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Rear-ending a semi trailer 2/7/24
Central Avenue is a Hostile PlaceTLDR - It's time for our once per generation redesign of Central Avenue. - Central is full of great businesses that DRAW customers. Traffic chases them away. - Central can be redesigned to be a safe place where people dwell at outdoor at restaurants, window shop, enjoy art walks. - Now is our only chance to reclaim Northeast's "main street" and reset the neighborhoods all through Northeast. Write to project manager Elizabeth Burton for safer streets: elizabeth.burton@state.mn.us Oct 21, 2024 MNDoT is redesigning the whole street from 694 all the way through NE to downtown Minneapolis. Open House Wednesday Dec 11, 5-7pm Edison High School cafeteria. (Click here for the PROJECT WEBSITE) Central starts as a traffic firehose that pumps a 55 mph+ divided highway through Columbia Heights into Northeast, spraying suburban commuters into downtown. The speed limit signs do not keep drivers from doing 50 mph in Minneapolis where the municipal speed limit is 20.  Columbia Heights mayor, Márquez Simula [says] the avenue is Columbia Heights’ main street, but its local charm is destroyed by the noise, by the safety problems, and the rush hour traffic. https://www.mynortheaster.com/news/bond-challenges-marquez-simula-for-ch-mayor/ Central carries heavy trucks from the Shoreham rail yard. In 2023 the traffic vibrations cracked the water main in front of the bike shop and sent hundreds of thousands of gallons of water into the sewers. Since the streetcars were ripped out in the 1950s, we have surrendered Northeast’s “main street” to traffic. Today we pay the price with noise, pollution, and dangerous conditions. Central Ave shoppers want convenient parking because walking any distance on the corridor is loud and unpleasant. Customers get in and get out. They rarely dwell to support other stores and restaurants.   Cars bring customers. Traffic chases them away. Central Ave is one of the widest roads in Minneapolis. There is room for so much more than just traffic. We have the makings of a vibrant “main street” where people stroll from shop to shop. We have the DRAW of wonderful businesses, but Central’s hostility keeps people from dwelling to enjoy outdoor patios or window shop down the block. The more people DWELL, the more they spend and support our local businesses. We can fix this! We have lots of destination businesses that draw customers to Central. But we can have an Avenue that’s a destination too! In the city’s small area plan neighbors call for an art walk up and down the street. Broadway and Lowry are the gateways to the Arts District. People moving through here should know it! Local businesses are limited by available parking spots. Bike lanes and Bus Rapid Transit can deliver customers that don’t take up valuable parking. We could have more room for outdoor seating for our great restaurants. We could have real boulevards. There is so much potential. MNDoT’s redesign is a once in a generation opportunity to create the vibrant main street that will foster resilient businesses and healthy neighborhoods. The first step is a safe, pleasant place to be outside. We need a street design that keeps drivers at safe speeds and doesn’t discourage them once they get out of their cars. Write to the Central Avenue project manager: elizabeth.burton@state.mn.us And cc Northeast's City Council Member: elliott.payne@minneapolismn.gov Tell MN Northeast needs safer streets. This means crosswalk bump outs to reduce the time pedestrians are in the street, medians to reduce traffic turning into neighborhoods and give pedestrians a refuge from two-way traffic, chicanes to keep drivers engaged, and street murals because they’re awesome and this is the Arts District (and they cause drivers to drive more carefully). 
Central and University Avenues set the tone for Northeast Minneapolis. If there is ever going to be a chance of getting a safe Central Avenue designed for the neighborhoods and the people who live here, this is it. More ways to calm traffic on Central Avenue: Narrower lanes Curb-level raised crosswalks One-way street-level protected bike lanes (reduces traffic) Dedicated bus lanes (reduces traffic) Street “edge friction” so drivers can sense how fast they’re going |
Quincy St & 14th Ave NE, summer 2024
Quincy Redevelopment Meeting RecapClick to take the city’s Round 2 Survey What a crowd! Thanks to everyone that came out to save the bricks for Quincy last night. We learned a lot. We talked a lot. We got to connect with city planners and elected officials and residents and businesses. The passion in that room last night is the best thing about Northeast. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for speaking up. Thank you for caring. And thanks to everyone that helped get the word out!  I think the group that showed up last night felt that what Quincy has works. More than that, it is unique. It makes Quincy and the Arts District stand out. And that fosters artists and draws customers. It feels like we’re being asked to give that up in exchange for not much. Yes, the street needs better drainage. Definitely Quincy needs accessibility. Apart from that, the city’s plans threaten to strip the industrial character and standardize access for cars and pedestrians so that the Quincy experience will be just another street. What we’re asking for is not ridiculous. We already plow and maintain bricks in other parts of the city. We already have Woonerf-style shared streets with no curbs that gives pedestrians access to the whole street in other parts of the city.  Example of a "woonerf" shared street. Slow traffic and no curbs allows pedestrians to activate the whole street. (behind the Pillsbury A-Mill) So it rings a little hollow when we’re told that Northeast can’t have these things, especially when Quincy has these elements now and they’re adding so much to our community. So there’s still a lot of work to be done. We know that what we’re asking for is doable: bricks, character, pedestrian access to the whole street. Fill out the round 2 survey. https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8095818/Logan-Park-Industrial-Street-Reconstruction-Community-Survey-2 Use the “Character Feedback” question to tell Minneapolis that Northeast’s bricks should stay in Northeast. Tell them that we love how Quincy keeps traffic slow and pedestrians have activated the WHOLE street. Tell the city we don’t want curbs to define where pedestrians can be. This is moving backwards and it threatens the Arts District.   Do also keep in mind that the people reading our comments live in our community. We don’t always agree, but they too want to get this right. We know these people. This is about working together to make the city better. Let’s work toward a common understanding. Write to project lead Katie White (katie.white@minneapolismn.gov). cc City Council Member Elliot Payne (elliott.payne@minneapolismn.gov). And tell your friends! Let everyone know how great Quincy St NE is and how important it is to Northeast. We found fertile ground at Quincy and we’ve produced something amazing here. And the standard city design will sterilize that ground and we’ll lose some of what makes it so special. And once it’s gone, it’s never coming back. |
