Original published in the Twin Cities Daily Planet.

Franklin Avenue looks at Complete Street redesign

Franklin Avenue and Park Avenue.  Photo by Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition.

Franklin Avenue is getting a much needed makeover.  Part of the makeover: In the Minneapolis Bicycle Master Plan, Franklin has bike lanes for its entirety. From Dupont Avenue in Lowry Hill to Minnehaha Avenue in Seward, Franklin has been been targeted as a top priority for improvement by Bike Walk 2012 Street Solutions, which is administered by Transit for Livable Communities (TLC).  TLC administers the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Project for the Twin Cities, which has allocated $22 million for improvements to local infrastructure.

On Monday, May 7, a public meeting was held by TLC at Phillips Community Center to present ideas for improvement.  Presenters included TLC Bicycling and Walking Program Manager Steve Clark, Toole Design Group Senior Planner Tom Huber, CH2M Hill Planner Mary Gute, and CH2M Hill Traffic Engineer Nikki Farrington.  Also present were Minneapolis City Council Member Robert Lilligren, aides to Council Members Cam Gordon and Meg Tuthill, Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, Hennepin County Public Works Senior Transportation Engineer Bob Byers with the Bicycle Advisory Committee, Rose Ryan with Minneapolis Public Works, and President and CEO of Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI) Andy Hestness.  About 40 people were in attendance, and there were about twenty bikes parked at the west entrance.  After presentations, the meeting broke into small groups to discuss specific geographic areas.

Franklin has high volume in all modes of traffic: pedestrian, cyclist, public transit, and personal motor vehicles.  It also has low levels of service for cyclists and pedestrians, including extremely narrow sidewalks with impediments, inaccessible crossing buttons, non-ADA-compliant curb ramps, bus shelters blocking sightlines, bikes on the sidewalk, uncontrolled intersections, high speed and volume of motorized traffic, and steep hills. Particular trouble spots were identified as the Hiawatha underpass, the I-35W bridge, and Lyndale Avenue.

Hennepin County’s County Road Safety Plan measured crashes from 2005 to 2009.  Franklin had an expected crash rate of 5.6 per million miles travelled and an observed rate of 15/million.  Bicycle crashes were 31.8/10 million and pedestrian crashes were 12.11/10 million.  Tom Huber hopes to reduce the crash rate through “proven safety measures” such as Road Diets; Lane Diets; permanent enforcement; and improvements to signs, signals, and markings.  A study found that the standard Road Diet of converting a standard four-lane, two-way road to a two-lane with left turn lane road (TWLTL) decreased crashes by 44.2%.  The conversion also improves speed limit compliance, increases walking and biking, and increases overall safety.  Road Diets are most effective for roads with less than 20,000 vehicles per day. Present motor vehicle traffic on Franklin ranges from 6,300 to 19,500 per day, on various stretches of the street, with forecast increases to 7,200 to 21,500 in the future, according to the presentation made at the meeting.

After breaking into small groups, the groups presented to the whole.  The east group (Bloomington to Minnehaha) had a consensus to have bikelanes throughout with two motor vehicle lanes in between.  They desired the midblock pedestrian crossing envisioned by NACDI.  They also desired turn lanes.  The central group (Chicago to Bloomington) wished for pedestrian bumpouts to remain but had some concerns about whether slower traffic would increase opportunity for crime.  The west group (Dupont to Chicago) greatly desired the TWLTL conversion.  They wanted improvements to safety at the I-35W bridge, more bike space, and better ADA-compliant sidewalks. (In 2011, Minneapolis completed a makeover of Franklin Avenue from Riverside to the Mississippi River.)

The next steps include a feasibility report, feedback from a selected cross section, more detailed intersection planning, community input, meeting with agencies and neighborhood groups, and another public meeting after all of that.  Changes could be made next year.

Wellstone Bike Club empowers East African women in Minneapolis through cycling

Published in Twin Cities Daily Planet.




Yasmin and Deko of the Wellstone Bike Club. (Photos by Jeff Carlson, except for beach photo, which is by Mike Jones)

The air is brisk, but not exactly cold. The sky is infinite blue. I throw on my thin merino undershirt and think about sunglasses which I haven’t worn since I was a child due to the eternal presence of high-prescription eyeglasses. I’m heading down the oversized sidewalk known as the Hiawatha Avenue Trail to Roosevelt High School to meet the Wellstone Bike Club.

