4th of July news: Missed the fireworks in Minneapolis? Watch The Bombs Bursting for a quick time-lapse view of ALL the fireworks going off which is lots of fun and won’t scare the dog. Fourth of July Past provides a link to 4th of July-related posts from previous years on streets.mn.
News Flash: The Minnesota Strategic Highway Safety Plan provides a critical review of MnDOT’s “overwhelmingly car-centric plan” with recommendations for improvement (and a cartoon); YOU can provide comments to MnDOT until July 8.
Slightly older news: The Green Line is only a couple of weeks old and the review continues here on streets.mn with Green Line ridership by station and Second Chart of the Day: Central Corridor Ridership Pre- and Post-Green Line charts plus Three More Green Line Station Gripes following last week’s podcast riding the Green Line.
Video: CNU22: Ben Hamilton-Baillie presentation about shared space and Minneapolis and St. Paul Transit: one day of activity (which could be called a video chart and frustrates my taxonomy).
Maps and Charts: Green Line ridership by station, Second Chart of the Day: Central Corridor Ridership Pre- and Post-Green Line, MN Road Safety Trends (2 Charts for July 3!), Chart of the Day: Per Capita Bicycle Miles Travelled 1949 – 2013 (UK), Map of the Day: Minnesota June Rainfall Relative to Mean and the video chart Minneapolis and St. Paul Transit: one day of activity
Pictures (and some words): Why I’m Annoyed by this Banner is because its message is not what happens on the street, Free Parking at Target Field Station is not much to look at andStreet Lights from my Neighborhood catalogs street light designs along with some commentary about lights, jurisdiction, costs and more; Hiawatha Avenue Crosswalk Improvements* tours recent improvements, critiques the results and stimulates some active conversation in the comments.
Numbers: Two number-heavy posts this week for those who like to do the math with Bicycling: Relatively Safe and Why Don’t More Minneapolitans Bike, Walk, or Take Transit?
Cool tools and/or toys: USGS Historical Topographic Map Explorer lets users look at different maps from different points in time as layers which must have some great research potential, but it’s also just a lot of fun to explore favorite places this way.
Conversation starters, infrastructure division: Steen MN vs Drenthe NL visually compares the roads around Steen, MN (where Andrea Boeve was killed recently while cycling with her small children) to a comparable distance (but not comparable facilities) near Drenth, Netherlands. The comments are particularly good with some extended analysis and context from David Hembrow in conversation with some more frequent streets.mn commenters. For more European comparisons, Vienna Waits for You to look at Vienna’s transit and development pattern relative to Minneapolis. Meanwhile, back in Minneapolis, The Case of the Erased Bike Lane observes how a bike lane was erased by car tires and advocates for more permanent and protected bike lanes instead; lively comment discussion ensues
Set off those remaining fireworks safely (and do it soon so the many dogs still cowering under beds from the 4th of July explosions feel safe to emerge) and have a great week.