Walk (and ride) the line
As part of a $21 million federal grant shared with multiple cities across the country, Twin Cities walkers and bikers could soon find themselves not only sharing the road with motorists, but also having roads designed with them in mind.
Bike/Walk streets use traffic-calming techniques, signage, lighting, and other amenities to provide a safe, quiet, and direct route for bicyclists and pedestrians. These streets are built with inexperienced or young riders in mind and are claimed to be calmer, quieter, yet very functional.
Bike/Walk Twin Cities is an initiative of Transit for Livable Communities that aims to increase walking and bicycling and reduce driving by 2010. For more information, go to
www.tlcminnesota.org.
The nonprofit is seeking proposals from metro area groups interested in the bike/walk streets.
Street reconstruction continues on Lake and Lyndale
Did you know there will be some $78 million worth of summer road construction in Hennepin County alone this year?
That large number means there will be an equally large number of detours and lane closures drivers should to be aware of, many of them on Lake Street.
• Construction work on Lake Street between Hiawatha Avenue and West River Road is scheduled to resume this month and is expected to be complete this year, according to a county transportation update. Work items remaining to be done are placing the final bituminous wearing course, landscaping, and electrical work and site amenities. In addition, a portion of Lake Street at the northeast corner of 27th Avenue will be completed by the end of the year. The traffic signal at Hiawatha Avenue/Lake Street intersection will be replaced by May, according to the update.
• Also, Lake Street from Dupont Avenue east to Blaisdell Avenue is under construction. It began on the south side of Lake Street just west of Bryant Avenue and extends to just east of Harriet Avenue. Work includes pavement removal, grading, sidewalk removal and replacement, gas line replacement, among other basic work. It is scheduled to be complete by mid-May.
• The north side of Lake Street from Bryant Avenue to Blaisdell Avenue will be reconstructed when the south side is complete. One lane of traffic in each direction will be maintained throughout the reconstruction.
• Lyndale Avenue from West Minnehaha Parkway to West 31st Street reconstruction begins in mid-June.
• Lyndale will be closed to through traffic from West 38th Street to West 50th Street when construction starts. Detour signage will be provided. Improvements include new roadway pavement with concrete curbs and gutters, new signals, and new street lighting. The project is expected to be done by November 2009.
Traffic resources
The city of Minneapolis has an established page for motorists to find the latest news on traffic updates. It can be found at www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/traffic.
There, you can check out the latest “improvement” projects being completed by the city’s Public Works division, sign up for e-mail traffic alerts and even report
potholes.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation has also set up a site featuring some 200 traffic cams in the metro area. Real-time traffic can be found at
www.dot.state.mn.us/tmc/trafficinfo/cameras_map.html.