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Entries tagged: Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition

When I was in Minneapolis for the Safe Routes to School National Conference this summer, I took the opportunity to pedal the area’s extensive trail system. Minneapolis boasts a Gold Level Bicycle Friendly City ranking from the League of American Bicyclists and one of the crown jewels of its bike facilities is the Midtown Greenway, a 5.7-mile rail trail used by commuters and recreationalists alike.

Thanks to the Midtown Greenway Coalition and the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition all users will feel a whole lot safer at a previously dangerous intersection at 28th Street.

That particular stretch of the multi-use path got a big boost in ridership in 2007 with the opening of the Martin Olav Sabo Bridge, a 2,200-foot, cable suspension, bike-ped bridge that carries the Greenway over busy Hiawatha Avenue. But more folks traversing the bridge meant far more cyclists and pedestrians crossing 28th Street, just west of the bridge. And conditions at-grade put those users at risk.

“The City of Minneapolis put in a crosswalk and a light that flashes if a button is pushed — which many bicyclists, unfortunately, do not push,” Soren Jensen, executive director of the Midtown Greenway Coalition, explains. “There were two lanes in both directions, but the outside lanes were striped and cars were not supposed to be in them. The problem was that many cars illegally went down the striped lane, anyway, causing a double threat to bicyclists. Often, one car would stop for the cyclists in the crosswalk, blocking the sight line of the car illegally using the striped lane. That’s how several bikers got hit by cars over the past few years.”

So the Coalition started meeting with officials in the city’s public works department to improve the safety at that crossing. Progress was slow but two major developments helped to tip the scales. The first was getting a larger constituency involved in the campaign. “In particular, the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition took an active interest in making the crossing safer,” Jensen says. ”Together, we represent a large constituency of cyclists and Midtown Greenway users.” Together, they also garnered some political punch, winning the support of Minneapolis City Council Member Gary Schiff.

Then, there was another tragedy.

“Unfortunately, another thing that probably tipped the process was yet another bicyclist getting hit a few months ago,” Jensen says. “I met with public works and let them know that the Coalition had fixing that crossing at the very top of our list — and that we would not sit by quietly and let another cyclist get hurt. I think they finally got the message, and moved to install the medians/islands.”

The medians funnel cars into a single lane, which serves to both slow traffic and eliminate the “double threat” to bicyclists. “They asked us whether they islands should be all concrete or have dirt for plantings,” Jensen adds. “We said plantings, and they said we would then have to be responsible for the landscaping and plantings. We think the plantings will increase safety, as cars will slow down even more when they see a garden in the medians.” So the advocates partnered with Mother Earth Gardens for temporary greenery, in anticipation of rooting some native plants next spring.

The 28th Street crossing isn’t the group’s only recent victory. Click here to read about the success of its Greenway Challenge and the installation of new amenities at the Cepro site.