Word on the Streets

University of Minnesota Summer Update 1

I talked today with Steve Sanders, the University of Minnesota Bicycle Coordinator and learned a few things:

The new Bike Center is under construction in the Oak Street Ramp. The center, operated by the Hub Bike Coop, will feature secure parking, showers, bike maintenance, sales of commuter-related bike stuff, but (probably) no bikes for sale. They are building a conference room for meetings and classes and expect to use it for League of American Bicyclists Rider Training and bike maintenance classes. If all goes well, it should be open by the time school starts in the fall, with an official Grand Opening sometime after that.

The Dero Zap RFID system is expanding from the single test reader to a total of 17 readers on the East and West Banks and in St. Paul. St. Paul has three now and will have a total of five. A separate reader on the University Transitway will also count University riders. The University Wellness program will be revamping their system for the fall and will be giving "points" for various healthy activities, including bicycle commuting. These points will turn into discounts on health insurance premiums.

NiceRide is expanding: In mid-August NiceRide will install three NiceRide kiosks on the St. Paul campus. They should be on the map soon.

posted by | July 26, 2011

Agenda for August 1NE Minneapolis Bike Summit

East Side Bike Summit

@ the Ritz Theater, 345 13th Ave. NE, Minneapolis

Monday, August 1, 6-7 p.m.

Come and meet the City and County staff assigned to develop bike trails on the East Side. All are invited; please share the word with others.

Agenda:

1. 18th Avenue NE, Phase 2 - Monroe Street NE to the Quarry Shopping Center; tunnel under the railroad tracks?

2. Central Avenue Update - 37th Avenue NE to River

3. East Hennepin and 1st Avenue NE bike lane study update

4. 5th Street NE / 22nd Avenue NE Bike Boulevard update

5. Marshall/Main Street bike lane update - 1st Avenue NE to Broadway, Broadway to Lowry, idea of using empty railroad tracks from Scherer Bros. lumber site as future north/south bike trail.

Please call Michael Rainville with questions at (612) 378-0431.

Windom Park Citizens in Action (WPCiA)

2314 Lowry Ave. NE

Minneapolis, MN 55418

(612) 788-2192

www.windompark.org

[email protected]

posted by | July 22, 2011

Bike Plan Passes the Council

After years of effort on the part of City staff and bicycle advocates, the Bicycle Master Plan passed the full City Council this morning. This is a big deal in itself, but the work of the Bicycle Coalition and Bicycle Advisory Committee has made it an even more striking accomplishment. In keeping with the action taken earlier this week by the Transportation Public Works committee (or TPW), four corridors were added to the map: Lyndale Ave N, Johnson St NE, Washington in downtown, and 38th St.

I'd encourage everyone to watch some of the great comments made by Council Vice President Robert Lilligren and the chair of TPW, Sandy Colvin Roy (jump to minute 30). Sandy's comments echo the testimony given earlier this week by Nick Mason, her rep to the BAC (and its chair).

City Council 7/22/11

Here's some context. Earlier this year, the BAC brought forward over 60 suggestions for improving the bike map. After discussion with Public Works staff, only 12 projects were left off the map, due to various staff concerns (high traffic, narrow streets, good parallel routes, etc). The BAC decided that 5 of these routes were worth bringing to the Council, even despite the lack of agreement from staff. The Council agreed on 4 out of the 5, and now they're on the map.

The way the bike plan came forward has strengthened the BAC immeasurably. The group as a whole and its individual members got an opportunity to communicate directly with Council Members, something that very rarely happened with the old BAC. And Council Members listened.

I think this bodes well for the discussions that will be starting very soon on the BAC's broader policy recommendations contained in the Implementation Plan. Because there isn't yet agreement (or even clear disagreement) between the BAC and staff, these have been delayed until November. One telling anecdote: staff had initially requested that the Council direct them to return to the Council on these issues in December, but the chair of the Intergovernmental Relations subcommittee, Elizabeth Glidden, noted that December is too late for the City to adopt the recommended planks in our legislative agenda, so it was pushed forward.

The Council is clearly interested to hear from bicycle advocates, willing to listen to us, and share our vision for making Minneapolis a great place to ride a bike.

posted by | July 22, 2011