Twin Cities Streets for People

This just came across my desk. Because of confusion about the inadequately designed 1st Avenue separated Bike Lanes, the Minneapolis City Council is considering removing them alltogether.

Here's the email I received:

We are in very real danger of losing the experimental bike lanes on 1st avenue in downtown Minneapolis and not having anything put in in their place.  Many business owners and drivers are of the opinion that since these lanes are such a hassle, they should be ripped out and nothing should be there but parking.

We must let people know that we want bicycle facilities on 1st avenue, even if we do not support the lanes in the current configuration.

Council Member Lisa Goodman in particular needs to hear the voice of cyclists on this one.  Please call or email her today or this weekend at 612-673-2207 or http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/contact/email-form-goodman.asp and let her know that you support having bike lanes on 1st avenue in downtown Minneapolis.

(The complete message, with suggestions about how to improve the bike lane design, is after the jump.) Read more >

There's a nice article in today's Star Tribune about the possibility of turning Park and Portland Avenues back into two-way streets in South Minneapolis. the piece suggests the need for a balance between "accessibility and liveability", and points out some of the history of the street. But, to my mind, it doesn't put enough on the table.

  Read more >

Another Twin Cities streets fatality, as a woman was killed by the driver of a garbage truck while walking her dog near a park in downtown Saint Paul this morning. This crash continues a deadly summer trend, with an elderly woman killed by an ambulance earlier this week, a man killed by a car while waiting for the bus earlier this month, and a cyclist and pedestrian killed along Park Avenue last month. Read more >