At the school, a door flies open to a mechanical shop with work tables, a couple dozen bicycles, wheels in varying states of assembly, boxes of parts, and tools (sold at cost by Sunrise Cyclery). There I meet Jeff Carlson, the club’s founder and leader. Jeff has long blond hair, and a face accustomed to smiling. He’s dressed informally in something that can get a little grease rubbed on without too much disaster. He enthusiastically shakes my hand a brings me into the shop as students trickle in.

The Wellstone Bike Club currently consists of East African teenage girls, most of whom did not grow up cycling. In the club, they learn how to ride a bicycle, learn how to do repairs, and learn how to explore Minneapolis in a safe and lawful manner by bicycle. They ride donated bikes and eventually get their own bike with helmet and U-lock when it’s clear they will be safe and comfortable riding.



Girls walk up to the bike pile, mostly Giant mountain bikes donated by the Midtown Greenway Coalition from an old program of theirs. They run out to the parking lot and ride in circles, giggling. Some boys on their way to soccer stop to chat with them and admire their bikes. One girl helps another adjust her helmet strap.



After a while, half of the girls leave to ride to Lake Hiawatha, and half stay to practice in the parking lot. The girls have a variety of riding styles, some keeping to the sidewalks wherever possible, some taking the quiet residential road as a veteran cyclist. We do our best to stay in one group in the short ride to the lake. The girls shout out cries of glee as they roll into the spring air. At the beach, the girls ditch the bikes and their shoes and run to wade in the still-very-cold water. I hesitate to join, but they ask me to take their picture, and the lighting won’t be right unless I get in.



After wading a bit, we get out, and I ask the girls about their experience with the Wellstone Bike Club. I was afriad they would be shy about answering questions, but the look of relief on their faces when they realize that they won’t be videotaped let me know that it wouldn’t be a problem. They spoke of cycling being a very gendered activity in Africa – that they were discouraged by men to learn. In the U.S., they observed the dominance of car culture, which was new to them, as walking was their primary means of transportation in Africa. They were excited to learn a human-powered form of transportation.

Nadivah described learning to bike two years back. First, she learned to balance in the Roosevelt parking lot. After a while, Jeff would give the bike a push as she learned to pedal. She said she fell a lot, but had a lot of fun, and in a week or so, she was cycling. Deko, who had just learned to bike, said she learned it in a day.

During the winter, the girls learned bike mechanics and repair. I asked if any of them were winter cyclists. None had made that commitment yet, and one girl, Yasmin, had yet to experience a Minnesota winter. In fact, she had been living in the Southwestern U.S. and was used to the heat of the dessert states. The girls assurred her that she was in for an experience come winter.

Last week, the Bike Club organized Bike to School Day. Catalyst donated t-shirts and U-locks to commuters. The Bike Club cheered in the commuters and chatted with them over refreshments. Though it was a cold and wet day, the enthusiasm to maintain bicycle commuting was very strong. Students will be logging their days that they commute by bike this spring and prizes will be given out. Also, teacher Scott Smedburg created a Baiku Poetry Contest: you guessed it, haikus about biking.

Eventually, we wrap up and head back to Roosevelt. There are girls still in the parking lot determined to gain self-sufficiency in bike riding. I watch as Medina learns to pedal and maintain balance and as fear melts away to pride and excitement.



If you would like to donate to the Wellstone Bike Club, please visit their website for Jeff’s contact information.

Minneapolis Earth Day Cleanup

Choosing to wake up at 9am without any work obligations or epic bike rides may be a sign of me turning thirty.  Of course, I still stayed up until about 3am the night before, so I think I'm still legit.

On Saturday, April 21st, at 9:30am dull, my girlfriend and I rode our bikes the four blocks to Bryant Square Park (we wanted to fulfill our 30 Days of Biking obligation) to volunteer for the annual Minneapolis Earth Day Cleanup.  The forecast called for rain and more rain, but the skies were dry when we left, and we were going to test our luck.

The first wave of forces were dispersing as we left.  We went up to the registration table run by Julie Cohen, chair of the Livability & Engagement Commitee for CARAG, signed the waiver, and got our bags - one for trash, one for recycling.

