The Hennepin County Board will hear the 2040 Hennepin County Bicycle Transportation Plan on Tuesday, March 24. The plan is quite excellent (summary of draft plan here). Passage will culminate two years of work.
If you are interested in hearing the discussion on the plan, the hearing will be part of the committee discussions, which start at 1:30pm at Hennepin County Gov't Center (300 S 6th Street) in the 24th Floor Board room. We can't say for sure what time the bike plan will be heard Tuesday afternoon.
You can email your Commissioner to thank them for their support and offer your excitement on the plan (if you don't know your Commissioner, you can find them here):
Peter McLaughlin, [email protected]
Linda Higgins, [email protected]
Marion Greene, [email protected]
Goals from the Draft Bike Plan
Details from the Board Meeting Info Packet (hard to link to)
History: The Hennepin County 2040 Bicycle Transportation Plan provides a vision that riding a bicycle for transportation, recreation, and health is a comfortable, fun, routine part of daily life throughout the county for people of all ages and abilities. The 2040 Bicycle Transportation Plan replaces the current 1997 Bicycle Transportation Plan. The 1997 plan built upon a Bicycle Gap Study initially conducted in 2002 that focused on closing missing links in the bicycle transportation system. The county has made great progress under the current plan and gap study, building and funding over 136 miles of new bikeways and closing 59 gaps. Bicycling commuting has doubled in Hennepin County since 2000 from 0.8 percent to 1.6 percent of trips to work.
Bicycle usage and interest in bicycling have grown within the county since 1997. Transportation costs have increased and there is greater public concern about the environmental impacts of transportation. There is also a greater emphasis on active living and the public health benefits of bicycling. In 2009, the county adopted a Complete Streets Policy that states that the county will enhance safety, mobility, accessibility and convenience for all users, including bicyclists. The completion of the 2030 Hennepin County Transportation Systems Plan (2030 HC-TSP, Resolution 11-0275) in 2011 included this Complete Streets Policy and directed staff to update the Bicycle Transportation Plan.
This plan was developed with multiple funding sources including the Hennepin County Bikeway Program/Discretionary Capital Budget (Resolution 13-0015 in 2013) line item ($180,000), and funds from Centers for Disease Control Community Transformation Grant (Resolution 11-0473) ($25,000) and Three Rivers Park District ($35,000).
Development of the plan began in spring 2013, with community engagement activities in summer and fall 2013 as well as throughout the plan drafting process in 2014. The plan was available for public comment between October 6 and December 5, 2014. The Hennepin County 2040 Bicycle Transportation Plan has been revised based on comments received.
The goals of the Hennepin County 2040 Bicycle Transportation Plan are:
1. Ridership: Promote the bicycle as a mode of transportation that is practical, convenient, and pleasant for commuting, health and exercise, and outdoor recreation.
2. Bikeway system: Collaboratively build an integrated county bicycle system that allows bicyclists of varying skills to safely, efficiently, and comfortably connect to and between all destinations within the county.
3. Safety and comfort: Create a safe and comfortable county bikeway system.
4. Sustainability: Implement bikeways and support facilities as an essential tool in realizing environmental, social, and economic sustainability.
5. Maintenance: Protect the county’s and the Three River park district’s investment in the bikeway system and reduce seasonal hazards through partnerships.
The plan includes 45 strategies and over 170 action items that address infrastructure, education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation. The plan also recommends the continuation of current county practices that contribute to the goals of the Hennepin County Pedestrian Plan and the Transportation System Plan.
The Hennepin County 2040 Bicycle Transportation Plan implementation will be led by Public Works, but will work across lines of business as well as in partnership with other agencies and cities in order to achieve full implementation. The plan will guide the county’s work through 2040.
Current Request: This request is for adoption of the Hennepin County 2040 Bicycle Transportation Plan, and authorization for staff to provide periodic revisions to the plan as needed for non-policy related items, including the system map, the gap and corridor maps, the prioritization lists, measures and statistics, the design guidelines and the appendices. Any policy issues or significant changes to the document will be presented to the Board of Commissioners as an amendment to the plan.
Impact/Outcome: Hennepin County’s 2040 Bicycle Transportation Plan will guide the county’s work to expand the bikeway system, improve safety for people who bicycle, walk or drive, increase bicycling for transportation, and improve the health of county residents.
Hennepin County’s 2040 Bicycle Transportation Plan will guide the county’s work to expand the bikeway system, improve safety for people who bicycle, walk or drive, increase bicycling for transportation, and improve the health of county residents.
The Hennepin County 2040 Bicycle Transportation Plan sets specific targets for measuring the progress in achieving the plan’s broad goals, including:
• Quadruple the number of bicycle commuters from 2012’s 12,000 people to 48,000 people by 2040.
• Complete an average of 20 miles of the bikeway system each year.
• Close an average of five bikeway gaps each year.
• Achieve an access level where 90 percent of homes in Hennepin County are within one-half mile of a bikeway or within a mile of the enhanced bikeway network.
• Meet an interim target of 80 percent within one-half mile by 2030.
• Move toward zero bicycle deaths.
• Halve bicycle crashes per capita from 2010 levels by 2040.
