2012 Bike-Friendly Streets

After a 2011 that saw an unprecedent expansion of bike routes--35 new miles in all!--we're working to help mobilize community support for projects that likely will not happen otherwise.

Franklin Avenue will be our top bike-friendly streets priority this year. Currently, lanes run on Franklin from the Mississippi River to Minnehaha Avenue. We hope to see them extended as far west as feasible toward Hennepin Avenue--maybe as early as 2013. Franklin Avenue is one of the top 3 busiest bike streets in Minneapolis that does not have a bike route. It carries an estimated roughly 600 bicyclists a day, according to the City's 2010 bicycle counts. It also has one of the highest bicycle crash frequencies in Minneapolis. It should have a bike lane. But a bike lane will not be easy because of previous decisions on Franklin that have given priority to the movement and parking of cars. Simply, there isn't much room for a bike lane without changing the road. With Bike Walk Twin Cities funding a study of the corridor and Hennepin County committed to engaging in a process, now is the time to build community support for this important change.

If you would like to help with Franklin Avenue, please email volunteer@mplsbike.org. We'll have a wide variety of volunteer tasks that range from one-time one-hour tasks to monthly participation in our Franklin team.

Other projects that will prioritize this year will come from the following list (which will be finalized in March):

• Central Avenue. We are winding down work on Central, which is also being supported by the Minneapolis Bicycle Advisory Committee. The Minnesota Department of Transportation will repave the road this summer. While we have made significant progress (bike lanes look likely from Broadway to 27th), we are still working on safety improvements from the River to Broadway.
• 38th Street between Hiawatha Avenue and Chicago Avenue, which will be repaved this year and we hope will include bike lanes.
• Glenwood Avenue. After years of discussion, a conclusion will hopefully be reached on Glenwood to provide a bike lane the whole length.
• Washington Avenue downtown. Washington will be fully reconstructed from Hennepin to 5th Avenue S in 2013. We are exploring the potential of a "cycletrack" here to provide great safety and access for bicyclists.
• Portland Avenue south connection to Richfield.
• Improved access to bikes and peds across Minnehaha Creek at 52nd street between Morgan and Newton by installing a curb cut at Morgan.
• 5th Street Downtown. The City had previously said they would add improvements to make it easier to bike on the road adjacent to the LRT line.
• Penn Avenue South. Penn will be reconstructed between 50th and Richfield in 2013--this is the time to get a bike route, but it may be a challenge.
• Cycletracks on Park or Portland Avenues South. Park and Portland have bike lanes, but speeding traffic and a high crash rate mean that we plan to begin significant outreach work to transform these into truly great bike routes by adding cycletracks--or separate areas for bicyclists to ride that are protected from traffic by a physical barrier. Cycletracks are a huge part of cycling success all around Europe and are increasingly popular in the U.S. They help create as close to a trail-like environment on the street as possible, so that everyone can feel safe and comfortable riding. We will start outreach work on this project as soon as we have the volunteer capacity to be successful.

Our bike-friendly streets group meets the third Monday of each month at 6pm upstairs at Uncommon Grounds (2809 Hennepin Ave S). If you'd like to get involved, please email volunteer@mplsbike.org. We need many more volunteers to achieve success on all of these projects! You can make a difference.

Back to 2012 Priorities