These monthly meetings have me on the edge of my seat and the hair standing on my BAC. Take a look at the upcoming projects and reach out to the Bike Coalition Crew or the available Project Managers if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns. Turkey day is around the corner, I am thankful for the opportunity to advocate for a better city and to give others the opportunity to do so as well, gobble gobble. Here we go.
On The Docket:
- 27th Avenue NE Protected Bikeway
- Former 5th Street Ramp/ Samatar Crossing
- Capital Improvement Project (CIP) Process/Recommendations Setup
- Glenwood Avenue Reconstruction
27th Avenue NE
27th Avenue NE in Northeast will be equipped with a protected bikeway during the summer, next year. The project is between Marshall St NE and University Ave NE. The City identified this route in their Bike Master Plan. Three options were presented to the Subcommittee:
- A1: Two-way bikeway on north side of the street, 2 ft buffer, parking on south side.
- A2: Two-way bikeway on north side of the street, 6 ft buffer, no parking.
- B: One-way bikeways on each side of street, no parking.
The Subcommittee moved to support Option B. Two-way bikeways are difficult to design where the segments end and mix with car traffic. I failed to find a project website with the layout but I’m sure one will be created soon. Forrest Hardy is the primary planner on the project.
Samatar Crossing
This project first appeared before the BAC in March and has seemed to find a happy ending. Planned as a connection for local car, bike, and foot traffic between Downtown East and Cedar/Riverside, the route will now only be accessible to bike and foot traffic (This is currently a foot path). There was strong opposition from the Cedar community to increasing car traffic in the area. It will be interesting to see how people navigate the Hiawatha Trail and this new connection. This will certainly provide a better connection between the West Bank/Cedar businesses and the US Bank stadium for events. The Subcommittee moved to support the layout to convert the entire bridge to half bike and half foot paths unanimously. In addition, they expressed concerned for the sharp turns along the Hiawatha Trail crossing at 15th Ave S. If you are also interested in improvements to this area, please let us know.
CIP Process
The Capital Improvement Projects are a range of project types planned by the City of Minneapolis scheduled from year to year. Over the next month, the BAC will work to identify a list of bikeway projects that should be included in the CIP fund. They plan to sort the potential projects by categories of protected bike lanes, bike boulevards, safe routes to school, near term and long term trail connections, and possibly urban greenway projects. I hope to follow up next month with better details about this process and a better understanding of what projects they are considering. Notably, there is current lack of bikeway projects being considered in North and Northeast Minneapolis.
Glenwood Avenue
The reconstruction project between Aldrich Avenue and 7th Street is before the BAC again. The layout evolved over the summer after discussions with neighborhood groups. Ethan Fawley recently illustrated the current designs of the project and the case for protected bike lanes. It is certainly possible along some sections of the route. The Subcommittee moved to support protected bike lanes in those areas. Please contact your city council member if you would like to see better bike infrastructure in this part of the city, which includes the Twins’ stadium, access to the Cedar Lake Trail, and the Minneapolis Farmer’s market. A final decision on the layout will be made next week on Tuesday the 29th in the Council Transportation and Public Works Committee (meeting begins at 9:30 in Council Chambers). There is still time to have your voice heard.
The Subcommittee meetings are open to the public, and occur every third Tuesday of the month, 4:00-6:00 p.m. at the Colonial Warehouse Building, 212 3rd Ave N, Suite 404. If you will be attending a future meeting, have questions or you are interested in being included on the email list for the subcommittee, which includes updates on meeting times and agendas, contact Kurt Wayne, the committee staff member.
