Word on the Streets

New Kenilworth Trail Details and Questions

Complicated. It's probably the only way to describe the situation around managing freight rail with the forthcoming Southwest Light Rail Transit project.

July 17th, the Metropolitan Council (which is managing the SW LRT project) released a bunch of new information that relates to design in the Kenilworth Corridor and impacts to Kenilworth Trail.

An Open House near the Kenilworth Trail drew more than 300 people, including many bicycle supporters.

Here are some key info with observations included:

The base cost for addressing freight rail challenges is $85 million. Each of the figures below is in addition to that.

Relocation of the freight rail to St. Louis Park seems highly unlikely given an extra $200+ million price tag and local impacts.

Building an LRT tunnel in the Kenilworth Corridor costs at least an extra $150 million, which isn't accounted for in the current project budget. It would also mean eliminating the 21st Street Station.

The cheapest option is relocating the Kenilworth Trail at an extra $35-40 million. There are not a lot of details on this, but it would go along the Cedar Lake Parkway trail and includes new overpasses. It likely would take people about one mile out of the way for a trip between the Midtown Greenway and Kenilworth Trail and downtown. It would also eliminate most of the Kenilworth Trail. Neither of those are attractive options.

The second cheapest option is fitting the freight rail, LRT, and trail on the ground level. This requires the removal of 26 residential properties and costs an extra $50-55 million. The available packet does not include information on how narrow the trail would be in this scenario. It's hard to evaluate this option without more information, but previous indications are that the trail would get quite narrow and certainly most or all of the greenspace would be lost. The City of Minneapolis has previously opposed a similar design (City has opposed co-location all together).

They also include an option that elevates the trail. That seems unlikely given previous input. It costs an extra $50-55 million.

The reality is that all of these options have challenges. The Coalition is still evaluating and will report more later.

Did you attend the meeting? What's your take?

posted by | July 17, 2013

NE Diagonal Trail - Construction Information

Do you ride on the Diagonal Trail?

Have you found it difficult to navigate the construction that has been going on at Stinson since (at least) June?

I can answer yes to both of these questions. So after nearly 2 months of trying to navigate my way through the construction zone, I finally wrote the City of Minneapolis. I received a most helpful and pleasant response today and wanted to share the conversation here so all of you can be updated as well.

I have personally noticed an increase in ridership on the Diagonal Trail since it opened, as has the City. It warms my heart, I hope it warms the City's heart as well. Thanks to all of you who use this wonderful asset! I know it has been a wonderful option for me every single time I leave my house.

Happy Riding and Here's to Safer Trails!

The e-mail converation I had with The City is below, the picture I sent with my e-mail inquiry is above. (Please note that "The City" response is from Mackenzie Turner Bargen, Bicycle and Pedestrian Section, Department of Public Works):

Me: I ride the Diagonal Trail often and have been seeing work start and stop on the main feeder intersection for the Diagonal trail at Stinson and New Brighton for going on about 2 months. This work has not only inconvenienced bicycles (and pedestrians), but is making it dangerous for them. I stopped to ask a worker the other day how much longer they would be working on the trail and he didn't know as he was an electrician working on the lights, but he didn't think much longer. That was 2 weeks ago.

The City: The goal is for this trail crossing to be fully operational in August.

The electrician you spoke with was fairly close in his estimate, but in the case of this project "not much longer" means a few more weeks. The work at this intersection was coordinated as such that some very visible work took place immediately with a share of concrete removals and the installation of a new curb. The majority of electrical work below ground and overhead then took place, and unfortunately due to the nature of that work the installation of the new ramps and corner concrete had to wait until that portion of the electrical and signal work was to a place where the new corners can be installed. The concrete/paving work to install the new ramps and corner work is currently scheduled for next week (July 21-25).

Me: My concerns are:

1. There has never been a formal detour posted here for bicyclists to get around the construction site. Bicyclists have had to make their own detour around the site through what was mud for a while with the rains, and now is a rutty dirt trail with difficult access on/off the trail entrance points.

The City: I apologize for the lack of a formal, planned detour. This was an oversight, and that's definitely not good enough. This project has been a series of important learning experiences. Lessons learned that will prevent oversights such as this from being repeated. Again, I apologize for this oversight and the resulting issues.

Me: 2. The detour bicyclists have had to create has VERY low visibility. There is overgrown shrubbery at this intersection and you can not see coming from either direction if a cyclist or pedestrian is headed toward you. This is dangerous for many reasons, but could cause a cyclist to divert into traffic, or worse yet, fall into traffic if a run-in occurred.

The City: Detour plans are in the works to be put in place for the remainder of the project timeline as long as intersection access and connection are impacted by the project work. We will take the visibility problems into account in crafting an appropriate solution.

Me: 3. There is no way for a cyclist to navigate across the curb and through traffic if they are headed straight on New Brighton. After navigating through the self made detour and shrubbery, the cyclist then abruptly comes to a stop and has to navigate down off the curb outside of the crosswalk area designated for pedestrians and cyclists - causing them to face directly into traffic and walk through it.

The City: Noted. We will also explore our options for addressing the issues mounting/dismounting the curb given the current state of the intersection.

