West St. Paul Could Have Fixed this Lousy Intersection for Free — Why Didn’t They?
Heavy snowfall created unintentional bump-outs at a dangerous intersection. Alas, real pedestrian improvements appear unlikely.
Category: Safety
Bicycle Safety is Totally Rad, Dude!
One of my old roommates used to be in charge of quarterly safety drills at his workplace. He liked to say, “Safety is not just another word here on Friendship Street.” We lived on Friendship Street. When we gave directions to our place, we told people to look for the street where everyone was hugging. […]
Sharing Streets with Scooters
One hot day last August I set out to walk a marathon around the Twin Cities, starting with a jaunt over to St Paul for a streets.mn board meeting, a tour of the sewer covers of Rondo (they’re amazing!), and a nice brunch before meandering back to Minneapolis to wander around more. Midday, I headed […]
The Planned Failure of the Ford Site
On January 25, 2019, Ryan Companies presented its plan for the Ford Site redevelopment to the St. Paul Planning Commission. One third of the way through the presentation, Ryan officials finished talking about themselves and turned to the city’s (supposed) vision for the Ford Site, That vision includes environmental sustainability, vibrant urban infill and a transit-oriented […]
The Park Board’s Vision for Gateway Park
Recently, I met with Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board District 4 Commissioner Jono Cowgill across the street from Gateway Park to chat about the current state and future of the park. Welcome to Gateway Park 🦖 Gateway Park is a plaza located at the intersection of Hennepin Ave and S 1st St and is bordered […]
What Can Walkers Learn From Winter Cyclists?
A core value of Streets.mn is to “inspire happiness and wonder in all seasons.” What better way to ease the winter doldrums than walking?
An Easy Way to Make Suburbs More Walkable: Sidewalk Shortcuts
Making the suburbs, especially outer ring suburbs, walkable will require a significant shift in how we treat pedestrians in terms of infrastructure investment and in terms of interacting with them while driving. However, there is an easy way to make the suburbs more walkable without requiring significant investment: simply adding a sidewalk connecting streets and […]
Sonnet, or Love Song
Pedestrian leading interval, YAY! Hark! Proclaim your wondrous utility, Yet, simple with so much humility, Very easy to cross the street today, Protected in all my fragility, From car and truck driver hostility, So cheerful even when the skies are grey. Gratitude be to Saint Paul Public Works, For installing them all over the place, […]
Cars Don’t Hit Pedestrians, Drivers Do
When a pedestrian or bicyclist gets hit, it’s not by a vehicle — as headlines tend to say — it’s by the driver operating that car or truck or SUV.
One Month Later: A RRFB Crossing Failed
Just over a month after I wrote a post criticizing county traffic engineers for a half-baked attempt at protecting pedestrians and cyclists crossing busy streets, I unfortunately was proven right by a crossing in Anoka County. On November 20 two girls crossing Highway 47 at Pederson Drive in St. Francis were struck at the crosswalk […]