After a three year study period of the area, a one way delineator-protected bikeway is to be installed on both University Ave and 4th St SE. These new lanes will continue the work of the Bicycle Master Plan from Hennepin County, Minnesota Department of Transportation, and the City of Minneapolis.

Portion of University Ave and 4th St to become protected bike lanes.

When it comes to bike-friendly rankings, Minneapolis has long outperformed our climate, even before we began serious investment in safe spaces to bike. That’s a result of the incredible Minneapolis Park trail network. The Park and Recreation Board got an early start building bike trails along Kenwood Parkway in 1895 and along Lake Harriet in 1896. (Check out more of our city’s early bikeway history in this chapter of the Minneapolis Master Bike Plan.)

The Grand Rounds was created as a recreational network. Because it circles the whole city (save the unfinished section in northeast/southeast) and connects to Downtown along the river, it puts most Minneapolitans close to a continuous protected bikeway with access to every corner of the city. When I moved to Minneapolis in 1996, the parks were great, and the streets… well, while rideable, they weren’t for the timid.