Cleaning up litter can be fairly labor intensive if you want it to be.  At the beginning, we were picking up every single cigarette butt in sight.  As time went on, we may have a few more butts here and there.  If you're a smoker, please consider finding some way to not litter your butts.  There are designated receptacles throughout Uptown, there are some specialized containers you can buy, or you can just use a friggin' plastic baggie.  Otherwise, you're littering something that contains cadmium, arsenic, lead, and plastic.

Later on, we found some more interesting detritus: Christian proselytism, USI Wireless ads, a lego skeleton, a plastic ring.  We also spotted five different window kitties, all within a block of our apartment.

Our last landmark was the house at 31st and Colfax that had a moat of beer cans, butts, one condom, and other crap surrounding it.  After that house, we were fully exhausted, but we were fortunately a block from the park.  We dumped our bags with the previous bags - one containing the back of a monitor.

At the end, I entered the recreation center I have lived by for six years or more for the first time.  I ate a bit of muffin and a some Bull Run Coffee.

And just then, the rain started.  The Earth gave us a break on her birthday.

Keeping It Green Without a Lot of Green, or Beware of Falling Prices

This is an essay I wrote five years ago while working for the Twin Cities Green Guide.  It was never published, as it's a bit academic for a magazine, and as you can see I never really wrote an ending (if I can't think of a beginning or ending, I sometimes just write "Once upon a time" and "they all lived happily ever after," respectively).

Griggs Street Bikeway coming to St. Paul

Published in the Twin Cities Daily Planet.

April showers have fallen, and I am riding up to the northern terminus of what will soon be the Griggs Street Bikeway.  There is a smell of new life and growth in the air, an earthy, familiar smell.  The intersection of Minnehaha Avenue West and Griggs Street is attractive: well-kept houses and content people.  It is like a million other intersections in the city, and it is completely unique.

The Griggs Street Bikeway is another project funded by the federal Non-Motorized Transportation Program of which “Minneapolis area” is a beneficiary.  It will connect to bike routes on Minnehaha Avenue West and Summit Avenue and destinations in between.  Approved on January 25, 2012 by the St. Paul City Council, construction is expected to begin some time this year. The bikeway will include pavement markings, traffic circles, audible pedestrian signals, bumpouts, improved lighting, and updates to stoplights.

Full disclosure: I am a member of multiple cycling advocacy groups and a year-round bicycle commuter.

The project was presented to the public last October at Dunning Recreation Center, which lies along the center of the future bikeway.  I asked Emily Erickson, St. Paul Sustainable Transportation Planner, why the Griggs Bikeway was resolved by the Council in only six months, whereas the Jefferson Avenue Bikeway took four years of public hearings and compromise.  She replied that “bike boulevards are a new type of bikeway for Saint Paul, and there’s a learning curve to initiating any new project.  Because the process for Jefferson preceded that for Griggs, we were able to employ our lessons learned on the former to help the process for the latter go more smoothly.”

The learning curve must be steep to reduce a process to one eighth of its former time.  Perhaps after such a protracted and emotional conflict over the Jefferson Bikeway, the public sees the process as much ado over such a small something.  The learning in the curve involves not just city employees, but also residents.   What struck me in researching this article was that so many welcomed the bikeway.  In fact, I had to really dig deep to find anything remotely negative.

The typical impediments of cycling infrastructure include fiscal minimalism and status quo conservatism.  In other words “who’s going to pay for it” and “things are fine the way they are.”  Some oppose these projects due to a prima facie disdain for cyclists and support for all things automotive, but they are a minority.  Since  the money for these projects has already been earmarked, the payment question becomes less prominent.

Also, for many, things are not fine the way they are.  As a biker, I have no problem commanding most urban roads, taking the lane, and being traffic, but my perspective is that of a 30-year-old male without children.  To make bike and pedestrian infrastructure inclusive, the city needs to consider the needs of different genders, ages, and abilities.  Would a mother with her child feel comfortable riding down the bikeway?

One major difference between Jefferson and Griggs is their orientation.  Erickson states, “One of the key challenges in biking and walking in Saint Paul is navigating the barriers that transect our north-south corridors.  The Griggs Street Bikeway does this by providing a safe connection between our bicycle facilities on Summit and Minnehaha Avenues and across I-94.”  Many residents agree.  Sonja Mason, who lives on Griggs, welcomes the bikeway and adds, "I'd love to see a bridge over the railroad tracks north of Pierce Butler to get to Como Park."  Pierce Butler is designated by signage as a bike route, but traffic is moves faster than 40 mph and the shoulders often strewn with debris.


