Protected Bikeway Posts

The way we build our streets and neighborhoods shapes our days. It determines whether we have a real choice to walk, roll or bike as we run errands, go to work, or visit friends and family. It ups (or eliminates) the odds of bumping into our neighbors, or chatting with passers by.

All images from https://minneapolis2040.com unless otherwise noted

• Are our neighborhoods complete, with access to employment, retail services, healthy food, parks, and other daily needs via walking, biking, and public transit?
• Can all Minneapolis residents afford and have access to a quality home throughout the city?
• Do people of color and indigenous peoples feel safe [re: police and from crime] in every neighborhood? Is the air safe to breathe in every neighborhood so human-powered travel is safe?
• Does a well-designed physical environment in Minneapolis foster positive interactions? Does it promote commerce, pedestrian activity, safety, and health?

These are questions Our Streets Minneapolis works on.

Dedicated volunteers chose to spend a beautiful summer evening indoors at the Dunn Bros. near Loring Park, working to make more downtown bikeways a reality. We began with an ice-breaker question: “What do you adore about summer in Minneapolis?” Not surprisingly, most answers had to do with perfect weather for biking, plus a dash of lake fun.

After recruiting volunteers to serve as photographer, timekeeper, and meeting report writer, we moved on to corridor reports. (You can review May’s meeting report here.)

You may be blocking out memories of our six months of winter, but winter time in Minneapolis too often means navigating snowy or icy sidewalks, snow-blocked curb ramps, and disappearing bike lanes. Thankfully, the City of Minneapolis is looking to improve the winter experience for people who bike, walk, and roll. Public Works recently released a Pedestrian and Bicycle Winter Maintenance Study and Supplemental Report on Sidewalks. Here are some takeaways:

After a three year study period of the area, a one way delineator-protected bikeway is to be installed on both University Ave and 4th St SE. These new lanes will continue the work of the Bicycle Master Plan from Hennepin County, Minnesota Department of Transportation, and the City of Minneapolis.

Portion of University Ave and 4th St to become protected bike lanes.

Thank you to Anna for taking the notes for this blog and to Sara for serving as photographer.

This May evening was as beautiful as April was snowy (catch up on our April work here). All the Dunn Bros bike racks (and sign posts for half a block in every direction) were filled to overflowing by the time the 12 of us all got settled. Our crew grew again, with three new people joining us (welcome Jesse and Nicky and Aaron).

We’ve finally settled on a standing meeting time: the first Monday of the month, from 6-7:30. Put June 4th on your calendar (but note that in July we’re postponing by a week due to the 4th of July). Come join our mighty band of organizers!

Thanks to Keith Heiberg for writing this post, and Chrissy for sharing her notes with Keith. Thanks to meeting photographer Sara for the pictures below.

On Tuesday, April 3, the Downtown Bikeways group met for the second time over pastries and trail mix - during a snowstorm. A hearty 10 souls made it to Dunn Bros, and more than one person biked despite the six inches of April snow. We also laughed a lot.

For some history, here's Tyler's blog post of our March meeting. At our first meeting we discussed overall goals and approaches; this time we dug into the details of what activities will be most effective in showcasing demand for these corridors, so that we can make downtown (and getting to downtown) safer for people on bikes.