Another month has passed us by and so has another Engineering Subcommittee meeting. The Bicycle Advisory Committee subfaction has weighed in on several street designs once again. Warm up from this chilly week with a look at the fiery future for bikes in Minneapolis.
The Docket:
- Lake Street (Blaisdell to 5th Avenue)
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Glenwood Avenue (Aldrich to 7th Street)
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SE 4th Street (25th to 29th Ave SE)
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Hennepin Avenue 2020
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2016 Protected Bikeways
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US Bank Stadium Transportation Management Plan
Lake Street
The Lake Street project is spanned across two segments, Blaisdell Avenue east to 1st Avenue and 3rd Avenue east to 5th Avenue. Though the layout does not include adding any bike facility to the street, the planners sought the BAC’s opinion as it does cross Blaisdell and 1st Avenue, two bike routes. The reconstruction will narrow travel lanes, shorten street crossings with bump outs (3rd to 5th only) and expand the sidewalks. The design includes parking lanes, reaction spaces, and travel lanes all below the recommended widths in order to make improvements to the sidewalk zone and reduce travel speeds. View the layout here (click on Board 12 to download the layout). The Subcommittee moved to support the design. The project is part of a larger I-35W Transit/Access Project which will include adding an aBRT stop along I-35W at Lake Street. For questions on the Lake Street project, contact Jim Grube (Director of Transportation, Hennepin County) and Nathan Koster (Minneapolis Public Works).
Glenwood Avenue
The project area for the Glenwood Avenue (CSAH 40) project is some sort of concrete masterpiece, to put politely. Between Aldrich Avenue and 7th street, Glenwood passes under I-94, over I-394 then under a massive parking garage to the Target Center. With the Southwest LRT requiring construction on Glenwood, where it crosses the Cedar Lake Trail, Hennepin County identified that the street could use improvements as well. The project intends to improve the pedestrian experience and bicycle connections to the future LRT station. It will embrace a new visions for a multi-use, commercial corridor. The design intends to create one car lane in each direction with one bike lane in each direction as well. The space allows for 14 to 16 feet for pedestrian space on both sides with 6 to 8 feet for each bike lane. The BAC moved to support the project but prefers a 6 foot bike lane with a 2 foot buffer and also hopes that the project could improve the connection to the Cedar Lake Trail in the area. Construction will take place in 2017 or 2018 (to be coordinated with SWLRT construction schedule). Contact Kristy Morter if you have questions or concerns about the project.
4th Street SE
South of the University of Minnesota transitway, the project extends from 25th Ave SE east to 29th Ave SE. The design illustrates 6 foot bike lanes on each side of the street, one 10 foot car travel lane in each direction and 8 foot parking lanes. The redesign creates more opportunities for green space as well as ADA compliant intersections, curb ramps and sidewalks where there are current gaps. The BAC promptly moved to support the project.
Hennepin Avenue 2020
A lot has been written about this project already so in an effort to reduce redundancy, click over to this article by Ethan Fawley about the proposed layout of the design. The BAC was ready to dive into the details of the project but the project leads, Simon Blenski and Chris Engleman, were unable to address those concerns as the project is in a higher level concept stage. The BAC moved to support the design layout as it stands and are looking to work with the Pedestrian Advisory Committee (PAC) to ensure that the reconstruction will benefit bikers and walkers alike.
2016 Protected Bikeways
Two protected bikeways are slotted for construction this year:
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11th Avenue S (6th St S to West River Pkwy) will be designed to have a buffer and bollard protected bike lane on the east side of the avenue with a parking protected bike lane on the west side (north of 3rd St, buffer and bollard protected south of 3rd St). Car traffic will have one travel lane in each direction.
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Franklin Avenue (29th Ave S/Riverside Ave S to Seabury Ave) will be designed to have a buffer and bollard protected bike lane in each direction with one travel for car in each direction. The design also includes a left turn cue into the Seward Co-Op in an attempt to ease possible conflicts between through and turning traffic for both cars and bikes.
The BAC moved to support both projects, click on the links above to see the project websites and designs for each project.
US Bank Stadium TMP
US Bank stadium is required to develop a transportation management plan for large events like football games and concerts, to explain how the organization will control traffic. The draft of the plan involves closing roads around the stadium in order to increase access and safety for pedestrians. Ciara Schlichting, the chair of the subcommittee, is a consultant on the plan. She ensured that the closed streets will still be open to bikes. The bike lanes around the stadium will still be open and they have identified three bike parking locations around the stadium that can park 360 bikes. Bicycle traffic will be observed to determine if additional parking is needed or if there is the demand for a possible bike valet.
Announcement:
The Youth Bike Summit will be held May 27th - May 29th at Macalester College in St. Paul. Registration is cheap and open to all. Speakers include Gil Penalosa and Nekima Levy-Pounds.
The Subcommittee meetings are open to the public, and occur every third Tuesday of the month, 4:00-6:00 p.m. at the Colonial Warehouse Building, 212 3rd Ave N, Suite 404. If you will be attending a future meeting or have questions, you may want to contact the Subcommittee Chair, Ciara Schlichting. If you are interested in being included on the email list for the subcommittee, which includes updates on meeting dates and agendas for each meeting, contact Matthew Dyrdahl, the committee staff member.
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