Looking for input, I posted a thread on the St. Paul Issues Forum on E-Democracy.  As with Jefferson, one point of major contention on Griggs is traffic circles.  Brian Tourtelotte, who also lives on Griggs, wrote, “I am particularly concerned with compromising pedestrian safety when cars are looking and merging and curving and signaling, and bicycles are looking and merging and curving and signaling.”  Traffic circles exist currently in St. Paul and Minneapolis.  Seattle has really embraced the idea, installing over a thousand traffic circles.  In one study, automobile collisions were reduced by 94 percent.

Locations along Griggs include a Tae Kwon Doe school, Gordon Parks High School, Landfill Books, Common Bond Communities (a large high rise of affordable housing), Holst Hall and Dobberfuhl Hall of Concordia University, Dunning Field, two community gardens, Pizza Lucé, and the Lexington-Hamline Community Council.  Griggs is a block from the Midway big box store colony on University, and two blocks from the Lexington Station of the Central Corridor Light Rail.  It is six blocks from the Macalester campus and a ends a block north of Grand Avenue.  It connects to bike routes on Minnehaha Avenue, Marshall Avenue, and Summit Avenue, and is close to Ayd Mill Road, which has been a proposed bikeway for some time now.

At the end of my short ride down Griggs, I bike to the large median on Summit Avenue and sit down to take it all in.  There are joggers and cyclists enjoying the brisk afternoon.  I recall that bikeways are not merely a means to get somewhere, they are a somewhere – a place to enjoy in it its own right.  I snap my final photo and head south to test out Jefferson Avenue.

Jefferson Prequel

I wrote this editorial about the Jefferson Bikeway in August 2009 for a paper based out of Highland Park, St. Paul called the Villager run by Maurice Mischke (not that Mischke... that Mischke's father).  They don't publish online for whatever reason, so until there's a way to link to a physical sheet of paper I never even saw, I can't link to it.

I can't remember if I ever titled it.

Jefferson Avenue Bikeway Resolution Passes, With Amendments

Published and edited article featured in Twin Cities Daily Planet.

“I’m beginning to know what Charlie Brown feels like,” lamented Dave Pasik.  “I keep running to kick that football, and the last minute, Lucy pulls it away.”

At Wednesday night’s St. Paul City Council Public Hearing, the football is the Jefferson Avenue Bikeway, or at least parts of it.  Charlie Brown is cyclists, Jefferson Avenue residents, disability advocates, and pedestrians.  Lucy is Council Member Chris Tolbert and the rest of the City Council.

The Jefferson Avenue Bikeway, a bike boulevard that will be realized on Jefferson Avenue from Mississippi River Boulevard in the east to the High Bridge in the West, has a lot of history in planning.  At about 2:31pm that night, local blogger Bill Lindeke tweeted:

“Big St. Paul meeting at St P city hall at 5:30,. Last minute amendment stripping out much of the Jefferson bike plan: show up if you can.”

Mary Turck asked me to check out this last minute maneuver.  I hopped on the bus and ended up on the same bus as Bill, them disembarked at the same stop and biking down the same road to City Hall.  I’d never seen his picture, but I knew it was him.  He looked and biked like a writer.

Editor

I went through the City Hall security checkpoint where the guard confiscated my wine corkscrew and bottle opener (I work in the service industry) and my helmet.  I then changed into long slacks so I could kinda sorta look like a reporter.  Ward 3 Legislative Aide Nicole Wittig-Geske was working double-time to get people copies of the amended Jefferson Bikeway resolution (PH  12-69) and to sign us up to speak for or against the resolution.  The amendment (please click the link in the previous sentence for text) removes most traffic circles, and modifies the crosswalks and pedestrian signals at some intersections.  This was a dodgy question, as many were for the resolution before amendment but against the amendment.

At about 6:40pm, we arrived at the public hearing for PH 12-69. Tolbert introduced the amendment to the resolution, then Council Member David Thune amended the amendment, asking that one of the traffic circles removed by Tolbert’s amendment be moved to Jefferson and Duke.

