I started writing this piece in my head on December 2nd, a cold, slushy evening on which I attempted to take the bus from downtown Minneapolis to Lyndale and 28th in order to attend a public meeting about street safety. I say “attempted” because—although I did eventually get to where I wanted to go—very little […]
Earlier this year Metro Transit and the City of Minneapolis did a demonstration of rush hour bus lanes on Hennepin Avenue between Franklin Avenue and Uptown Transit Station. Bus service has always been extremely slow due to morning backups from I-94 and afternoon backups from Lagoon Avenue. The demo worked just fine, but relied on […]
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 […]
A Minneapolis resident and daily pedestrian ponders whether the intersection of Hennepin and 1st Street downtown could be redesigned for all travel modes.
The new Rafter development will likely be one of the last large apartment buildings finished in Minneapolis before inclusionary zoning requires new construction to include affordable apartments. Pricing is out for units ranging from a 442 square-foot studio for $1,270 ($2.87 per square-foot) to a 2733square-foot 3-bed for $9,970 ($3.65 per square-foot). In other words, if they don’t […]
[dropcap]S[/dropcap]ometimes people ask if I am bummed to not win last year’s Minneapolis Park & Rec Board race and my answer is always a resounding No. Five seats flipped and my Big Ideas won, along with a new majority ready to implement the same goals. A personal favorite, the Triangle Improvement Plan, was fully and […]
Insight Brewery. Familia skatepark. Five Watt Coffee. Headflyer Brewing. What do all of these places have in common, besides being almost unbearably hip? They’re all sitting on a death trap street named East Hennepin Avenue. Here’s a fun experiment: Next time you drive down East Hennepin, actually drive at the 30 miles per hour speed limit […]
Aiming to speed up bus trips on busy Hennepin Avenue, Metro Transit and the City of Minneapolis are trying bus-only lanes. Can they work long term?
Today is the day that the semi-vaunted “test” of Hennepin Avenue dedicated bus lanes kicks off. What excitement for people who are really interested in transit design and/or on-street parking policy! (A special “hello” to all twelve of you.) Kidding aside, the test is a big deal. Congestion on Hennepin Avenue during rush hours is […]
[This post originally appeared on Our Streets Minneapolis blog as part of highlighting the most dangerous intersections Minneapolis. The author is Paul Jahn.] Below are photos from the intersection of Hennepin Ave and 4th Street N, 5th Street N, and 6th Street N. 4th street is the 17th most dangerous intersection for pedestrian in Minneapolis, 13 reported […]