How 4th Street would look with a 2-way bike lane
Philip Schwartz recently shared this letter with me and gave me permission to share it here. A vote is happening on is Tuesday, November 28th. Agree or disagree with him, instructions for how to weigh in are below.
As a daily user of 4th Street through Downtown Minneapolis, I have been excited and involved since planning its reconstruction started earlier this year. I remember at one of the first open houses, the option of a two way bike lane was on the table, and I have repeatedly expressed my support for that via the various feedback channels. Unfortunately, it appears that option is no longer being considered. Coupled with the loss of the existing contraflow bus lane, the ability for westbound travel will be removed from the new 4th Street, despite having plenty of space to work with.
While I understand the desire to maintain one way traffic for efficiency, one way travel does not make sense for human scaled transportation, especially in dense, destination rich areas like downtown. Surely, despite designing exclusively for eastbound travel, people will continue to ride westbound on 4th St for short jaunts to connect with another downtown bikeway or make a quick trip to another destination on the same street. Only now, it will be done either on the sidewalk or the wrong way in the bike lane.
4th Street today
Unlike many other street reconstructions where right of way is more constrained, 4th Street has plenty of space to work with, especially since general traffic lanes are expected to be dropped. While I can’t be sure why a two way bike facility was not included, I do wonder if it has more to do with the complexity it would add to the design and engineering phases in order to create a more useful corridor. Rebuilding streets are a once in a generation opportunity, so let’s get creative and do everything we can to make our shared downtown spaces human scaled once again.
If you would like to provide feedback on this project, please contact members of the Transportation & Public Works Committee, which votes on the project this Tuesday.
kevin.reich@minneapolismn.gov
linea.palmisano@minneapolismn.
cam.gordon@minneapolismn.gov
blong.yang@minneapolismn.gov
elizabeth.glidden@
lisa.bender@minneapolismn.gov
What’s extra frustrating, but also kinda encouraging, is that these one-way lanes are going to be a full 10′ wide – the same width as the two-way Cedar Lake Trail as it passes through the North Loop. So it’s frustrating, because it’s not like the city wasn’t willing to allocate enough former space for cars to become space for bikes, they’re just refusing to paint it into it’s most useful configuration. But, on the other hand, they also aren’t locking a misguided decision into (synthetic) stone, like, say, all the corners that are being rebuilt for ADA compliance without bumpouts. When the city decides to go ahead and fix it, it’s just a matter of repainting, without even having to have the WaR oN cArS argument, since the vehicle lanes are already going to be gone.
Is the bus lane going away because buses are moving elsewhere, or for some other reason?
The buses are moving elsewhere. If I remember correctly, the 3 and the 7 are moving to 3rd St, and the 14 is moving to 7th St.
One-way streets work fine when it is consistent. But there is no parking on the street, and there should be parking on at least one side, if not both. That was the purpose in making them one-way, so there could be two parking lanes and three traffic lanes. Otherwise you have too much congestion. If bikers would obey traffic laws, they would not have trouble riding in traffic. Take a lane, stay in the middle, and NEVER weave between cars.