Will Wlizlo appreciates good biking infrastructure. He has lived without a car for more than a decade, and biking is his primary form of transportation for commuting to work, visiting family and friends, and running errands.

Wlizlo said he logs thousands of miles annually on his bicycle.

"I depend on the Hennepin County trail network," said Wlizlo, who is the Safe Routes to Schools coordinator for the Richfield Public School District. "I want to see it thrive and grow."

This week, Wlizlo will help the Hennepin County Transportation Department collect the data it needs to improve trails and identify places where future bike lanes or trails may be needed. For three days this week, volunteers will fan out across 36 sites countywide to count the number of bicyclists, walkers and scooter users. Wlizlo will be at Glenwood Avenue and Turners Crossroad in Golden Valley on Thursday to record his observations.

"We try to get a variety of locations to find out where there is high activity to identify gaps on the system," said spokeswoman Emily Kettell.

This is the fifth year the county has conducted the manual counts. Data will be gathered from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, the busiest hours for bicyclists. Previous years show that 20% of those biking and 18% of those walking were out in the late afternoons, Kettell said.

It's not an exact representation, Kettell said. But data will be extrapolated to show what a typical day might look like and "give us at a glance how people are using roadways," she said.

The data might also show how people use roads even in places where there isn't a bike lane, she added.

Wlizlo said he volunteered because he believes "good data will help the county make smart investment choices when constrained by budgets."

Minneapolis conducts its own counts and will do so Sept. 15-17. The city uses its data to evaluate the number of people walking and biking before and after construction projects, said city spokeswoman Sarah McKenzie.

"We also use the 'before' counts to help us understand how a street is functioning, which comes in handy for designing new infrastructure and engaging around that process," McKenzie said.

The city conducts counts at the same 30 locations each year to look for long-term usage patterns. This year, the data should be especially interesting because the city will be able to analyze the impact of the pandemic on walking and bicycling behavior, she said.

A new trail in Dakota County?

Plans for a new bicycle trail connecting Eagan and Inver Grove Heights took a step forward last week when the Dakota County Board authorized a consultant to begin designing the proposed Veterans Memorial Greenway.

The new 5-mile east-west trail would run from near Lebanon Hills Regional Park past the Rich Valley Athletic Complex to the Mississippi River Greenway along Hwy. 52. It would provide neighborhood access and local park connections and feature five to seven veterans memorials.

Awarding the contract to consultant SEH is "an important first step toward construction," said Scott Wente, a Dakota County spokesman. It allows the company to begin establishing the route, right of way needs and the plan for memorial sites, he said.

Funding for the trail has not been secured.

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