In the news: The Green Line opened last Saturday, so this week streets.mn writers provide some early feedback on how it worked. Streets.mn is Revisiting “The Amazing Race:” LRT Versus Car from the Strib and considers factors besides length of trip in minutes. Traffic Calming will be the Secret to Green Line Success calls the Green Line an “urban environmental gamechanger” and A First Ride on the Green Line – Random Thoughts, pictures and analysis along the way plus additional thoughts and discussion in the comments. Finally, Celebrating Transit for Others is not exclusively about the Green Line, but points out some of the discrepancies between who rides (routinely) and who cuts the ribbon on the new project.
Listen: Funding the Future of Transportationlinks to MPR’s Daily Circuit Friday Roundtable discussion with streets.mn’s David Levinson,Chuck Marohn (Strong Towns) and Russ Adams (Alliance for Metropolitan Stability) and Podcast #65 – Public Space in the Twin Cities with Nathan Clough.
Quick looks: Charts of the Day of the Week are Le Creuset Pots Owned vs. Meals Cooked; Minneapolis Per Capita Car2go Membership; car2go Growth in Minneapolis; Potential Saint Paul LRT Connections circa 1978; Minneapolis Bikeways 1997-2013. Plus, how not to encourage pedestrian activity in Don’t Walk.
Quick reads (highly but not purely pictorial): Saint Paul’s Oversized Downtown Streets identifies some possible places for rethinking streets; Bike Lane Ex Machinashows a brand new, but not necessarily improved bike lane;Ford Finally RIPobserves the passing of a St. Paul icon and Amsterdam: The Good, Bad, and Uglyshows us cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands (and the relative state of planning and improvement there vs. here). Highlighting an upcoming event is A Robbinsdale Book Signing with Pete Richie.
Moving pictures: What Conan Teaches Us About Small Streets or, a quick, simple non-jargony look at why human scale streets matter. Also from popular culture, 4 Way Stop Vs Roundabout – Mythbusters is an excerpt from the Mythbusters TV program looking at how cars navigate each sort of intersection. The short transportation economics videos continue with Why is congestion costly?
Diversity continued: The Vehicular Cycling Metaphor uses that metaphor to describe the comfort zone and perceived safety of participating in streets.mn. As with the discussion of whether or not to take the lane, the conversation about just how broad the mission and content of streets.mn is and should be continues (Add your voice…). See also Celebrating Transit for Others for a more visual look at one part of the diversity conversation started here.
Greater Minnesota: Northfield, a Bikeable Community recaps Northfield’s recent workshop to consider how to improve cycling facilities and encourage more cycling around town (and entice more cyclists to come visit, too).
Conversation starters: Imagine an Ayd Mill Linear Park does not imagine such a park (but does point to events and input opportunities for doing some of that imagining) so much as review the history and criticize the rationale of the Ayd Mill road way; comments continue the discussion about what could happen in this corridor, limitations (legal and political), and possibilities. Building for a Bipolar Climate supports the skyway concept and compare it to Montreal for some ideas for improvement.
Particular projects: 77th Street: The Stroad, the People, and the Lost Urban Village examines one chunk of Richfield’s streetscape relative to policy, performance and equity.
Now it is officially summer, so the days will start getting shorter…time to get out and enjoy the streets and public spaces in Minnesota. Have a great week!