Hennepin County begins work Monday on a restriping of Washington Avenue N. in the North Loop area of downtown that will add an odd-lane design, plus a combo of fat and narrow bike lanes.
That's west of Hennepin Avenue to Plymouth Avenue N. But the county's promised redo of Washington for five blocks east of Hennepin is stalled for a year after earlier plans to start this summer. That plan features the city's first true cycle track -- a one-way bicycle lane on each side of the street that's raised up on the boulevard.
The design between Hennepin and Plymouth generally converts the street to five or three lanes, with the center lane representing one of the growing number of continuous left turn lanes in Minneapolis. Other examples are found on portions of 10th Avenue SE, Riverside Avenue S., Nicollet Avenue S. in its East Street area and W. 50th Street.
The transition between five-lane and three-lane comnfigurations on Washington is designed to happen between 3rd and 5th avenues N. In the five-lane section to the east, bike lanes will be as narrow as 4-1/2 feet. West of 5th, Washington will have three lanes, with bike lanes as wide as 10 feet, including buffering strips.
The county plans to begin work by installing temporary lane stripes Monday in the two blocks where the number of lanes changes. Then it will observe for the rest of the week how that works. Permanent stripes are due to be installed on Aug. 19.
(Illustration above shows how a cycle track is designed for Washington Avenue S. between Hennepin and 5th avenues S.)
