Mike Jones writes: Downtown is woefully scant of bike racks. You would think they would be an obvious investment to go along with all of the bike lanes.
Also, we need bike lanes ALL the way down Hennepin, down Lake, down Franklin and down Lyndale, especially here in Uptown. I'm sick of SUVs mowing me down because I have to share a lane with them. Uptown is HEAVY in bike traffic. It is against city law to bike on sidewalks, and just plain unsafe. (JC) Mike, you have my full solidarity on this issue. Your harrowing bicycle experience in Uptown is repeated all over the city on the roads that remain to be traffic-calmed. Fortunately, traffic calming is improving bicycle and pedestrian safety all over the city. For those unfamiliar with the term, traffic calming in our context usually entails safety measures on streets that have four lanes of traffic and little space for bikes and pedestrians, such as Hennepin and Lyndale. Car traffic is clearly designated in two lanes, making space for bikes on either side. On commercial streets, turn lanes and bump-outs can be used as space allows, as on Franklin Avenue east of Chicago. Other visual stimuli encourage drivers to slow down, including trees, pedestrian level street lighting, benches, and cooler paving materials such as brick. No Minneapolis street is wide enough for four lanes and parking on both sides. Lyndale and Hennepin would be well served with two lanes of through traffic, a center turn lane and a designated lane for bikes. Jeff Carlson, Whittier __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
