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.
