Months before someone tossed a Molotov cocktail on April 3 at a cyclist on the Midtown Greenway, volunteers took to the greenway with light meters in hand in the name of public safety. Curious to know the trail's darkest spots, they took measurements along the 5.5-mile greenway.

Robberies and random assaults have long been the boogeyman of the urban trail, not Russian firebombs, and the light meters found the places a would-be criminal might hide. On Friday, armed with their findings, the volunteers from the Midtown Greenway Coalition met with Minneapolis police and city public works staff.

"I think you start with lighting," said Soren Jensen, the group's executive director. To make the relatively safe trail even safer, add lights, more surveillance cameras and signs announcing the cameras' presence, the group suggested.

The city listened but no decisions were made Friday, a city spokesman said.

matt mckinney

@_mattmckinney