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Yesterday, I posted the Chain Gang 1998 map of Minneapolis bicycle routes. The other side of this fold-up map features the equivalent for the Saint Paul side of the river. My scan accidentally cut off a wee bit of the bottom, but I assure you it’s not a cataclysmic loss.
Here ’tis:
In all seriousness, not a lot has changed. We picked up an additional bridge at I35E a few years back, which has been awesome, but most of what’s on this map remains a good option, and while there are a few streets not marked that also work, they haven’t been significantly re-engineered since 1998. Unlike the Minneapolis map, the Saint Paul map includes numerous streets without striped bike lanes.
Note that Jefferson is marked as a good bicycle route as far back as 1998. This is interesting in light of recent debate about making Jefferson a ‘bicycle boulevard’ – maps like this support my assertion that all such a move does is codify it with some parking changes and paint, but that cyclists have been using it as such for years.
To say that not much has changed is not to say that improvements haven’t occurred – see also the update to the Shepard Road path as an example. However, it’s generally been fairly easy to navigate St. Paul via streets and bicycles for some years, and arguably the arterial options haven’t needed to be changed much.
I was along Shepard Road in Saint Paul this weekend, and saw a beautiful sight: The section of trail between the Highway 5 bridge and the I35E bridge is being regraded, widened, repaved, and generally upgraded from ‘OMG suck’ to ‘pretty darn nice.’
The river paths are popular with many recreational cyclists, and the shoulder on that part of Shepard was no great treat for condition either – keeping in mind that many bicycle riders wouldn’t go near it regardless, due to Shepard’s high speed limit. However, it was consistently strewn with debris and glass, and featured some pretty epic cracks and potholes.
The upgrades to the path are basically eliminating the shoulder, which will be a bit of a nuisance for the more serious, road-oriented cyclists who have been willing to deal with the somewhat questionable shoulder conditions as a trade-off for speed (and avoidance of the really crummy trail condition + inexperienced/slow riders). However, the trail upgrades are pretty considerable: The trail has been widened, and along most of the route features separated bicycle/pedestrian paths. Foliage has been trimmed such that it won’t stab people. New lighting is being installed, as is new fencing. Landscaping will be ongoing, given that August/September is not the best season for some of that work.
The project, given that it has included moving the roadway railing, regrading of the trail area, and protection of the cliff to Crosby Lake, has cost about $1.6 million dollars. The bulk of funding via the the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and DOT grants.
The big grand opening of the trail is scheduled for September 8, but with cooperative weather the trail should be done by Labor Day.
Back in the day, Metro Commuter Services had a program called the Chain Gang. This really doesn’t exist as such any more, and some of the services provided in the program either are being offered through other agencies or not at all. Probably one of the nicest pieces was that Chain Gang members were eligible for an emergency ride home if they commuted by bike and something happened.
In the process of going through a desk drawer to try to find something, I came across this treasure of history: The 1998 Chain Gang guide to Minneapolis Bike Routes! It doesn’t include downtown as an area of the map, and simply notes that there are ‘designated bike lanes throughout downtown.’
This map is clickable to get an enlargement:
A few notes:
- The Cedar Lake Trail is there, but not the Greenway – Phase I didn’t open until 2000.
- Mapping is based solely on bike lane striping or trails, thereby leaving out numerous arterial streets that have seen long use by cyclists such as 28th Avenue and 42nd Street.
- A separate map exists for Saint Paul that was the reverse of this map that I will post separately.
 Here’s a point of opposition that I’ve never seen before: A Republican candidate for governor in Colorado claims that bike-boosting policies advocated by Denver’s mayor are “converting Denver into a United Nations community.”
This isn’t from some Interweb humor site – it’s from the Denver Post!
Apparently, the new bike-sharing program in Denver (which is not dissimilar to Minneapolis’ Nice Ride program, as I understand it), puts the environment above the rights of citizens. Apparently this is based on Denver’s membership in the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, an international association that promotes sustainable development.
Somehow, promoting environmentally-friendly initiatives that are also favored by ICLEI ties US cities closer to the UN, and sacrifices US citizen rights and sovereignty to the UN.
Uh. Whatever?
Last fall, Minneapolis took Hennepin Avenue and 1st Avenues in downtown from one-way streets to two-way streets. This was a big deal, both from people in favor and people who were horrified.
In the sense of promoting more people coming downtown, it probably was a net good – one-way streets confuse people who are not near them every day and who are in for a special event (theatre on Hennepin, a Twins game, whatev).
They’ve published an evaluation of the conversion. Because this study was performed by the same agency responsible for the conversion, there is a bit of a question of impartiality, but data is at the base of most conclusions:
- Bicycle traffic is up, based on user-count metrics.
- Allegedly, there have been no bike crashes on Hennepin since conversion, whereas prior it was known as one of the worst ‘bikeways’ in the city because it violated every principle of bicycle lane planning ever created. (I’m a bit dubious that it went from apocalypse to idyllic – I’m wondering about reporting, personally.)
- The city claims people have figured out the odd parking/bike lane configuration.
When you dive into the stats, it turns out that bicycle traffic on Hennepin Avenue alone is down by about half. The increase is based on a combination of Hennepin, 1st, and Nicollet. Apparently, some people really liked the bike-lanes down the center configuration on Hennepin – a configuration that almost undoubtedly was a part of the crash statistics, and may have led to more serious crashes due to the physics of bicycle-vs-car based on lane placement and speed.
I think the parking zone/bike lane setup remains the most confusing element of the conversion. Flipping them around does put the bike lane in the door zone, but that’s a more common configuration, and motorists and cyclists typically know where they’re supposed to be in such a setup. The city have stated that they intend to paint all of the shared lanes for vehicles/bicycles green, particularly on Hennepin. Buffer zones are to be added between the bike lanes and parking zones on 1st Avenue to reduce dooring risk and facilitate use of the parking areas by handicapped vans with ramps.
In the ongoing movement for municipalities and cities to have their own advocacy groups to extend and support the work of state-wide organizations like the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, a new bicycle coalition is forming in St. Paul.
Locally-oriented groups are a key piece of the advocacy puzzle, as they are typically made up of local voters who live within a city or town. As constituents, members can further local and state-wide initiatives more effectively than state-wide groups coming in without the local support.
This organization has particular value, given the deactivation of the St. Paul Bicycle Advisory Board.
The group is involved in the attempts to extend the Midtown Greenway via the Ayd Mill corridor, and are also meeting monthly on the second Tuesday. If you’re a St. Paul resident, consider hitting their August 10th meeting.
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