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Meet a Roundabout: I-494 and U.S. 169

By on July 29, 2019 in Cars, Freeways, Highways, Infrastructure, Safety, Traffic, Transportation, Trends

Last Monday, I drove my father to a doctor’s appointment in Edina. We don’t usually travel these ways, but his regular general practitioner was on vacation. At the intersection of Interstate 494 and U.S. 169 are six linked roundabouts surrounding the freeway interchange. The two-lane roundabouts — with dedicated lanes for going either right or […]

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A Hovenring for NE Minneapolis

By on July 23, 2019 in Bicycling, Infrastructure

Minneapolis is often ranked among the top bicycle cities within the US. Our commute mode share is high, relatively, and the pace at which we build new protected facilities is quicker than most other US Cities. Though, in a global comparison, Minneapolis is still very auto-centric, as are most places in the US. Fortunately, Minneapolis […]

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Updating the Bruce Vento Trail

By on July 18, 2019 in ADA, Bicycling, Bridges, Children, Infrastructure, Safety, Streets, Trails

I have previously written about what a fantastic urban bikeway the Bruce Vento Trail is. My family and I continue to use it frequently, including my now 5 year old daughter on her own two-wheeler. However, there are some major safety issues. At intersections we would like the travel of the bicycle to remain parallel […]

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5 Ways to Improve the Central Corridor for Everyone

By on July 15, 2019 in Infrastructure, Transit, Transportation, Walking

The Metro Green Line undoubtedly has been a boon for the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, catalyzing development throughout the Central Corridor. In a few places, however, implementation of the metro’s premier light rail route didn’t create the safe, pleasant multimodal environment that all users could enjoy. In celebration of the Green Line’s fifth […]

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Safer, Saner Roads by Design

By on July 8, 2019 in Accessibility, ADA, Advocacy, Bicycling, Bike lanes, Environment, Health, Infrastructure, Pedestrians, Roads, Safety, Sidewalks, Streets, Suburbia, Walking

Engineers have a lot of options in how they design our streets and roads, how safe they make them, who they serve well and who they serve poorly. This post will examine why road design is so important, its underlying philosophy and, finally, some specific design options and why various elements are important. A future […]

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Hennepin County to Restripe Park and Portland to Restore Bike Lanes

By on June 24, 2019 in Bicycling, Bike lanes, Buses, Carfree, Cars, commute, Infrastructure, News, Streets, Transportation

In an email sent Friday morning, June 21, Hennepin County announced it would be restriping lanes of Park Avenue South (County Road 33) and Portland Avenue South (County Road 35) to restore the buffered bike lanes present before the 35@94 freeway project began. Nicole Salica reported in streets.mn last year on restriping Park and Portland […]

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Roundabout Wsp

Meet a Roundabout: Wentworth Ave

By on June 11, 2019 in Cars, Infrastructure, Roads, Safety, Signals, Suburbia, Traffic, Transportation

This is “Meet a Roundabout,” a new series of posts about roundabouts in the Twin Cities area that are improving traffic efficiency and safety. Posts include pictures and video of the roundabout and a history of how they came to be. This is the first post in the series. On a recent beautiful Wednesday night, […]

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A Greenway Extension Revisited

By on June 7, 2019 in Bicycling, Infrastructure

Several years ago, I wrote a post about The Short Line Bridge, its history and its critical role in extending the Midtown Greenway eastwards, across the Mississippi River. The Short Line Bridge was built by the Chicago Milwaukee St.Paul & Pacific railroad in 1902. It originally had two tracks and carried both passenger and freight […]

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What if Hennepin Ave Had a Roundabout?

By on April 25, 2019 in Cars, Downtown, Infrastructure, Pedestrians, Pedestrians, Roads, Safety, Sidewalks, Signals, Streets, Traffic, Transit, Walking

I was waiting for the number 6 bus at Hennepin Ave and S 1st St, near where I live, and I was watching the vehicle traffic. I noticed that the semaphore intersection was not very efficient at handling left turn vehicles. There was a part of the cycle when left turns in both directions on […]

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FAQ: Tax Increment Financing

By on April 25, 2019 in Economics, Infrastructure

The recent Seward Commons debate highlighted an important discussion about how the city uses Tax Increment Financing, or TIF. It’s one of the few financial tools cities have and control fully. But it’s not broadly understood. So what is TIF and how does it work? What has Minneapolis used it for in the past? What […]

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