Me: Please advise when this work will be completed and confirm that these issues will be remedied. In the 7 years I have lived in NE this has become an increasingly used area by cyclists and deserves equal detour attention that any other route in the city would get (for cars or bicycles).

The City: Agreed. This facility along with many others has seen increased bicycle and pedestrian traffic and we absolutely must accommodate adequate and appropriate detours when completing this type of work, not only at high traffic locations, but all that serve bicyclists and pedestrians in the city, regardless of geography.

I apologize again, and hope to have something in place that certainly won't make up for the time that lapsed without a detour, but will provide detour accommodation until the project is operational.

Thanks to The City of Minneapolis, especially Mackenzie, for attention to this matter and the really great response to my e-mail! Life is all about communication.

To all of you Diagonal riders out there - thanks for your patience, ride safe, and HAPPY SUMMER!

posted by | July 17, 2013

9 myth-removing facts about cycletracks on Minnehaha Avenue

Hennepin County will host a second public meeting 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, July 17, to discuss the reconstruction of Minnehaha Avenue, at Minnehaha Communion Lutheran Church, 4101 37th Ave S. If you want a bike-friendly Minnehaha Avenue, you need to come to this meeting.

At the last public meeting on July 11, Hennepin County staff made very clear that they do not support a protected bikeway, or cycletracks, for Minnehaha. They have expressed concerns about cycletracks being unsafe, and about the loss of boulevard trees, but these concerns are unfounded.

The recent academic literature makes clear that cycletracks are safe, and there are good options for building a cycletrack and keeping street trees. Feel free to print these facts, bring them to the meeting, share them with your neighbors and use them as you give feedback and ask question about the county's plans.

1. Cycletracks are safer.

• The single most important thing for increasing the safety of each bicyclist is increasing the number of bicyclists. The safety in numbers effect is real.

• 80 percent of crashes happen at intersections, but that means one-fifth of crashes - like dooring accidents - happen mid-block. Those crashes will be substantially reduced by a cycletrack.

2. Multiple academic studies have found that cycletracks are safer.

• A University of British Columbia (Vancouver) study found that cycletracks are the safest type of bike facility, and also feel safest.

• A New York City study of new cycletracks says that they reduced injuries for all street users by 26 to 58 percent.

• A 2011 study by Dr. Anne Lusk of the Harvard School of Public Health, published in the journal Injury Prevention, says that cycletracks are 28 percent safer than on-street riding, and attract two-and-a-half times more riders. Four of the six Montreal cycletracks in this study were just like the one proposed for Minnehaha (two-way cycletrack on one side of a two-way street).

3. Tree removal isn’t necessary.

• The Minneapolis Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) has offered three different ideas for how transit stops and the cycletrack could coexist without any extra tree removal.

• The Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition has prepared example layouts for how better transit stops could be designed, and leave all the trees in place.

4. There are ways to improve intersection safety that the County hasn’t explored.

• Bike signalization and colorized bike lanes through intersections (the City has successfully piloted both of these treatments on 15th Avenue SE)

• Material differences through intersections (like concrete vs. asphalt)

• Speed tables at low-volume streets

• Bike boxes for left turns (the County put in a bike box at Franklin and East River Parkway)

• The County brought three design firms with national reputations to Minneapolis to talk about cycletracks in April, and those firms shared all of these ideas, yet they still don’t show up in the County’s cycletrack layout.

5. Many other North American cities are investing in cycletracks.

• New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Portland, Ore., Vancouver, Montreal and Seattle have all implemented cycletracks.

• These cities are increasing the percentage of commuting trips made by bike, while Minneapolis remains stagnant – we’ve slipped from #2 in the country to #4.

6. Other cities have designed safe cycletracks on streets on a skew (road that runs diagonal to the normal perpendicular grid).

• Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., has a two-way cycletrack in the middle of a major two-way street on a skew. 15th Avenue in Washington D.C. has a cycletrack, and intersects many streets on skews. These facilities increased ridership by 200 percent or more. The cycletrack on 15th Avenue has not increased the crash rate.

• Seattle is building a cycletrack on Broadway Avenue, a street on a skew with significant hills and a streetcar line.

7. The cycletrack will work better in the winter.

• The current bike lanes cease to exist as a bike facility in the winter, filled by snow and parked cars. The County’s proposed bike lane layout will actually make this problem worse by narrowing the parking lanes.

8. There is broad-based support for cycletracks.

• Both the Minneapolis Bicycle Advisory Committee and the Minneapolis Pedestrian Advisory Committee support a cycletrack on Minnehaha.

9. Cycletracks improve economic development.

• The New York study found that streets with a new cycletrack saw a 49 percent increase in sales, vs. a 3 percent increase for the surrounding area.

You don’t need to be a bike expert to come to the public meeting and voice your support for a protected bikeway on Minnehaha Avenue. These facts are simply here to help you separate myth from reality when it comes to designing a bikeway that will work better for everyone on Minnehaha. We hope to see everyone who supports a safer, calmer and more vibrant Minnehaha Avenue at the meeting!

posted by | July 17, 2013