The City of Minneapolis is updating its Bike Plan to include protected bikeways. The goal of this update is to create an action plan for adding at least 30 new miles of protected bikeways by 2020. These aren't intended to just be lines on a map, but projects that the City wants to build in the next six years.
City staff have narrowed the list of potential protected bikeways based on their analysis and public input. This list is still subject to change.
Potential Protected Bikeways by 2020 that the City is Studying
Pink and Blue Lines: Likely routes for study
Light Green Lines: Routes already under study
Dark Green Lines: Existing protected bikeways (dashed are funded additions)
Yellow Lines: Bicycle boulevards (dashed are funded additions)
Red Lines: Bike lanes on low-volume streets (comfortable places to bike)
Potential Routes Being Studied in this Plan
(subject to change)
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Franklin Ave or 24th Street from Hennepin to Hiawatha (2 miles) -
Franklin Ave from Hiawatha to the River (1 mile) -
Franklin Ave SE from River to St. Paul (0.6 miles) -
Dunwoody Blvd and Loring Bikeway gaps (0.5 miles) -
Hennepin Ave or 1st Ave N through downtown (1.2 miles) -
Hennepin/1st NE to 5th St NE bike blvd (0.9 miles) -
Washington Avenue completition downtown -
Marquette/2nd Ave S & Grant St in downtown or 3rd Avenue S in Downtown (1.5 miles) -
3rd Ave S from Franklin to Downtown and Central Ave from 5th St NE to Downtown (0.8 miles) -
Park and Portland Avenues from Stone Arch Bridge to Minnehaha Creek Trail (4.8 miles) -
1st Ave S/Blaisdell/LaSalle from Grant St to 40th RiverLake Greeway (2.7 miles) -
5th St/6th St in downtown (1.2 miles) -
7th Street N from Plymouth to downtown and 9th St/10th St in downtown (0.8 miles) -
4th St SE/University Ave SE from 1st Ave NE to Oak Street SE and Oak St SE from 4th to River Rd (2.2 miles) -
15th St SE from U of M to NE Diagonal Trail (1.1 miles) -
10th Ave SE/19th Ave S/20th Ave S from 5th St SE to Franklin Ave & Washington Ave gap at Seven Corners (1.9 miles) -
Emerson/Fremont Ave N from Plymouth to 33rd Ave N (1.5 miles) -
Plymouth Ave N/8th St NE from Fremont to 5th St NE Bike Blvd (2.0 miles) -
Main St/Marshall Ave NE (2.0 miles) -
5th St NE from Central to 3rd Ave NE (0.2 miles) -
11th Ave S from River Rd to 6th St (0.4 miles)
Potential Routes Being StudiedSeparately (not included on this map)
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North Minneapolis Greenway -
26th and 28th Streets from Hiawatha to Hennepin Ave
Funded Corridors (dashed lines)
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26th Ave North Greenway (2.0 miles) -
18th Ave NE (0.8 miles) -
Ridgeway Parkway NE (0.8 miles) -
Broadway NE (0.8 miles) -
Washington Ave downtown (0.4 miles) -
Franklin Ave bridge over River (0.4 miles) -
Bryn Mawr Meadows Trail (0.7 miles) -
36th St W Lake Calhoun to Dupont (0.6 miles) -
Hiawatha Trail Gap Midtown Greenway to 32nd St (0.6 miles) -
Brackett Park Trail near Midtown Greenway (0.1 miles) -
Intercity Trail from Lake Nokomis to Richfield (1.0 miles)
Additional Info
There are about 8 miles of funded protected bikeways, 7 miles of potential protected bikeways under separate study, and about 33 miles that will be studied through the protected bikeways Bike Plan update. Not all of these about 48 total miles of potential protected bikeways will be built by 2020 and some of these potential routes will not be built in the foreseeable future because they prove to not be feasible or lack enough local support.
Staff recognized that downtown and connections to downtown was the biggest priority for protected bikeways with connections to the U of M and near-in neighborhoods as the second priority. This was because of the lack of comfortable options in those areas, high bicycle demand, and safety challenges.
Franklin Avenue was the top requested protected bikeway in the community outreach work--by a considerable margin. Downtown routes made up most of the remaining top requested list.
What's Next and How You Can Help
The City will be studying the potential routes in more detail for benefits and feasibility. They will look at traffic and parking impacts, create some basic potential designs, and offer rough cost estimates for each route. They hope to have that work completed in September, although may not make that timeline. From there, work would be done to make a final recommended list of near-term protected bikeway projects with the plan to start building initial routes in 2015.
We'll be working to expand community support for high-benefit routes that may be more challenging due to traffic or parking reasons. We are forming project teams right now around improvements to 26th/28th Street, Downtown Routes, Franklin Ave SE, University Ave/4th St SE, and Franklin Avenue (which would be working for bike lanes). We need your help on those! Let us know what interest you by filling out this survey.
