With Minneapolis getting its first Woonerf, we can start to think about reallocating road space more seriously. Over the years, many writers on streets.mn have suggested a number of potential ideas in the Twin Cities for pedestrian treatment. While the radicals among us may want to ban cars altogether (at least in cities), the realistic among us recognize that will not happen tomorrow (or anytime soon). That doesn’t mean progress towards fewer cars where they are not necessary cannot be achieved.
Pedestrian and Bicycle zone in Houten.
My cursory look at the network and discussions with others identifies these locations which could become pedestrian/transit plazas or streets, with private cars generally prohibited. Some of these proposals have been discussed before on these very pages. I believe the loss to LOS would be low if done right.
- 13th and/or 14th Avenues SE in Dinkytown
- Washington Transit Mall Extended SE
- 4th Street SE in Prospect North
- Nicollet Avenue S. extended ((a) South of the existing transit mall, (b) through the K-Mart site)
- Hennepin Avenue S
- Hennepin Avenue NE (Between 1 block north of the River to Central Avenue) (Convert 1st Ave NE to 2-way. Reroute traffic onto 1st Ave, 7th Street)
- Lake Street in Uptown (Convert Lagoon to 2-way. Reroute traffic onto Lagoon)
- Girard Avenue in Uptown
- West 29th Street
- Portland Avenue through the Downtown East Commons Park
Some of these (Washington Avenue) have transit, some are planned for fixed guideway transit (Nicollet, Hennepin S and NE), which would operate better without the cross-traffic, some just don’t need to have cars (4th St SE, Lake Street, Girard, 13th and 14th Aves).
Discuss the strengths and weaknesses, and suggest more in the comments.