The future of transportation in Minneapolis (video)
Tomorrow, Minneapolis will elect a new mayor. Which candidates have solid plans to let all Minneapolitans move about the city safely and freely? We tried to get to the bottom of it at our mayoral forum on transportation, which we co-sponsored. Moderator Paula Pentel asked the candidates (Dan Cohen, Bob Fine, Betsy Hodges, Cam Winton, and Stephanie Woodruff) this question about cycling at 7:00:
"The City Council recently passed a climate action plan calling for 30 new miles of protected bikeways by 2020. Do you agree with this goal? How would you work with the county to ensure that we build bike infrastructure that works for everyone?"
The other questions covered rail projects (16:35), pedestrian and equity concerns (27:06), parking policy (37:32), potholes (48:35), and candidate-specific issues (58:26).
Thanks to Streets.MN, UrbanMSP, ITSO, MUSSA, and the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability for co-sponsoring the forum. Enjoy the full video, and you can check out our candidate questionnaires for more information.
//www.youtube.com/embed/tcjnGM9KSZ8
BAC Meeting of 10/23/13
The City of Minneapolis Bicycle Advisory Committee met on Wednesday, October 23 to consider 9 agenda items.
MINNESOTA CYCLING CENTER PROPOSAL
After a brief presentation by Jason Lardy and a more extensive Q&A, the BAC adopted a general resolution of support for the Minnesota Cycling Center. Here is the link to Minnesota Cycling Center proposal: www.mncyclingcenter.org
SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOLS UPDATE
Jenny Bordon gave a committee Powerpoint presentation to update us on the Minneapolis Safe Routes to Schools program. An interesting bullet point stated: “A recent study showed that walking or biking to school had a much stronger effect on students’ concentration and focus than eating breakfast or lunch.” Here is the link to the SRTS Powerpoint: https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=c54cd12033&view=att&th=141ec8177765f99f&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P9wlOEcJGAAo0ux2znjPF0N&sadet=1383246932622&sads=VyetxGyZxV3c_PYOwD-VsfaVEjE
CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS COMPLETE STREETS POLICY
The City of Minneapolis Public Works Department sent to the BAC a Draft Complete Streets Policy dated October 21, 2013 for consideration at this meeting on October 23, 2013. Public Works requested our input prior to their presentation to the City Council Transportation and Public Works Committee on November 19, 2013. Because this Draft was received by the BAC too late for review by our Engineering Subcommittee and it will be presented to the city council committee prior to our next BAC meeting, we passed a Resolution supporting a Complete Streets policy but stating some concerns with the current Department of Public Works Draft and further stating that this Draft needed additional work.
DOWNTOWN BIKE CENTER
This is different from the Minnesota Bike Center above. The BAC adopted a Resolution in support of a Downtown Minneapolis Bicycle Center initiative. The downtown bike center concept had been previously presented to the BAC. Additional information regarding this center can be found on the Facebook Group Page “Friends of the Downtown Minneapolis Bicycle Center.”
ENFORCEMENT
The BAC will continue to develop a bicycle safety campaign for a Spring, 2014 roll out. Safety as well as law enforcement will be in that campaign.
SPEED TABLES ON MSA ROUTES
The BAC discussed speed tables on MSA Routes and whether or how they could be changed in light of MSA Rules. There is some confusion regarding the regulatory oversight of the speed table issue and additional research is warranted. The following Resolution was adopted: “The BAC recommends to Minneapolis Public Works (MPW) that the question of whether MSA standards regarding minimum design speeds of 30 mph precludes speed tables on MSA routes be considered in upcoming cycletrack analysis, that MPW advocate that these standards be changed to permit speed table on cycletracks on MSA routes, and that the Minneapolis Pedestrian Advisory Committee look at this issue.”
MINNEAPOLIS PARK AND RECREATION BOARD CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The BAC discussed a recently released report regarding proposed improvements on the West River Road Bicycle Path from Plymouth Avenue to Franklin Avenue. There will be a public hearing regarding these improvements on November 6 at 6:30PM at MPRB Headquarters, 2117 West River Road.
DETOUR ROUTES FOR SWLRT
The BAC discussed possible detour routes for the Kenilworth Bicycle Trail if and when Southwest LRT begins construction. The various detour routes would put bicycles on the streets for 1 to 1.5 miles. It was also noted that this detour could become a permanent bicycle route if LRT and freight are required to run at grade (no shallow tunnel) through the Kenilworth Corridor.
DINKYTOWN GREENWAY ACCESS
The BAC discussed a funded program that would put in a stairway with a bike rail on the McDonald’s corner on 15th in Dinkytown to facilitate bicycle access to the Dinkytown Greenway.
I recently had a chance to test out a contentious type of bike infrastructure, one much-discussed on this site.
Mostly, people (the normal, on-the-street-kind) love the idea. Me, I'm confident enough on a bike that I can ride anywhere downtown Minneapolis during rush hour, although I'll ride twice or even three times as far to avoid the unpleasantness. I understand the fear of having cars zooming past the bike lane, possibly from 
Navigating that strange city, I managed to ride in one two-way cycletrack, and in one that was a lane each side of the street. I found that riding with a buffer space, a few plastic bollards, and a row of parked cars between me and moving traffic felt very civilized. Maybe it felt civilized because it gave me slightly less to keep track of. But the stress of riding next to zooming cars just wasn't there, the way it is in bike lanes.
All the curb cuts were thoughtfully marked in bright green, easy for me to notice. (I suppose that green might have signaled something to the drivers, too, eh?) The intersections had bike lights, with an additional light cycle to avoid conflicts between cars and bikes. 
Where there weren't lights, the parallel parking stopped a significant distance from the corner, the green paint- and bollard- area grew wider, and I felt plenty visible as all the drivers made eye contact with me as we neared the intersections.
