Eye candy Friday, the NOT version.

I am blogging today under orders from #2 son. He sent me an email with links to these photos and the command, "BLOG THIS."

Ever the compliant parent, I am following his instructions.

The City of Minneapolis recently revised its downtown street usage and directions. Among other changes, two formerly one-way streets became two-way again, now with both parking lanes and bike lanes at the side. But the lanes are a bit... odd. The bike lane is next to the curb, separated from traffic by the parking lane.

Yeah, people no longer park next to the curb. Like I said, odd.

There is plenty of signage to help people do the right thing.

 

Below you can get an idea of the layout. Bike lane next to curb, separated from parking lane by a double white line, then driving lane. The parking lane is only a parking lane during non-rush hour times.

Those two cars next to the curb? Yup. Parked in the bike lane.

 
 

One problem immediately evident to everyone who ever rode a bike on a city street is that in this configuration bicyclists will constantly be confronted by passengers opening their doors into the bike lane, getting out of the cars into the bike lane, standing in the bike lane while retrieving purse, briefcase, toddler, and/or packages from the car, and eventually crossing the bike lane to get to the safety of the sidewalk. There does not appear to be any way to avoid that conflict.

A biker commented on the bumper sticker:

You have to realize that this is meant as a command to bikes, not a statement of support, in this case.

#2 son wrote:

As I was taking the last two pictures, a black SUV pulled up behind me and patiently waited for me to move so that he could park behind the road-sharing Volvo.

Another biker commented:

Ok, I have a plan. Let's do this. Since they are allowed to illegally impede traffic, let's all go over to Steef's shop and get a kickstand out of the box. Then we'll put them on our bikes.

Then we'll all go down First Avenue and for every one car parked there like that, let's have one bike take the middle of the right-hand lane and put the bike on a kickstand and say were waiting for someone to come out of the building.

Seems fair enough. 

Here is what the bikers would really like, bike lanes like those in Paris, with a concrete barrier wide enough to prevent the disembarking passenger/bike conflicts I described above.

 

A worthy goal, but methinks it will take awhile -- some major rethinking on the role of bicycles in urban transportation, some tax dollars to construct, and some dedication on the part of snow-removal crews. (Yes, dedicated bicyclists ride year-round in this Land of Seven-Month Winters.)

Highway safety has come to be seen, not just as a matter of educating and exhorting people to drive safely, but also of designing roads and vehicles to enhance and ensure safety. Likewise, part of bike safety means designing potential hazards OUT of the system, not INTO it, as was done here. I have no doubt that conditions and infrastructure will improve. Minneapolis is, if nothing else, a relatively well-run and citizen-friendly city. Like so many things, it's just gonna take some time and some money and some effort.

In the meantime, Bicyclists! Be careful -- it is dangerous out there!

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Just in case you really, really, really need an Eye Candy Friday image, here is one taken at Autumnfest two weeks ago.

Comments

[The #2 Son]

Different bicyclists prefer different things. If we had our way, we wouldn't have to cross paths with cars at all.

Those concrete-divided bike lanes aren't preferred by all, but they ARE what the city of Minneapolis is trying to work towards with the new bike lanes.

Also, the discussed lanes are only half of the change; the other street that was converted to a two-way has a shared bike/bus/right-turn lane that isn't being enforced.

Thanks Mom :)

[tinebeest]

Oh, don't get me started on bikes, traffic policy and cars. Really. I wish we lived in a world where cars were not the obvious answer to all your traffic needs. In fact, I'd love to live in a world without cars :-) And then I can't complain here in Europe (though the UK trails a bit behind)

[Chris]

My first look at the new downtown street craziness!

[limedragon :-: Harriet]

Yep, these concrete barriers are nice! We've got them here on campus on the main thoroughfare, and bike paths painted onto the sidewalks elsewhere. The problem? The bicyclists don't always follow the paths, and in some places where the paint is really, really faded, pedestrians walk on the wrong path. :/

[Big Alice]

Portland's trying out those new lanes too, but in a limited area over by PSU. I parked there for the Farmer's Market last Saturday. 8:15 am on Saturday morning isn't exactly a high bike time for a university, but all the parking cars were in the parking lane and even the letting-people-off had stopped in the parking lane temp stops (maybe it's being much more enforced here?)

I think the city is trying out a number of experiments for biking; they just took away an entire lane out of a couple streets downtown (one-way each way) and painted it into a bike lane. It's very nice, except traffic does have to cross the lane. But cards seem to be very aware of the bikes on the road so I've had no problems.

There are a lot of bike lanes around here and enough cyclists that people are used to driving around them, mostly, but there are still a lot of problems. The way I go to work, at one intersection there's an explicit bike signal. The car signal is an arrow and there is a BIG SIGN that says "No Turn On Red". Nevertheless, I now look carefully every single time I go by, after I almost got hit one day by somebody not paying attention to the red arrow or the signage.

[Kym]

While it's a step in the right direction (I think. . .), it seems like bike riders will have to be ever-more-vigilant about potential car driver oblivion. The town I live in (Portage, Michigan) has an extensive "bikeway" -- varying from separate bike paths to narrow lanes -- throughout the town. It's fairly functional (for the most part). Those cement barriers would sure be nice. . .

[Amy]

I was downtown early last Saturday to go to the boof fest, and my husband was going to a conference at the public library. What really struck me at 8 a.m. was that they hadn't painted the lanes yet--couldn't they have done that overnight?? The first day, with a couple good-sized events on Hennepin Ave, and there were no defining lines. Sheesh.

[Carrie]

Prolly hoping to keep the bikes away from the moving cars, but yes, there's still some thinking to do there.

[lisa]

ooooh, Paris looks so civilized, sigh...

[tammy]

I'm too afraid to ride my bike to work. I know I'd get pasted by a car. Currently I take - 2 buses and the train, total time 30 - 35 mins. If I took my life in my hands and rode my bike, maybe 20 mins. Illogical as all get out.

I love the statue in your Autumnfest pici. She's lovely!

[soxanne]

OMG what were they thinking!?

[Carrie K]

Wow, that's going to take a lot of educating. It does sound like a good idea, at least in theory.

SF is closing down parts of Market St right now as a try. SF is pretty bike friendly but OTOH, the place is overrun w/tourists and people drive like maniacs.