Transportation of various kinds
Train: A Regional Rail System for the Twin Cities by- Erik Ecklund follows his earlier post about rapid transit routes (find it here) with consideration of regional rail saying, “Regional rail can be successful in Minnesota, and despite the Northstar not reaching ridership projections it has done adequately with the bad hand it was dealt. To have a successful regional rail system, I looked to Oslo, Norway” and considers routes which serve developed areas.
Bike: Powderhorn 24 is Awesome is Pine Salica‘s report on this year’s Powderhorn 24 hour race around the Powderhorn neighborhood. Check out the map and get a sense of this event which has been going on since 2011.
Beyond the metro, The Incomplete Bike Loop in New Ulm frustrated Eric Saathoff on his first trip to New Ulm. While parts of the loop were great with separated bike paths, others “were on a barely marked side street going through what felt like a suburban development. At least it was still well signed, but now it seemed like the signs were simply a way-finding system that didn’t really indicate a dedicated bikeway. Sharrows appeared infrequently.”
New Ulm Bike Circle Route
Current events: West St. Paul’s Medians, Tunnels, and Sidewalks Depend on this City Council Race says Kevin Hendricks; the post provides insight into each of Tuesday’s four primary candidates’ positions on the improvements listed in the title (now winnowed to two: Wendy Barry and David Meisinger).
History: Chris Steller looks back at early safety campaigns in ‘One Killed Here’: Early 20th-Century Minneapolis Traffic Safety Campaigns including 1924’s S.O.S – Safety or Sorrow – Campaign which, as the Minneapolis Daily Star reported: ““Fifty-thousand Safety or Sorrow stickers were being distributed this afternoon so that every automobile and truck plying the streets should carry the message. Each noon sirens are to blow at various points, followed by buglers blowing taps for the city’s 53 traffic death victims killed so far this year. Pedestrians and motorists reaching danger corners will be confronted with signs painted on the pavements, telling of the lives lost at those corners through carelessness.”
Look, listen, link, and walk
Look: Two charts this week with Chart of the Day: Saint Paul Average Rent by Unit Size and Charts of the Day: Commuting Habits of Minneapolis Residents; one map with Map Monday: Potential Lost Land Value in Minneapolis due to Freeways which “purports to show how much Minneapolis land value was “lost” due to the replacing of dense urban land with non-taxpaying freeway infrastructure.”
Listen: Podcast #118: Driver Behavior at Saint Paul Crosswalks with Nichole Morris; Bill Lindeke talks to the director of the HumanFIRST Laboratory at the University of Minnesota who studies the intersection of transportation, technology, and behavior.
Link: National Links: Changing the Fire Code from The Overhead Wire which are “sometimes entertaining and sometimes absurd, but hopefully useful.”
Walk: Keep Walking All the Streets of South(east)ern Hawthorne with Max Hailperin as he works his way through Minneapolis’ neighborhoods in alphabetical order.
Minneapolis Lost Value Map (from Strong Towns)