Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/tag/cycling/page/5/)
Thousands of people filled Lyndale Avenue on Sunday, June 8 for the second Open Streets event of the season. Dozens of businesses were open as people biked and walked the street from 22nd to 42nd Street.
Opinion is divided even among two-wheel-and-pedals enthusiasts, but allowing bicyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs and red lights as stop signs deserves more consideration in Minnesota. Although bicycles can replace motor vehicles for many transportation uses and users, there is no compelling reason that lightweight, foot-powered conveyances should be bound by the same traffic laws as multi-ton, high-speed automotive menaces. Continue Reading
After opening last August, a citywide bicycle project is nearing completion with a new connection between the University of Minnesota’s campus and downtown Minneapolis.
On May 31, North Girard and Humboldt Avenues North were cleared of car traffic from Broadway to 42nd Avenue for the first Open Streets event of the summer. People rode bikes and other kinds of human powered devices, walked, played music, created art and hung out over a temporary north-south greenway across north Minneapolis.
To learn more about the possible impact of the proposed North Minneapolis Bikeway, On May 16, North Minneapolis Hmong families packed a van and went on a tour of Minneapolis bikeways.All the participants live on one of the proposed routes for the North Minneapolis Bikeway.The Hmong families toured four Minneapolis bikeways: Milwaukee Ave., Midtown Greenway, Bryant Ave. S., and 37th Ave. N.During their tour, the families saw all three major types of bikeways as described by the city of Minneapolis:Bike boulevard. Bicycle symbols and traffic calming features, parking and street remain. Seen by Hmong families at Bryant Ave. Continue Reading
For those not in the know, Minneapolis is proposing to construct a protected cycle track along 36th Street West this summer. This project hits near and dear to me as my wife and I will be moving into a home a mere 200 feet from this facility in exactly two weeks. Glancing over the design, this project seems like a total slam dunk. I’m not going to spend my time here debating the merits of reallocating space, arguing if cyclists pay their fair share, or anything else. Minneapolis and St Paul (any city, really) need to roll out protected cycle tracks on key corridors whenever they get the chance, and this proposal links together the Bryant bicycle boulevard with the wonderful lake trails, while giving would-be bus riders some respect on what is among the worst pedestrian facilities in the city (also removing a pointless stoplight and consolidating some redundant bus stops – huzzah!). Continue Reading
Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and at least five Minneapolis City Council Members and two Hennepin County Commissioners rode through the rain on Bike to Work Day, Thursday, May 8. Four rides that started in different parts of the city ended up on the plaza between City Hall and the Hennepin County Government Center for a gathering that included information tents and speeches (at the rotunda in City Hall).
Bicycling magazine didn’t do Minneapolis any favors by listing it as the second most bike-friendly city in the nation behind Portland, Ore., an urban design consultant told a Minneapolis group on May 7.Gil Penalosa, executive director of the Canadian non-profit group 8-80 Cities, has added the Twin Cities to the more than 150 cities with whom he’s consulted in the last eight years on all continents.“In Minneapolis, one of the worst things they said is that you were among the best in the nation,” Penalosa said. “It would have been better if they said you were 84th and then you would know how much work you have to do. You have to decide whether you’re satisfied being one of the champions of the little leagues or whether you want to go to the major leagues.”Minneapolis should compare itself with world-class cities like Copenhagen, Portland, Amsterdam and Melbourne in urban vitality, which he says depends on making the cities friendlier to pedestrians and bicycles. By doing so, “we are creating vibrant cities, healthy communities, sustainable happiness through great parks and streets.”Penalosa, who gained renown as commissioner of parks and recreation in Bogotá, Columbia, made 17 presentations in his week-long Placemaking Residency in early May sponsored by the Saint Paul Riverfront Corporation and a variety of other nonprofit groups. He discussed how to plan a city for residents from ages 8 through 80 – the purpose of his 8-80 Cities foundation in Toronto.“Think of the city for an 8-year-old and an 80-year-old, then it would be great for everybody from zero to a hundred. Continue Reading
Minnesotans are invited to weigh in on a forthcoming statewide bicycle system plan at nine public meetings around the state over the next several weeks. Public comments “will help us identify and recommend bike routes, improve existing facilities in the bike system and more effectively address the needs of bicyclists,” says the state Department of Transportation. Continue Reading
In St Paul Bicycle Plan: Good Enough? I discussed five things that I believe, along with the Bicycle Plan, can get St Paul close to the ‘World Class Bicycling City’ that they say that they want to become and that many of us think that St Paul can become and will greatly benefit from becoming. Continue Reading