Other great streets in Minneapolis, fall 2024
Save Quincy!(City Engagement Meeting Nov 20) Click to take the city’s Round 2 Survey Quincy St NE is the unique brick lined avenue that hosts Indeed, Centro, MN Nice Cream, Earl Giles, and a slew of artist studios, apartments, and other businesses. Literal neglect has made Quincy lousy for driving. The slowed traffic and lack of sidewalks has actually activated the street making it safe for walkers, artists, and revelers and has helped foster the thriving, walkable artist and commercial district that becomes the heart of Art-a-Whirl every year. And the city plans to strip it all clean.  Quincy is badly in need of updates, especially when it comes to accessibility and the sewer systems beneath the street. But the Mpls’ planning standard calls for a cheap sheet of asphalt that allows cars to move at the standard 30-40 mph and clean new sidewalks to keep pedestrians out of the street. Quincy’s 100 year old bricks will be harvested for use in the North Loop. This rare walkable commercial district will lose much of its charm and the draw that supports some of Northeast’s signature businesses and one of the biggest art events in the country. Quincy’s bricks should stay in Northeast. Pedestrians should keep their access to the street. Traffic should be slow and safe. Quincy’s quirks should be preserved to protect the thriving commercial and artist community that lives there. There is nothing else like Quincy in the whole of Minneapolis. And once it’s gone, there’s no getting it back. Come to Wednesday’s community meeting and tell our city planners not to strip Quincy. Save the Quirk. Save Quincy. Logan Park Rec Center on Monroe & 13th Ave NE. 7-8:30 pm. If you have the time, you can also join us at the Rec Center at 4pm for a project open house. Write to project lead Katie White (katie.white@minneapolismn.gov). cc City Council Member Elliot Payne (elliott.payne@minneapolismn.gov). Let them know that we like Quincy's bricks. |
9/4/24
Critical Mass TransitCriticalMassTransit.com Critical Mass Transit is a tool for shifting mode share away from car traffic now. No additional infrastructure required. Simply put, Critical Mass Transit is the idea of the group bicycle ride as transportation. All that is needed is a handful of people who want to go to the same place at the same time. So much the better if those people also make their ride open to the public. This could be 3-4 people once a week gathering at a convenient location for a joint commute to work. It could be a small group riding to home games. It could be a ride to a one-time event like the State Fair. There is safety, power, and community in numbers. We enjoy this principle on social rides with our local bike shops and advocacy orgs. But a group social ride is a point A to point A ride with a loop in the middle. Critical Mass Transit is point A to point B. It is a way to bike to a destination more safely and on more direct routes because of the higher visibility of a group riding together. There is a growing movement to get kids to school using the group ride. We call this the bike bus. Same concept. We live with a culture overrun by cars. We cannot fathom moving around town in anything but a car so we address every transportation problem with more car infrastructure. We sacrifice our best land to highways. We dedicate our mornings and evenings to sitting in traffic. We send big auto and oil a thousand dollars a month (according to AAA). And every ten years or so we make the problem worse by adding lanes to our biggest highways. Meanwhile our road maintenance budgets do not keep up and our streets are deteriorating faster than we repair them. Our land values decrease according to our proximity to traffic and our property taxes keep going up. And we kill 40,000 American workers and taxpayers every year, the worst record among developed nations. The answer of course is mass transit. The answer is compact neighborhoods that put people closer to destinations like grocery stores and jobs. The answer is bike lanes and culture shift. The answer is massive change at every level that includes unimaginable cash dumps and the destruction of our most entrenched industries. And so even the most socially conscious among us is relegated to getting behind the wheel for the weekly supply run to the big box stores while we wait for our country, our states, and our cities to do something about it. But the data suggests that change may be waiting just under surface. Most people are interested in riding but are held back by fear and lack of infrastructure (Source). It’s a tough thing to go against the grain when that puts you in a lane by yourself with 2,500 pound SUVs controlled by distracted teens.  Commuter ride with Mpls City Council President Elliott Payne 9/16/24 If this is true then thousands of potential riders are waiting in the wings. Every group of riders that we can get out on the streets demonstrates to more and more people that riding is possible, practical, and acceptable. And of course each additional rider on the road makes everyone safer on the road. We don’t have to wait for the movement of nations. We don’t need additional infrastructure. We can be the catalysts for change in our neighborhood. We can make improvements where we see the need. An organized network of riders and rides (a critical mass) may be all that is needed to unleash the pent up demand for something better than rush hours and parking lots. 
