Bike Rack

wow, that's really interesting and awesome. I would never had thought they would just let people build their own bike parking spaces like that. I definitely would have built two one for me and one for my neighbors.

Don't we have some bike activist groups, that would be proactive enough to help lead the expansion of more bike parking? Would be really neat if an organization went in on a bulk order and helped subsidize bike racks for those willing to pay the permit and get an easement approved. Plus with Nice ride gone maybe we can get more bike parking racks to repace the void?

Likely not, but it's nice to dream..

[Nick]

Whatever happened to the Bike Coalition? You never hear about them anymore.

[amiller92]

Whatever happened to the Bike Coalition? You never hear about them anymore.

I am sure I am missing the joke, but they are Our Streets Minneapolis now, and they have been pretty prominent in pushing for the return of 6th Ave N and replacing 94 with a boulevard. Or is it that these things are not sufficiently bike-centric?

[Anondson]

For what it is worth, out in Hopkins the city is beginning the planning and community engagement regarding a full reconstruction of 17th Avenue between TH 7 and Excelsior Blvd (the future SWLRT Shady Oak station area)

All reconstruction plans call for narrowing the street and including bike facilities. Either cycle track, multiuse trail, or on street bike lanes.

All plans call for removing some parking, though the bike lanes remove the most. Also, 17 out of 59 boulevard trees will be removed no matter which plan.

If you care to see the designs, the latest city council agenda shows them. Prepare for monster .pdf if you download or view it.

https://www.hopkinsmn.com/AgendaCenter/ ... ?html=true

It bothers me that in the plans they put a parking lane where the Minnetonka regional trail crosses 17th. It should be a bump out at minimum like other street corners.

EDIT: looks like staff is shooting for 2029 construction, 5-6 years out.

[Korh]

I've biked up and down 17 god know how many times and I would prefer the multiuse over the track. I hope they don't do the on street bikes lines, although they might not since correct me if I'm wrong but hopkins doesn't have a lot of them (only one I can recall is a bit on Blake south of Boyce st.).

But this might sound strange but if they do choose on street lanes, I'd rather wish they do nothing since there gonna make it narrower regardless and I always found the section between excelsior and the Minnetonka trail wide and quiet enough to feel relatively safe and if I'm being honest, I might prefer it then biking down 5th ave between 7 and excelsior.

Although part of me thinks 11th or 12th are better streets to study since I think 7 is high enough to make a small little underpass for bikers around that area, unless they can get away with grade separating at 17th ave

[Korh]

If anyone else has bikes around Edina regularly and noticed how the city likes to pave their on street bikes lanes concrete or some other material besides asphalt (not sure if anywhere else in the metro does this), am I crazy for finding them more annoying then normal painted lanes?
I'm sure most people are fine with them but I kind of feel like their a bit of a slap in the face since with painted lines your can pass it off as doing the bare minimum and don't really care, but with this they have to go out of the way to reconstruct the street to make space for bikers, and decide not to grade separate it from traffic.

[SurlyLHT]

If anyone else has bikes around Edina regularly and noticed how the city likes to pave their on street bikes lanes concrete or some other material besides asphalt (not sure if anywhere else in the metro does this), am I crazy for finding them more annoying then normal painted lanes?
I'm sure most people are fine with them but I kind of feel like their a bit of a slap in the face since with painted lines your can pass it off as doing the bare minimum and don't really care, but with this they have to go out of the way to reconstruct the street to make space for bikers, and decide not to grade separate it from traffic.

Sounds like they are building shoulders and calling them bike lanes and maybe getting grants for cycling infrastructure to pay for their new shoulders.

[Anondson]

If I recall, didn’t some section in Richfield do this widened gutter?

IMO, when the choice is between a stripe and a widened gutter, the concrete every time.

Currently drivers more easily recognize the concrete as “not their space” but just paint is seen as theirs. I’ve had conversations with my 80-year-old mom about how she’s so nervous about those wide gutters as she needs to slow down to be in the driving lane, where before there was so much more room for her.

The psychology is working on enough drivers. Maybe not all, and as a cyclist I don’t feel the safety biking in the wide concrete gutter except that I’m not dodging the seam in the center of the bike lane.

[EOst]

Hennepin County and Minneapolis liked to use this design for bike lanes for a while because it meant that you could count the whole width of the gutter pan as part of the bike lane without having to worry about a seam between the asphalt and concrete running down the center of the lane. Minnehaha Ave is probably the best-realized version of this.

[phop]

Como avenue in Minneapolis has this for about a mile on the north side of the street, and it has held up a lot better than the asphalt bike lane in terms of ride quality.

[schwinnletour]

If I recall, didn’t some section in Richfield do this widened gutter?

IMO, when the choice is between a stripe and a widened gutter, the concrete every time.

Currently drivers more easily recognize the concrete as “not their space” but just paint is seen as theirs. I’ve had conversations with my 80-year-old mom about how she’s so nervous about those wide gutters as she needs to slow down to be in the driving lane, where before there was so much more room for her.

The psychology is working on enough drivers. Maybe not all, and as a cyclist I don’t feel the safety biking in the wide concrete gutter except that I’m not dodging the seam in the center of the bike lane.

Shout out to the Edina "Bikes may use full lane" on Vernon Ave (Miracle Mile commercial district) which starts right at W. 53rd St.

Saw a guy in his late 50's riding his mountain bike in the standard width concrete curb at street grade. It's a 30mph zone that is routinely traveled at 45mph by most drivers since Vernon west of there is 40mph.

Is the width 18" at the street grade? What if his bike's front wheel hits the vertical of the curb. Does he get thrown into traffic?

I worried for him and shook my fist at Edina for just ending the Vernon bike lane like that there.

[schwinnletour]

Cedar Lake Regional trail is now connected to the Midtown Greenway all the way to the Hopkins Depot.

Experience it in real life, it's nice to not have stop signs at crossing anymore in SLP. Not my video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVC1zG8mhaM

[Anondson]

The Hopkins Depot is out further west past where the review video started, so not open to the Depot yet. I think that was to be paved next year. But between Belt Line and Blake is huge!

[Korh]

The portion between the depot and where the depot ends is only a few blocks, there's actually a little connection that I think I open a few 100 feet away that spits you out on st. Louis Street that I think is open.
The biggest obstacle still seems to be from beltline to the Greenway which is sorta bikeable given a) you have a mountain or gravel bike and b) it's the weekend and no crew is around.

[Silophant]

The official detour for that section is unpleasantly circuitious, but cutting through on Park Glen Rd and the parking lot of that long commercial building works well.

[Korh]

This is just a random thought I had recently but does anyone else kinda feel like places to park/lock you bike is starting to fall behind our current levels of infrastructure? (Obviously we still could do more in terms of paths and protected lanes, just in comparison).
I had a little first hand experience with this this week when I went back to college in Minneapolis and was kinda disappointed that said school (dunwoody) only has a dinky little rack out front that lets just say I'd probably only lock the cheap commuter I cobbled together with secondhand parts to unless I want to buy and lug around a 10 lbs kryptonite lock.