Minneapolis Bicycle Advisory Committee Meeting 10/1/2008--Hennepin Avenue presentation
The hot topic at last Wednesday's Minneapolis Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting was the proposed layouts presented for the Hennepin and 1st Avenues lane re-striping project scheduled for construction in 2009. As part of the Access Minneapolis ten year transportation plan, the City of Minneapolis is converting 1st Avenue N. and Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis from one-way configurations to two-way configurations. This project provides an opportunity to rethink how to best accommodate bicycles on these roadways.
Last year the City of Minneapolis was awarded a planning grant from the Bike/Walk Twin Cities program administered by Transit for Livable Communities in order to explore and plan innovative bicycle treatments on Hennepin Avenue. The Bike/Walk Twin Cities program is a part of a Federal project to explore how investments in planning, infrastructure, and public education can increase rates of bicycling and walking and reduce rates of driving motor vehicles by 2010. More information on BWTC is here >.
The first public presentation of this planning project to date was given by a consultant and City staff on Wednesday. The project team presented three general layout options as follows:
- Two way Center Bike Lane: This option would consist of one bicycle lane for each direction of travel (two total lanes) running down the center of Hennepin Avenue. There would be two general traffic lanes in each direction (four total lanes) on either side of the bicycle lanes.
- Two way Curblane Bike Lane: This option would consist of one bicycle lane for each direction of travel running along each curb lane on either side of Hennepin Avenue. There would be two general traffic lanes in each direction (four total lanes) in this configuration.
- Two Way Contra Flow Bike Lane (Side of Roadway): This option would consist of two bicycle lanes running side by side along the northern curb lane where the bus/taxi lane exists today. There would be two general traffic lanes in each direction (four total lanes) in this scenario.
Before the project team could finish their presentation questions started coming from members of the public in attendance. The project team reported that they anticipate an AADT (Annual Average Daily Traffic) for motor vehicles on Hennpin Avenue of 15,000 to 16,000 motor vehicles. It was pointed out that this level of motor vehicle traffic can easily be accommodated by a more friendly complete streets design--a three lane configuration with wide bicycle lanes on either side.
A three lane road design consists of one general traffic lane in each direction along with a center left-turn lane. More information about 4 lane to 3 lane road conversions (also known as Road Diets) can be had by downloading this document >.
The project team stated that they dismissed a three lane configuration as an option due to the short length of the blocks on Hennepin Avenue and the associated challenge of stacking motor vehicles at traffic signals. In the Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning world this is known as a “technical brush-off”. This means that while the challenge brought up by the project team is genuine, they neglected to acknowledge that it is a challenge that can be solved with minor engineering changes to the greater street network surrounding Hennepin Avenue.
The recent example of New York City’s reconfiguration of Broadway Avenue was brought up as an example of reducing the number of general traffic lanes to better provide space for bicyclists and pedestrians. Broadway Avenue--one of the streets most heavily congested with auto traffic in NYC--was recently put on a serious Road Diet where much of the road’s space was taken away from the use of moving cars and converted to space for bicyclists, pedestrians and street cafés.
Photo by Dan Cornejo of Cornejo Consulting.
If New York City can figure out a way to utilize innovative treatments on Broadway Avenue, I believe that the City of Minneapolis can come up with a bold and innovative solution for Hennepin Avenue that will invite more Minneapolitans and Twin Citizens to safely discover the joys and benefits of bicycling for transportation and utilitarian purposes.
A Public Open House to give comment on the proposed design for Hennepin and 1st Avenues has been scheduled for October 8 at the Minneapolis Central Library from 5-6 pm.
| Attachment | Size |
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| Conceptual_Layouts.pdf | 2.77 MB |
I wonder if it wouldn't be
I wonder if it wouldn't be better to have four traffic lanes on Hennepin so buses can pass each other? It seems to me that going southbound on Hennepin (on a bus of course) takes longer than going northbound, though I've never looked into it.
But meanwhile, keep sticking it to those traffic planners - Minneapolis needs to clean house if you ask me.
color
I like how the lane in the picture is in color. I wonder if that is an option we could think about for Minneapolis? We have a lot of cars drive on the bike lanes - I assume out of confusion.
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