Ain’t Too Proud to Beg? Views on Pedestrian Call Buttons
Some urbanism advocates describe call buttons as “beg buttons,” as humiliating or shameful to pedestrians. Turns out, not everybody feels that way.
Category: Signals
Red-Light Running Then — and Now?
A junior-high science fair project from two decades ago provides a chance to see if there is more red-light running these days.
Pedestrians: Speak Up About the Street Design You Need!
The pedestrian crosswalk button near Denfeld High School in Duluth is inaccessible for some people all of the time, and all people some of the time.
Share the Road with Bikes! (Unless They Want to Turn Left)
In taking stock of my most well-traveled routes, those places where I have to turn left are the places where a motorist has honked, shouted or threatened my safety in some way.
Summer 2021 Highway News Roundup
As the 2021 construction season moves into high gear, I thought I’d try something different and write about a few things that have gone on around the state the past year, interesting enough to present here but probably not deserving of their own full article. The St. Francis Highway 47 Safety Project by St. Francis […]
Highway 280: Put It Back the Way It Was
Highway 280 was transformed into a freeway in the wake of the I-35W bridge collapse in 2007. Now MnDOT is making it bigger and faster, even though the reason for the upgrade has long since disappeared.
Near Side Signals: Thinking Outside the Pedestrian Box
How often do you think about stoplights? Not just to acknowledge that the light is green or red or how many times the “Don’t Walk” hand on the pedestrian crosswalk counter has flashed so you know how long you have to cross, but the design and placement of that signal. (The red hand flashes 17 […]
Prioritize People on East Hennepin, Not Cars
When people are asked how a busy street could be made safer, two suggestions always come up. For better or worse these are: put in a stoplight, or put in stop signs. For example, local business representatives recently called for a stoplight on every block of Lyndale Ave S after Ted Ferrara was killed by […]
Meet a Roundabout: Wentworth Ave
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, […]
What if Hennepin Avenue Had a Roundabout?
A Minneapolis resident and daily pedestrian ponders whether the intersection of Hennepin and 1st Street downtown could be redesigned for all travel modes.