Twin Cities Streets for People

After a chaotic boarding at Missoula’s Greyhound Station, I was finally on my way to Miles City (~480 miles East of Missoula), the place where I would begin to Ride the Talk. My seat buddy, an exhausted mom, had already been on several buses for the past 24 hours when she made her transfer in Missoula with her two young children. I was feeling for her when her child began to kick the back of my seat (incessantly) and she began the battle of the threats – “Stop it, or no treat when we get there.” It could’ve been a world record for the length of time a two-year old needed to behave. I was hardly an hour into my trip and I wanted to kick the back of my own seat. Read more >

Here's a busy street corner in St Paul's pedestrian friendly Grand Avenue where the city ALMOST got it right. They took the trouble to put in a "Please Stop for Pedestrians in Crosswalk" neon yellow sign across from the grocery store.

The only trouble is that there are no crosswalks anywhere near here.

What is the point of making a designated bike lane on a street if you allow cars to park in it? I think someone somewhere is missing the point.

View Northern Lights Express route alternatives in a larger map

The Twin Cities and the Twin Ports are on track to be connected by passenger rail again within the next few years. The Federal Railroad Administration has told the Minneapolis – Duluth/Superior Passenger Rail Alliance—the joint-powers board backing the Northern Lights Express train—that the preferred route (#9) has been approved. As part of a 7-month review, the FRA had asked for information on two alternate routes (#11 and #11A) which had ranked fairly well in previous studies. In both cases, trains would have traveled east from Minneapolis before heading north along the old "Skally Line" until reaching Hinckley. However, those routes would have been slower for many riders and would require rebuilding a significant chunk of trackbed which has been abandoned and largely converted into bike trails. Read more >