It’s been a very light week here at streets.mn; perhaps our writers were playing outside during this first very warm, very Springy week or staying inside doing their taxes while looking longingly at the sunshine. After catching up on streets.mn posts, you can celebrate the 100th birthday of our National Park system during National Park Week at these Minnesota parks: Mississippi River Trail, Minnesota Valley Wildlife Refuge (and see this about paving trail connections here and here), Voyageurs National Park, Pipestone National Monument, Grand Portage National Monument (and free to all this week, not just families with 4th graders).
Current events
Behind those Numbers, Transit Stats 101 is Janne Flisrand’s follow-up to her previous post on making Hennepin Avenue lovable (as well as part of the larger conversation about what should happen when Hennepin Avenue is reconstructed) where she “argued that the number of human beings using the street is almost as high as the number of cars (with drivers in them) — so let’s share the space in a way more balanced to the number of people.” Counting the humans, however, is not straightforward, so Janne has taken many numbers, conferred with transit experts, and translated the data for us (including the pros and cons of each metric) for Hennepin, but useful also for any project. The bottom line: “ask what numbers are being shared, where they come from, how reliable the underlying data is, and when it was collected.”
The Traffic Engineering Case for Three Lanes on 3rd Avenue is not quite current; the Minneapolis City Council decided against the three lane configuration (but did approve bollard-protected bike lanes) at its meeting. Following last week’s post advocating for three lanes, traffic engineer Hannah Pritchard added more weight with this post explaining why three lanes would have been a good idea from a traffic engineering standpoint: “The three-lane configuration is the better alternative for motor vehicles. It is (arguably) better for vehicles operationally and definitely better from a safety standpoint. This is not a bikes vs. cars scenario; three lanes are better for cars.” Beyond 3rd Avenue, this post explains traffic engineering principles and practices for thoughtful lay people. The comments move beyond 3rd Avenue to include some discussion of Vision Zero (and Minneapolis Bike Coalition discussion), the Minneapolis ACCESS plan, and equity issues.
Hennepin Avenue, Image credit Tony Webster (Creative Commons licensing)
Quick looks
Urban birds: Aaron Isaacs usually posts about transit issues, but this week he shows us St. Paul’s Skyway Pigeon Rookery where urban pigeons roost and reproduce in Saint Paul.
Urban Walks: Janelle Nivens takes us on another Beer Walk: Able Seedhouse + Brewery (here’s the first beer walk) which, as always, shows us interesting architecture and other details along the way, takes us to interesting local food and drink, and (great for a land use and transportation blog) integrates bike and car share into the mix, too.
Map: We had no official Map Monday this week, but Report of the Day: US Bikeshare Systems & Connections to Transit also a map from the USDOT (and their Intermodal Passenger Connectivity Database) which links to a new report which does just what the post title says.
Links: Weekend Links! Befuddled Robocars, Misunderstood Sunbelt Cities, and Airport Design showed up after the weekend, but this now regular feature via Greater Greater Washington gathers national links from The Direct Transfer and gives us the best of the week.
Able Seedhouse + Brewery, 1121 Quincy St NE, Minneapolis
Is your voice missing from the streets.mn conversation on transportation and land use? Think some issues here need some clarification or amplification? Could you tell us about your street? You could write for us and make sure your perspective is included. Have a great week!