urbanMSP

Even this smaller segment has big connectivity gains, though; neither the 17th Ave bike boulevard nor the SB lane on Portland have Greenway ramps, so previously the only connection between the two was a pretty hostile stretch of 24th St.

As someone who uses the Southern Bicycle Connection (17th Ave S) to Midtown Greenway connection everyday, there is an (unmarked) convoluted connection:

17thave by Matt Steele, on Flickr

There's also a much easier connection for southbound Portland now that the bicycle lane was moves to the right hand side of the street.

portlandave by Matt Steele, on Flickr

Oh and apparently 42nd St has bicycle facilities, per this sign at 18th Ave S (just west of Cedar). No idea why they put it there.
20150630_202152 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

If I'm remembering it correctly there are bike lanes that end at 17th to connect to the 17th ave bikeway. I actually just rode it last night but it was dark and I don't remember.

As someone who uses the Southern Bicycle Connection (17th Ave S) to Midtown Greenway connection everyday, there is an (unmarked) convoluted connection:

Yeah, I know the connections (technically) exist. They're just terrible and unsigned, especially the Portland->Park maneuver (turning left on Portland at most intersections, especially the unsignalized ones, is a recipe for getting heckled or run down).

If I'm remembering it correctly there are bike lanes that end at 17th to connect to the 17th ave bikeway. I actually just rode it last night but it was dark and I don't remember.

There are shoulder lines west to 17th Ave, but plenty of on-street parking and no other indication of bicycle facilities (sharrows, signs, no parking, etc). And I don't think the sign at 17th Ave (Southern Bicycle Connection) and 42nd St E shows 42nd as a bicycle facility. I can check on my ride home from work tonight.

The connection between the 17th Ave Bike Boulevard and the Greenway is signed in both directions on 17th, with the signs directing bikes to use 29th over to 18th to access the Greenway. Now to be fair, there could be more signs for that movement once you're off 17th, but to say the movement is completely unsigned is not actually the case.

It should be noted that bikes on 17th can also use 29th to access the Greenway access ramps on 13th and 10th/11th.

http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis- ... 319110521/
Minneapolis City Council scrutinizes reconstruction plan for Penn Avenue
Some council members worry long-term renovation plan scraps county road’s bike lanes.

Should we just copy and paste over our Franklin Avenue conversation?

EDIT: OK, actually reading the article, it's a different animal because of the parking that they're keeping.

Hate that it's effectively boulevards vs. bike lanes. Penn would be a much more livable street with those and, instead, without parking.

Early on in the Penn Avenue Community Works process the powers that be decided that there wouldn't be any retaking of county/city right of way. A foot or two in each direction would've made bike lanes possible. That single move compounded with an insistence on 11 foot lanes (the accordian buses on the C line are 10.5 feet wide at the mirrors..) made bike lanes unpalatable for some folks. There was also the whole issue around taking parking off one side of the street, which would've made bike lanes very simple. Even something like this could work with the 66 ft row.

http://streetmix.net/AlleycatPhoto/unde ... n-avenue-n

Having said that I do think Queen alignment could work if the city and county insist on the best outcomes. I think they have made the best decisions possible so far on the Queen Bike Boulevard with the impediments that the route has at 55, Broadway, and two schools/parks along the route. The folks at NMBAC (North Minneapolis Bicycle Advocacy Council, which I'm a member of), the bicycle advisory committee and the bike coalition have been willing to kill a halfway decent bike boulevard with the thought that someday down the road they'll get their bikes lanes on Penn despite the Community Works. I'm not sure that it is a wise move, but consensus in the bike community has been that killing Queen is the right move. Whatever I guess.

I don't think this link was ever published to the MBC blog about Penn/Queen: http://www.mplsbike.org/constructing_pe ... o_70_years

I'm not sure if this is the right spot for this so please feel free to move it. Bike routes. http://www.journalmpls.com/voices-feed/ ... inneapolis

Called it:
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_ ... ytime-soon

As a U of M student, I'm pretty excited about the Oak St bikeway. I was looking at the layout (found here: http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups ... 140073.pdf) and was still really happy with it. I was also wondering how they were going to handle the transition from the north end of the bikeway to the non-bikeway portion of Oak Street. And the answer is...

Double bike boxes. Yes, I'm serious. I wonder if they actually believe U of M bikers (the least law-abiding of all bikers) will wait through 2+ light cycles to go straight on Oak Street, or if they just need to do this to say they provided a legal way for this movement to occur.

Seriously, though, this isn't going to work.

This was mostly painted this week, so I used it tonight. The Washington intersection works exactly as bad as you expect. It was late, so it was no problem to dart over to the right side of the road immediately, but it would be challenging during rush hour. Hopefully that "Future connection" gets implemented before a tragedy occurs.

So the plan is to eventually build an off-street trail on the Alumni Center lawn? It seems like they should have at least temporarily striped an on-street connection. I can't imagine there is a need for two northbound lanes on Oak now that both Washington and the rest of Oak are two-lane streets. This facility did a good job of creating a heinous gap zone between Washington, 4th, University, and the Transitway that is going to inspire all sorts of creative cycling.

Pictures of Oak Street:

https://www.facebook.com/BikewaysForEve ... 5198616%20

Aside from the Washington intersection, I think it looks good! And it was a nice surprise to see that the bikeway will be separated by a curb south of Fulton.

Pictures of Oak Street:

https://www.facebook.com/BikewaysForEve ... 5198616%20

Aside from the Washington intersection, I think it looks good! And it was a nice surprise to see that the bikeway will be separated by a curb south of Fulton.

neat, is it just me or does parts seem a bit too narrow? none the less still will be a great addition to our community.

Hello every, this is Tyler, communications intern from the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition. I just wanted to let everyone know that we set up an account on this forum so that people can directly reach out to us with questions or concerns about biking and bike infrastructure in Minneapolis.

In that vein, I also wanted to let you know we just published a blog post responding to the confusion and concern about the protected bikeway being installed on Oak St SE:
http://www.mplsbike.org/oak_street_phas ... hing_great

With our limited staff, we won't be able to constantly monitor and respond to this forum. If you want to contact us directly, please tweet at us or use the contact form on our website.
http://www.twitter.com/mplsbike
http://www.mplsbike.org/contact

Thanks for being invested in bicycle infrastructure! Minneapolis would not be making the progress it is today without people caring and pushing for it.

First post here and I have a kind of strange question that I thought someone on here might have an answer for.

Since moving to the Twin Cities a few months ago, I've noticed that there seems to be a thing here for center suicide turn lanes on regular city streets, even where there's nothing for people to turn into or enough traffic to get backed up where there is. I don't think I've ever seen so many in old residential neighborhoods before. Biking around St. Paul especially, it seems like you could paint a decent network of wide bike lanes just by getting rid of center turn lanes that no one uses or needs. Is there a reason why they're so popular here?

Do you have some specific examples? Some of these are the results of 4-lane to 3-lane conversions already. I live close to West 7th Street in Saint Paul which has long stretches like this, and I agree there are some places where there isn't much point because of the lack of driveways or cross streets. I guess I've been a bit more concerned about adding pedestrian islands in some of these spots, but there are certainly opportunities for bike lanes too.

Many in St. Paul will be converted to proper planted medians when the streets are reconstructed, at least that was the hope. You're right, there is often room for bike lanes too.