Raodguy: Advice for fans of that extra I-94 lane: Don't get too attached

By Jim Foti, Star Tribune

Last update: November 17, 2007 - 2:57 PM

Roadguy doesn't get a lot of mail from people who adore our highway system. But alert reader Steve Medin has found something to love, and he doesn't want to see it taken away:

Remove the extra lane on 94 when the [Interstate 35W] bridge is completed? MnDOT better think twice about that plan.

The extra lane has reduced westbound 94's morning congestion to such a degree that they should absolutely leave it as is. My Woodbury-to- Minneapolis commute hasn't been this good in at least 12 years.

Yes, the lanes narrow a bit, and people tend to travel a bit slower than they would otherwise, but the advantages of the extra lane far outweigh the disadvantages. ...

So, if MnDOT decides to take that lane back, I will, for the first time ever, become a public crusader. Save the lanes!

Roadguy has noticed a certain awe and reverence in drivers' eyes when they talk about the extra lanes on I-94 between Hwy. 280 and downtown Minneapolis. Who wouldn't be thrilled to find a new lane, practically overnight, on one's commute?

But the lanes came at the price of shoulders, and MnDOT will tell you that there are good reasons (safety, snow removal, bus movement) for putting things back the way they were. Plus, the state built the new lanes only to the standards of temporary construction bypasses.

So while Steve might find a lot of fellow crusaders, they'll face an uphill fight.

Bridge love (and lack thereof)

Roadguy has been getting a fair amount of mail (and a fair number of blog comments) about the Midtown Greenway bridge, the new cable-stayed bridge in south Minneapolis for bikes and pedestrians. Lots of people love the look of the bridge at night, but beauty isn't everything.

One concern that Roadguy has heard about was the distance -- it's about 1,000 feet farther to take the bridge over Hiawatha Avenue than to stay at street level and go straight across the seven-lane highway at the signal.

So, using his trusty voice recorder as a stopwatch, Roadguy did a couple of trial runs on his bicycle this past week.

This was admittedly not very scientific, as he did not have a speedometer to measure the consistency of his speed. But after several crossings, he concluded that he saved about half a minute by taking the bridge.

The reason: Depending on when you arrive at Hiawatha, you can find yourself standing at the stoplight for a good minute or more, and it took only a little more than two minutes to get across by bike over the bridge. (Your results may vary; let me know if they do.)

Getting to and from the bridge is another point of concern. Greenway bicyclists who wish to use the bridge have to cross four lanes of 28th Street at a spot where there's only a marked crosswalk, not a traffic signal. Cars are supposed to stop for pedestrians or bikes in a crosswalk, but apparently not all the drivers on 28th Street have a copy of state law with them -- Roadguy watched more than a few vehicles go by at full speed while he waited.

The city is in the early stages of looking into creating a wide island in the middle of 28th Street and reducing the lanes of traffic to make crossing easier.

Postscript

In a Nov. 9 news story I wrote about the Greenway bridge opening, I referred to Minneapolis as the No. 2 bicycling city in the country. That ranking was released in June by the Census Bureau, which looked at the percentage of workers who commute by bike.

To the disappointment of a few alert readers, I neglected to mention the No. 1 city. It's Portland, Ore., where 3.5 percent of commuters are cyclists (and where the weather is a bit more bike-friendly).

The figure for Minneapolis was 2.4 percent; the national average was 0.5 percent.

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