Here’s the week on streets.mn raked into tidy piles for easy reading:
Look and listen
Videos this week include the fun tour of some of Saint Paul’s new bike boulevards with Bikerlapse: Dayton to Griggs to Charles and two somber and shocking safety-related videos with Saturday Music Video: White Bike (Me For Queen) and Hit me at 30.
Charts of the Day include Charles Jencks’ Architectural Evolutionary Tree shows how the architecture theorist and critic’s represented development of architectural styles and Minnesota County State Aid Highway Funding shows the funding formula and dollar amounts for that piece of the transportation funding pie Millennials, however, top the charts this week with Millennial Mode Share and More Millennial Trends for four charts from the new USPIRG millennial transportation report.
Maps & photos: Map Monday: Neighborhood Funding in Minneapolis is a clickable map of special neighborhood districts created more than 35 years ago showing the money which has accumulated in the various districts. And, two photos: Friday Photo: Down the middle and Photo of the Day: The Intercity Monorail that Never Was.
Listen to Podcast #73: The Great streets.mn Railvolution Debate which is the actual debate by streets.mn writers at the recent Railvolution conference (which was previewed earlier).
Green Line & beyond
Discussion continues about various aspects of the relatively new Green Line LRT. Green Line Getting Up to Speed in Fits and Starts updates the discussion about signal timing on the Green Line with details of recent improvements. LRT Beats Bus in the Central Corridor in number of riders and this post also provides details about how many riders board at which stations. Green Art for the Green Line — Part III suggests something like David Zinn’s temporary street art as a way to beautify the Green Line and keep it captivating (See Parts I & II of Green Art for the Green Line, too)
Extending the Green Line in time, The Evolution of the Green Line: A Retrospective takes a look back from 2074 when the Green Line will have been abandoned (and many other changes will have taken place in the Twin Cities). If life expectancy keeps increasing, perhaps I’ll be able to check how accurate this is when I’m 113 or some younger readers should keep track and write a review for streets.mn at the appropriate time. Extending light rail in space, Midtown Corridor: A Grade Separated Central Corridor advocates for the proposed rail options in the Midtown Corridor with possible connections to the Green Line.
Other places
Twin Cities posts take us first to Edina with France Avenue: Pedestrian-Friendly at 40 MPH reviews bike/ped improvements (and “improvements”) in the Southdale area of France Avenue in Edina; this was also the comment winner of the week with extensive conversation/debate on this project and the larger policy and design problems it raises. A Look Inside Saint Paul’s 8-80 Vitality Fund follows last week’s review of the fund by recapping the Saint Paul City Council budget review session on projects which could be funded.
In Greater Minnesota, Woodley Street, Northfield: Narrowing the focus suggests narrowing travel lanes as a way to make sidewalks fit the space available. On the East Coast, New York, #1 Bike City describes a trip to NYC which the author reports “required a great amount of mental effort, but I didn’t die, and it was great fun.” And, out on the West Coast, Seattle-Area Transit Vs. Twin Cities Transit compares the two systems without declaring a clear winner; commenters offer additional perspective on both.
Other ideas
Defying categorization is an Interview with Tom Fisher about Congestion Pricing in the Twin Cities which transcribes a conversation with University of Minnesota Design School Dean Fisher about location-sensitive pricing in several contexts.
The beautiful autumn weather continues here in Minnesota as political candidates door-knock their way toward Election Day. Use what you learn here on streets.mn to quiz your local candidates about their transportation and land use priorities! Have a great week!