Here’s the week on streets.mn plowed curb to curb to keep your reading clear:
Collaboration
Sustainable City Logistics in ʼs-Hertogenbosch is a cool video describing the Dutch city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch’s smart and sustainable distribution systems. With collaboration and cooperation from the business community and city government, the city coordinates deliveries, waste removal and other logistics in the center of the city to reduce traffic, limit emissions and make the city more livable.
War
In two very different posts, war rhetoric heats up the discussion. Perhaps inspired by the Netherlands’ Stop de Kindermoord campaign, The War on Pedestrians identifies pedestrian injuries and deaths as casualties of a war perpetrated by transportation planners, highway engineers, politicians and the media. The post mentions HAWK signals with significant discussion in the comments; here’s a HAWK signal in action (and links to many more types of pedestrian crossings). In less heated rhetoric and inspired by the recent denial by the Minnetonka City Council of a mixed use development, The Impending Decline of Second-Ring Suburbs declares there is a war in the suburbs between the forces working to build denser, more urban places to grow the tax base and the forces wanting no change in the look and feel of a place.
Particular places and projects
- Lyndale Avenue: The Case of the Missing Lyndale Bike Connection exposes the gap in the cycling network on Lyndale Avenue between the Hennepin/Lyndale bottleneck and Franklin Avenue and suggests a simple improvement. Active and detailed comments refine possible improvements and present alternatives.
- St. Paul: Reclaiming Grand Avenue proposed fixes to Grand Avenue to make the Cathedral/Summit/Crocus Hill neighborhood a better place to walk and bike starting with two design requirements: physically segregated cycletracks and intersections designed to Dutch standards.
- Mankato: The Full Force of Urban Renewal documents and laments changes in Makato’s downtown.
- Bloomington: Inspired by last week’s Death Roads post, Bloomington’s Four-Lane Roads catalogs four-lanes and identifies which have been downsized and restriped recently (Also see Charts of the Day 4-3 Road Diets Safety vs. Congestion and Simulated Average Speeds Before and After 4-3 Conversions).
Urban observations:
Three posts look at the details which help build great urban environments: Benches, Tables and Chairs for a More Walkable and Welcoming Saint Paul continues the thinking about small improvements for big impact by borrowing New York’s good ideas. Front Doors and Walkable Cities looks beyond the sidewalk to how buildings relate to the street and help make walking not only possible, but attractive. Transpo Convo: Gardens in the Mist (another installment of the “Transpo Convo” series which asks people about their transportation experiences around the city) looks at public gardens along the way. One more, Odd: Downtown East Station Blanketed in Ads Aimed at Suburban Drivers, observes the mismatch between the suburban dream ads and the urban ridership.
Transit
Transit Riders Union suggests such a union advocating for actual transit riders could be helpful (with links to other cities’ unions) for improving service. Old Dog, New Tricks tells how GPS technology helps old dog buses do better.
Bicycles
Take Me to the River is another bike tour in Saint Paul which also tours boats (earlier tours are here). Bicycle Deaths on the Rise Nationally, But Not in Minnesota rounds up reports and statistics on bike safety; comments provide some pushback and alternative reports.
Charts, photos and video
This week’s Charts of the Day: 4-3 Road Diets Safety vs. Congestion, Simulated Average Speeds Before and After 4-3 Conversions, Oxygen Consumption vs. Speed (on a bicycle), Daily Incoming Solar Radiation (By Latitude), and Homeownership Over Even More Time extends the look at home ownership trends started last week (ownership since 1980) back to 1900. Friday Photo – Still Not Over it is a visual sulk over the Vikings stadium, while Pedestrian HAWK signal is a short video about how those kinds of crossing signals function.
Active living
An Introduction to Run Commuting is just what it says and running to work builds activity back into daily life rather than relegating it to special workout time. Especially important on the cusp of winter, running works pretty well in the snow, too.
Halloween? Check. Election Day? Check. Skis waxed? Check. Must be time for snow! Tomorrow’s forecast looks wonderful for those of us who love winter and terrible for those who don’t. Drive carefully, don’t follow those plows too closely on the morning commute and have a great week!