Samatar Crossing is now open, a bike/ped path bridging the Cedar/Riverside and Downtown East neighborhoods together. This alone is a nice step forward to engage with each other’s neighbors. “This is saying to our Somali population, to our new American population, ‘Yes you are part of this city, you matter and we want you here,’” said Minneapolis […]
Have you ridden the protected bike lanes that already exist on the Kellogg / 3rd Street bridge connecting Saint Paul’s Lowertown and Dayton’s Bluff neighborhoods? No, me neither. In fact, they are closed on both ends because they’re actually just barriers to keep cars from using the entire, structurally insufficient bridge. Is there any reason […]
To Build a Bridge Several years ago, I wrote a four part series about the story of the Stillwater Bridge across the St. Croix River. Part 1 covered the project from 1950s promises to build a high bridge and get traffic well away from downtown up to the point the original iteration of the 1980s proposal was […]
The topic of the US 169 Nine Mile Creek bridge closure has been a good source of stories in the local news. TV stations and newspapers have gotten out and covered how the bridge closure has affected the very wealthy Parkwood Knolls neighborhood in Edina, but also how Edina police and public works were meeting […]
The Minnesota Department of Transportation is currently finishing the planning process for re-decking the Smith Avenue Bridge over the Mississippi River in Saint Paul. As part of this 2018 project, they are also repaving Smith Avenue, from Grand Avenue all the way south to Interstate 494. The Smith Avenue Bridge, also known as “The High […]
Did you know that you there are 23 bridges in Minneapolis and Saint Paul that allow you to walk or roll across the Mississippi River? This October, I spent a weekend walking across 19 of them and am in love with this way of experiencing the river and our twin cities. This route was so much […]
As a University of Minnesota employee, I walk across the Washington Avenue Bridge every day. It’s often part of my commute but it is also one of my daily walking destinations. The bridge is a focal point for people visiting or passing through the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus. In recent years, the bridge’s enclosed walkway has fallen into […]
A close up look at efforts to improve the built environment on and around the many bridges over Interstate 94 in Saint Paul. Documentary by Matty Lang of the Friendly Streets Initiative’s community engagement and placemaking work with neighborhood partners in Saint Paul in 2015-2016. Better Bridges is a Friendly Streets Initiative project in collaboration […]
August 14, 2015 Macalester-Groveland, Merriam Park, Lexington-Hamline, Como Park 16.2 Miles Cleveland Avenue, because of its proximity to my house, is the north-south street on which I ride most often. Despite that, I am still surprised by a sight or two on or near Cleveland. On Selby Avenue, three houses east of Cleveland, […]
If current plans move forward, the new High Bridge will feature calmer car traffic, bike lanes, and a separated sidewalk after reconstruction in 2018. Members of the MnDOT community advisory committee for the project were presented with two concepts at a recent meeting with project manager Tara McBride. One concept keeps basically the existing design […]