beth sole asks for bike transport on major trunk routes:
>in my immediate vicinity there are no
>lanes on the north/south streets of hennepin, lyndale, nicollet, and even
>worse, no crosstown lanes on franklin, 24th, 26th, 28th, lake, 31st, 36th
>and into infinity
As a fellow urban cycler, I absolutely DON'T want long-haul bike lanes along
major trunk routes. Sorry to use the "old tired excuse" you mentioned, but
cars are a fact of life and they need to go somewhere. I prefer cars on
major routes, not neighborhood streets. I'm willing, wherever practical, to
cede the major routes to them.
I prefer establishing bikeways on non-major routes - for example, a city
bike task force is talking about Pleasant Ave. as a major north-south route
between Richfield and at least Lake Street. Of course, major crossing
points - such as over the Mississippi to St. Paul - are only on major
arterials. I agree with Beth that space must be made for bikes there, and
bike-friendly flyover ramps are best. But I'd prefer to jog a block or two
over from a local, non-arterial route rather than go the whole way on a main
drag.
By the way, the Midtown Greenway (basically, 28th street) rocks as a bike
corridor, though I'll admit it doesn't go to St. Paul yet. But it's a great
start. To me, that eliminates the need for at least 26th-28th-Lake for the
duration of the Corridor.
Coincidentally, the city's current five-year bike plan (which may be as
achievable as the Communist bloc's old Five-Year plans) is available for
viewing at:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/citywork/public-works/transportation/bicycle
s/maps/index.html
(If the link breaks, go to the city of Minneapolis home page:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/, then search for "bicycling." The page
"City of Minneapolis - All About Bicycling" should be about halfway down the
search list. Click on it, and "Where to Ride in Minneapolis -- Maps" is
about halfway down. Click on it, and you'll see the Five-year plan maps.)
David Brauer
King Field - Ward 10
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