Word on the Streets

Mpls Park Board: Thanks! Oh and I Have a Few Questions

One thing the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition hasn't focused on much is Minneapolis Park Board infrastructure. As I ride, I wonder why they make some of the choices they do - am I the only one?

Maybe the best place to start is to explain who builds/runs what. Riding around, I have a mental map of "Bike Routes," but it's not actually a unified whole. There are three different governments building and maintaining cycling infrastructure in Minneapolis:

City of Minneapolis, generally Public Works (most on-street facilities)

Hennepin County (think Greenway and Cedar Lake Trail)

Minneapolis Park and Rec Board (including anything around a lake or along the river, Grand Rounds)

I know I seldom go anywhere very far from home, either for errands and meetings or for pleasure rides, without spending at least some time on an MPRB trail. It's a great street-separated system, and some have argued it's the reason Minneapolis has such high cycling rates, or that the ratio of women:men is more even than anywhere else in the US.

Although I love those trails, some things about them puzzle me.

First off, why is there a 10 mph speed limit on trails? My less-than-10 friend, Isaiah, rides 11-12 mph on average, so it can't be about kids. I once heard an MPRB staffer acknowledge it was too slow, so why does it stay?

What's with marking hazards but not fixing them? Anyone else seen the white/orange squiggly warnings of deep cracks around the Lake Calhoun trail?

I'm happy to see that they've shifted their bike rack standards to more modern, functional designs. I hope they systematically switch out all the old, wheel-bender racks still found at beaches and rec centers around the system.

Hennepin County and the City seem to adopt traditional road design standards for striping and signing. MPRB seems to have their own system - that I don't understand.

Why do they sometimes paint trails with green, sometimes with white, and once in a while with yellow? (The yellow seems to be reserved for very special situations, like where they accidentally painted the trail so lampposts are in the middle of one lane, and they repainted striping in yellow to highlight the danger.)

Why do the width of cut-outs along the trails where they cross driveways or intersect with other trails vary in design? Some are as wide as the path (ideal) and others throat down so narrowly that only half the width of the trail is usable at the intersection? It's fine if you don't meet another cyclist, but when my 9-year-old niece met an adult at one today, the adult had to stop and wait. When you meet someone hauling a trailer, it's best if you know how to hop a curb.

For an overly-specific gripe, but as an excuse to include a pretty picture, the planking by the Mill City Museum is downright irksome. I noticed that it was annoying enough for drivers, they removed all but a crosswalks worth, though I find it worse on a bike than in a car.

In the winter, I puzzle about maintenance. I usually commute through Loring Park. Am I the only who has been trapped in three inches of crusty snow where the plow missed the trail? And there is an incredible amount of gravel and sand and rocks on the path parallel to Lyndale (across from the Walker and Loring Park). I don't think it's from winter, but I'm not sure.

Finally, something that seems small but I find big. Where are you supposed to report things that need fixing? 311 won't take park concerns. I found this most frustrating last summer when construction equipment was parked - for weeks at a time - along the West River Road trail creating blind, forced, wrong-way riding in the street. When I called 311 to report the danger, they told me to call the Park Board... which was closed.

I'm starting to feel like a whiner. I guess when you have it as good as we do with the incredible MPRB trail system, it's easy to focus on the small things that could be better.

What do you wonder about when you ride the marvelous MPRB system? Or, am I the only one?

posted by | July 28, 2011

Trouble finding bike parking?

Bikes parked on light posts, trees, and benches are an all too common sight on the 10th Avenue side of the Midtown Exchange Building. I'm hopeful that we can get a couple of bike racks with help from the City's Bike Rack Cost Share Program and building management.

Let your employer, apartment owner, and other business owners know about the City of Minneapolis's Bicycle Rack Cost Share Program. Apparently, the city pays 50% of the cost of racks and installation for eligible locations.

I live in the Midtown Exchange Building and while bike parking is good on the west side of our building, parking along the street on the east/10th Avenue side is virtually nonexistent. Visible and accessible bike racks along 10th Avenue would be a great improvement--especially since this is a popular exit off the Midtown Greenway. I let our building management know about the City's cost share program, and am hopeful that we will get a rack or two in the future.

posted by | July 27, 2011

Eliminating a Greenway Double Threat

We're making good progress working with Council Member Gary Schiff and City staff to improve safety where the Midtown Greenway crosses East 28th Street. Greenway bicyclists (and pedestrians) know the difficulty of crossing safely here, near Hiawatha and the Sabo Bridge. Until last fall, the greenway crossed two lanes of traffic in each direction, creating a "double threat" in which one car would stop but the other could drive through the intersection without seeing a person crossing in the crosswalk.

Recognizing the safety concerns of this configuration, the City's Department of Public Works (DPW) eliminated the outside travel lane last fall, installing a merge sign and painting cross-hatched lines on the outside lane. Over the winter, the hatch marks wore off in the ice and snow and, sadly, early this summer a cyclist was struck and seriously injured in the crosswalk.

After an initial meeting with Coalition volunteers and Council Member Schiff, DPW staff conducted a study of the crossing to see if drivers were complying with the elimination of the outside lane. Counts showed that approximately 20% of drivers traveling eastbound (toward Hiawatha) are illegally using the outside travel lane, despite the sign and renewed hash marks. I saw dozens of cars use the outside space when I stopped to observe the crossing for about 15 minutes this afternoon.

Untitled from Lisa Bender on Vimeo.

Our goal for the crossing is to include a physical barrier that would keep cars from using the outside area. In the long-term, we'd like to see a curb extension at least on the eastbound side. This would physically block cars from entering the area and also benefit people using the crosswalk by minimizing the crossing distance and making people more visible. In the short-term, we've asked if candlestick bollards (like the ones used on First Avenue last year) could be used to ensure compliance with the elimination of the outside lane until a more permanent solution can be built.

City staff is currently working to estimate the cost of these solutions. Given the volumes of bicyclists and pedestrians using this unsafe crossing every day, we will continue to advocate for both temporary and permanent barriers to keep the cars from using that outside space.

posted by | July 27, 2011