Emily Erickson, St. Paul’s Sustainable Transportation Planner, gives an overview of the project’s four-year history.  In February of 2008, the City applied for federal funding for a bikeway on Highland Parkway and Jefferson Avenue.  Only Highland was approved, but the Highland District Council voted down the bikeway.  In 2009, the City considered reapplying for Jefferson Avenue only, and soon, the Macalester Groveland Community Council and the West Seventh/Fort Road Federation issued letters of support.  In March 2009, Transit for Livable Communities allocated federal money to the project.  The next 15 months had extensive public hearings (there have been 23).  Elements of the project were approved by City Council.  Then came two more years of testing and public hearings.

The design features approved include bike lanes, sharrows, cyclist-specific way-finding signage, dynamic speed display signs, a speed limit reduction, traffic circles, improved lighting, advanced crosswalk signals, zebra-style crosswalks, two-sided parking, and removing or adding stop signs.

After Emily’s presentation, the public comment portion began.  There were 4 against the bikeway resolution in any form, 16 for the resolution without amendments, and 4 for the amended resolution, roughly. The opposed spoke first.

Gary Fisher (which may be a pseudonym, as it is also a bicycle brand) of Saratoga Street spoke first against the bikeway. “We don’t have any money.”  Colleen Kelly of Juliet Avenue said, “I resent my neighborhood being used as a social experiment.”  Larry McEntire, who owns a house on Jefferson, said he “objects to expenditure of additional funds on Jefferson,” and that it was fine the way it is.  He followed with saying that advanced stoplights are unnecessary because “exercise bikers don’t stop anyways.”

The next two speakers had signed up to speak against the resolution, but were in fact against only parts of it.  Brian Valento of Macalester Avenue said he was pro-everything in the resolution except what he called “concrete crop circles.”  Jessica Treat, Lafond resident and Executive Director of St. Paul Smart Trips, said that “’good enough’ misses the point… calm and safe streets.”  She said the last minute amendment “subverts public process.”

At this point, it became clear that the division of those for and against the resolution was confusing and flawed, and it was decided to give each remaining speaker two minutes.  Gary Fisher left the room shaking his head, as it became clear that instead of each side having 15 minutes as planned, the people for the bikeway would have more time than those against.

The first speaker in the for-bikeway-against-amendment group was Amber of Sargent Avenue who spoke with her baby in her arms.  She said she chose her residence based on its location, proximity to daycare, and road safety.  She said her perspective of what is safe changes dramatically when there is a trailer on her bike.  Deb Jeston of Jefferson said that the opposition to the bikeway does not live on Jefferson, but gets disproportionate attention because “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.”  She said she bikes on the sidewalk because as is, “on Jefferson, cars rule.”  Patrick Kampy  of Jefferson expressed disappointment in the length of the process and the “Eleventh Hour amendement.”  Elizabeth Fable of Jefferson said she was “proud to live on the Jefferson Avenue Bikeway” and was disappointed by the loss of traffic circles. Bob Spaulding, the St. Paul Transportation Committee Chair and the Planning Commissioner, said the resolution before amendment was approved by the Committee 14-0 after much deliberation and should not be changed.

Finally, we had a few people who had signed up in favor of the amendment.  Andy Singer of Berkeley Avenue said he likes traffic circles and said that the percentage of cyclists as commuters far exceeds the money spent on cyclists.  Jim Skoville, Professor Emeritus of Industrial Relations at the University of Minnesota, said he was in favor of the advanced pedestrian stoplights as people with mobility issues have difficultly crossing fast enough on the old stoplights.  I spoke last, saying that the bikeway will be used by Minneapolitans as well as St. Paulites, and that I disapproved of the amendment, but welcomed the overall resolution.

Shaken after speaking without much of a plan (I was busy taken notes and had changed my mind on speaking until my name was called), the Council vote was anticlimactic, though it was what matters legally.  The council voted unanimously to approve the amended resolution.

Tolbert then spoke on his decision to amend the resolution.  He said that there were five viewpoints to accommodate: 1. in favor of a complete bikeway, 2. in favor of calmer and less traffic, 3. status quo, 4. anti-roundabout, and 5. fiscal conservatism.  He said he did not want residents to feel like the decision was shoved down their throats, so he compromised.

I left the room then at 7:42pm, weary of discussion, and tried to make sense of what happened.  The majority of interested parties did not find out about the amendment in time.  Of those who did, the consensus of Jefferson residents was to keep the resolution as is – with traffic circles.  The plan will go forth without.