Welcome to June, Summer, and the past week on streets.mn. We’ve got transit, politics, links, and more, but do we have your voice? If not, you could write for us. Or on June 14, you could come join us for Happy Hour at The Local – we’d love to see you in print or in person.
Current events
Minneapolis is at a Crossroads with New Public Works Director Appointment is cross-posted from the local Sierra Club chapter and calls attention to the imminent appointment of a new Public Works Director which “is a legacy opportunity to expand upon the work that has already begun, promoting equity, sustainability, and access. The new director must redefine the nature of public works and honor the dynamic and diverse residents of this city by engaging in visionary work that places Minneapolis as a national and global leader in quality of life for everyone.”
Responding to the sadly predictable tragedy where a woman was killed after attempting to cross the street in a marked crosswalk on busy Maryland Avenue after dropping her kids off at the bus stop; she was waved across by one stopped driver, but but was hit by another car driver, Bill Lindeke writes about Arterial Road Diets: Politically Difficult, Not Impossible. Arterial road diets or 4-3 conversions involve tradeoffs and political will: “You’re trading speeds and complexity for a simper-but-slower urban environment. This change also gets left-turning cars out of the way, to create continuous through lane with more constant speeds. Many studies show that this kind of design improves safety for car drivers, and especially for people on foot…But 4-3 conversions come with a tradeoff. Especially during peak rush hours, it creates longer “stacking” and makes congestion worse.” Commenters consider traffic count thresholds for road diets, costs (human and infrastructure), and other specific locations.
The crash occurred in the crosswalk in the background of this photo.
Transit
Quarterly Transit Report – June 2016 previews the new A Line urban BRT from Rosedale to 46th Street in Minneapolis including the connecting services, plus a few other updates. Commenters discuss some of the finer points of the service including accessibility concerns, schedules, connecting routes, and “the jog.”
Some Visions for West Seventh Transit is a detailed post from Erik Hare, a member of the Technical Advisory Committee for the Riverview Corridor transit project (he wrote an earlier post about this, too). The post provides extensive background for the corridor and the project as well as proposing a variety of design solutions highlighting non-car transportation including ideas for bikes, pedestrians, LRT, and streetcars (although he also includes “Carvana” – a Streetmix design which would prioritize motor vehicles for comparison).
What West Seventh wants?
Greater Minnesota
Life on Foot in our Ninth Largest City takes us on a walk around several Saint Cloud neighborhoods. Alex Rowland leads the way through some of the walkable parts and less than pedestrian-friendly bits with additional commentary about transit and connections to food and basic services. Commenters add some interesting facts about Saint Cloud, too.
Highway 23, Saint Cloud
Quick looks
Chart and Map: One of each this week with a Chart of the Day: Expensive vs Expansive US Cities and Map Monday: Peak Population Percentage of US States (Minnesota peaked as a percentage of the US in 1900, in case you couldn’t wait to look at the map).
Links!: Lego Links: Invisible Wood, LA Transit Progress and More! with more links from The Direct Transfer including one to a story about what architects build with Lego.
Video: Tribute to Parking and Industrial Areas We Have Lost includes two short videos as “a pretend mournful look back” at what The Wedge neighborhood has lost.
Expensive vs. Expansive cities
And that’s the week on streets.mn – enjoy your streets and community and have a wonderful week!