JM: I think it is RIDICULOUS to divide a street like Lyndale and give it different treatment depending on who lives on a particular portion.
... slowing traffic on Lyndale is like slowing traffic on Minnetonka Blvd or slowing traffic on Lake Street. People live on all of them, and none of them are playgrounds for kids. [Wendy Introwitz Pareene] Painter Park is stretches along a full block of Lyndale Avenue from 33rd Street to 34th Street. The park offers after-school activities, which brings children from the Carag neighborhood across Lyndale Avenue and back home again during afternoon drive time. There is a school that lines another block of Lyndale Avenue in the 40-something Avenue vicinity. One day I saw a small boy decide he had enough time to dart into the street to retrieve a ball before a speeding car would get too close. Because the child's sense of speed and distance was not mature enough to make a proper judgment, the motorist was forced to slow way down to allow the child to grab the ball and return to the playground. JM: Frankly, if the electorate were willing to shell out the bucks for law enforcement, traffic speed would take care of itself. These "traffic calming" schemes are just a silly way to save a few cents in taxes. And they lead to chaos in the overall traffic scheme. [Wendy Introwitz Pareene] [Wendy Introwitz Pareene] I'm not a traffic engineer, but common sense would dictate that a little enforcement added to an orderly, well marked roadway might save a few cents in taxes, and rake in a few bucks from speeding tickets?? Using whatever mechanisms are available to slow traffic to the posted speed limit isn't chaos... it's the law... which is designed to keep order. JM: I think people who hate traffic should move AWAY from it. Get a hobby farm. [Wendy Introwitz Pareene] I don't hate traffic, JM, I hate incomprehensible traffic "design." While Lyndale Ave. is clearly marked 4 lanes in some areas, in others there is merely the aggressive tendencies of drivers to continue 4 across, and the county says it does not plan to do anything to clearly mark 2 or 4 lanes in these areas, including the stretch of Lyndale Avenue from 33rd Street to 34th Street where children cross in afternoon drive time mayhem. JM: Practically all my life has been spent in cities, and I've never been in serious danger, not even when walking a couple miles every day to school, crossing major traffic arteries. [Wendy Introwitz Pareene] My 14 year old son narrowly escaped being flattened by an SUV turning right on a red light while he was bicycling across 32nd avenue... with a green light... on the sidewalk along Lyndale Avenue. My son was already in the intersection... the SUV had no turn signal on... when the driver swung around the corner. He was biking along Lyndale on his way to a friend's house a block away. Reference also the little boy fetching a ball along the 40-somethings along Lyndale Avenue. Also the children from Carag neighborhood crossing Lyndale Avenue to go to Painter Park. Jim Graham: "Bike riding in urban settings is dangerous, even in summer months. JM: Have you done it lately? I did it all summer. It was just fine. What makes the difference? A. I stay off major streets to the maximum extent possible. B. If I have to go on a major street, I do whatever I can to stay out of the motorized traffic mix. That often means tooling slowly down the sidewalk in blocks with lots of parked cars. There's a double danger in th at case, the opening door and the narrow space. Of course, you can't endanger pedestrians, so it means slowing down. Lots of bicyclists are endangered by their need to go FAST no matter what the conditions. That impels them to risk either themselves or pedestrians. But anyone who uses common sense can be very safe in an urban setting. [Wendy Introwitz Pareene] Well said, although, after biking in Holland this summer where motorists stop and look for pedestrians and bicyclists before entering an intersection or making a turn (the drivers there are AMAZINGLY respectful of both), I can see how a city-wide policy of respect for non-motorized traffic, rather than a policy of caving into the megalomaniacal attitude of motorists, could make a huge difference in the mood on the streets! \ (time for real life activities... thank you for your virtual time and consideration) Wendy Introwitz Pareene Lyndale Neighborhood _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
