If you’ve been following our Facebook or Twitter, you will know that there was a meeting last week regarding the extension of 26th and 28th street bikeways from Portland all the way to Hennepin. It’s an exciting project, and Public Works wants the community’s input on the street change.
The meeting was held last Tuesday, February 28th at Springhouse Ministry Center. There was a pretty good turnout, and the Coalition live tweeted the event. You can check our twitter for the full live feed, but here are some of the highlights.
There was overwhelming support for the protected bikeways, and the city intends to implement them on both streets early this summer! The bikeways would procure a comfortable, accessible and safe route for many cyclists traveling along these streets. Whether you live, work, shop, eat, or travel through these corridors, protected bikeways will make the streets more liveable and human-centered.
While the bike improvements are great, there hasn’t been a huge effort to add pedestrian improvements to the project right now. When the meeting began, there were no planned pedestrian improvements, but with questions from the crowd came an openness to feedback on potential improvements. As it stands, Public Works is currently taking comments on specific intersections.
The potential for a 2-way conversion was brought up, but not thoroughly discussed. Public Works indicated they are open to feedback on two-way conversions of both streets between Lyndale and Hennepin.
We recognize that the protected bikeway installation will add some pedestrian improvements, but we also see the possibility of additional improvements, including but not limited to:
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Bump outs: An extension of the sidewalk to reduce the distance a pedestrian has to cross the street
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More crosswalks
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Speed limit reduction to 25 Mph: The speed limit can legally be reduced on streets that have bikelanes, and we have the ability to ask for that on this particular project.
If you want to see these elements in addition to other pedestrian improvements, now is the time to make your voice heard! Public Works is accepting comments and feedback on this project plan until March 14th.
Send an email to Becca Hughes, Transportation Planner at [email protected] with your feedback.
