Local Voices Posts

I’ll admit that I opened the public draft of the Minneapolis Transportation Action Plan with more than a little skepticism about how the plan would address the climate crisis. Sure, I expected the plan to promote biking, walking, and transit, but I doubted I would see more than lip service around truly shifting how we move and use our streets to align with what the climate crisis demands.

The following is a guest blog post by local bike attorney Dan Brazil of Brazil Law Group. Brazil Law Group is a sponsor of Twin Cities Bike to Work Day. 

In September of 2017, Minneapolis committed to Vision Zero, an initiative to eliminate traffic fatalities and injuries by providing safer streets and infrastructure for all. While this initiative is still in its infancy, it's exciting to see the promising work Our Streets Minneapolis and other advocates are doing to ensure its success.

We are thrilled to announce the creation of the Streets for People Work Group. This volunteer work group is a combination of the Downtown Bikeways and Pedestrian Work Groups. This change enables volunteers to discuss street space holistically and more efficiently advocate for streets that deliver safety, justice, and equity regardless of a person’s identity and lived experience.

As Our Streets Minneapolis celebrates our 10th anniversary, we're taking a look back at some of the volunteers and groups that helped us get where we are today. As a community driven organization, we depend on local folks lending their skills and time to our movement.  

Colin Harris was a founding member of the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, now Our Streets Minneapolis. In those early days Colin took the lead on a very special advocacy and outreach initiative: Open Streets Minneapolis. While today Open Streets Minneapolis is a multi-event series each summer, it didn't start that way. Working closely with other dedicated volunteers, Colin organized planning meetings, signature drives, and more to convince the City to let the Bike Coalition host the very first Open Streets Minneapolis event in 2011. 

Join us as we thank Colin for building our movement and paving the way for our future. Check out the interview below to learn more about Colin's motivation for doing this work, and his vision for our city.

The Downtown Bikeways Work Group came together in January for their first meeting of the year and had a packed agenda. We kicked off the meeting by talking about fun things we did over the holidays. Group members are energized after the break and excited to get back into advocacy.

There’s a lot happening in the City that we’re engaging in. Folks talked about advocacy efforts including influencing Hennepin County transportation decision-making at the Franklin Avenue Open House, and the Lyndale Avenue S Community Forum organized by Commissioner Marion Greene.

As Our Streets Minneapolis celebrates our 10th anniversary, we're taking a look back at some of the volunteers and groups that helped us get where we are today. As a community driven organization, we depend on local folks lending their skills and time to our movement.  

Grant Boelter started volunteering with our organization in 2011 when it was called the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition and went on to serve on our Board of Directors from 2013 to 2018. Grant's work with Our Streets Minneapolis includes advocating for protected bike lanes on streets like Washington Avenue downtown, and lending his expertise to our fundraising and communications work. 

As Our Streets Minneapolis celebrates our 10th anniversary, we're taking a look back at some of the volunteers and groups that helped us get where we are today. As a community driven organization, we depend on local folks lending their skills and time to our movement.  

Lesley Schack became a core volunteer with our organization when it was just a group of passionate folks without so much as a name. Lesley's work with Our Streets Minneapolis includes advocating for better bike lanes on streets like 1st Avenue, and laying hard-won foundations for Open Streets Minneapolis.

As Our Streets Minneapolis celebrates our 10th anniversary, we’re taking a look back at some of the volunteers and groups that helped us get where we are today. As a community driven organization, we depend on local folks lending their skills and time to our movement. 

LaTrisha Vetaw joined the Board of Directors of what was then the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition in 2015, and went on to serve as the Board Chair in 2016 and 2017. LaTrisha played a critical role in the organization’s expansion to include walking and rolling in our core mission. She currently serves as an At Large Commissioner for the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board.

As Our Streets Minneapolis celebrates our 10th anniversary, we're taking a look back at some of the volunteers and groups that helped us get where we are today. As a community driven organization, we depend on local folks lending their skills and time to our movement. 

Another summer of Open Streets Minneapolis festivities has come and gone, and during all the fun, the Downtown Bikeways Work Group collected some valuable data about people’s bike lane preferences. We set up a poster with images of the different types of bike lanes you can find in Minneapolis, and asked Open Streets Minneapolis attendees to place a sticker next to the bike infrastructure on which they feel most comfortable riding. Over the course of the summer, we received a whopping 1,742 responses to this question, and I’m here to report the final tallies.