Every ride indicates a place where the city should consider adding bicycle infrastructure. Every ride is a vote for using the car as the alternative. Every ride lets businesses see that customers aren’t cars and maybe parking lots could better serve us as housing or businesses. Every ride you lead and every ride you join helps establish the network, makes bikes more practical as transportation, and makes everyone on the road safer. CriticalMassTransit.com was created as a place where we can create rides, establish routes, make maps, and start to build that network. If you bike commute, you’re already leading a ride of one. You’re already showing the community around you how it’s done. Publish your schedule and route so that others can join you. If not now, when? If not here, where? If not us, who? Join us. CriticalMassTransit.com |
2024 Transportation Summit: Surviving Road ConstructionNovember 20, 2024 - From Move Minneapolis Recovery Bike Shop’s Seth Stattmiller spoke on this year’s Transportation Summit panel from Move Minneapolis. This year’s theme was Surviving Road Construction. Watching your neighbors struggle and go out of business is one of the consequences of car dependent cities. In a place that relies almost entirely on one mode of transportation, infrastructure projects can be devastating for small businesses. NE Lowry Avenue’s three years of construction is throttling the tap of customers to the Central and Lowry business district. Not only does this loss of sales represent an existential threat for Recovery Bike Shop and other businesses, it also threatens to upset the longterm business ecosystem of the district. Not all of Recovery’s customers come to the area for a bicycle. Lots of people are drawn by Holy Land’s Chicken Lovers Combo or Francis Burger Joint’s shakes and fries when they stumble on a used bike shop they didn’t know about. In this way Francis’ customers become Recovery customers. And visa versa. Every business in the neighborhood attracts their own customers who often become shared customers. The more businesses, the more draw for the district, the more shared customers.   Phase I of the Lowry construction cost us Dairy Queen which did not survive a summer without cars. There were 9 businesses on Lowry. Now there are 8. That might be a 10% revenue hit to the business district. This makes every business more vulnerable for the coming phase II or in the event of a recession or anything else that might come along. There are another 20 businesses in the rest of the construction zone. Are we prepared to lose 2 more of them? We need a more robust transportation network of mass transit, bikes, AND cars, so that when one of these networks goes down for necessary maintenance, customers can still get to us. Next, we need support rather than punishment. On the day Lowry was closed we received a bill for $14,000 for the improvements coming our way, something that came as a complete shock to most of the businesses in the area, especially since many of the assessed businesses aren’t even on Lowry. We all pay for the streets in our city through our taxes. If there was ever a time to give someone a tax holiday for this expense it’s when they can’t use it, aren’t benefiting from it, and are most vulnerable. Other cities compensate their businesses to get them through construction projects. These cities want their tax paying, job providing, community building businesses to be there when the construction is over. Our businesses thrive because of the busy streets in front of our shops. Take this away and you take away sales, you take away the value of operating at this address. If you’re going to reduce the value of the property, the property taxes should be reduced as well. When the project is complete and the traffic comes back and the value of the property goes up as a result, the city can recoup their infrastructure investment through increased property taxes. This is a formula that supports our local businesses rather than hobbles them. Join our Critical Mass Transit ride to and from the Transportation Summit. Leaves Recovery Bike Shop at 7:55am. CriticalMassTransit.com/maps The Summit is free, but you must be pre-registered: MoveMinneapolis.org |
2014 Open Streets in the project area
If We Build it, They Will ComeCOMMENT: https://zanassoc.mysocialpinpoint.com/northside-greenway/survey Oct 30, 2024 More than half of Americans are interested in riding a bike for transportation but are concerned about routes, distances, and traffic (source). Even Minneapolis’ quietest side streets involve interactions with huge physical threats every couple blocks or more. Minneapolis’ network of protected bike lanes is slowly unlocking thousands of riders. A complete system has the potential to replace hundreds of thousands of car trips. The Northside Greenway has been in the works for more than a decade. The city wants to create a low-stress place for people to walk, bike, and roll. Protected riding spaces address the concerns of insecure riders and connect us to our city. More riders means less traffic, safer streets, lower infrastructure costs and taxes, reduced pollution, healthier communities, increased property values, and on and on.  We had a great time talking with city staff at the public engagement session at the Folwell Rec Center. Things are still in the brainstorming phase. The city is seeking feedback from residents and other constituents and no plans have been adopted. There is broad support for a something along this route, but the details are much more controversial. Plenty of residents are understandably concerned about parking in front of their house, however the various plans available at the meeting offered few options that removed cars entirely from the street. This kind of change could only happen with strong support from residents of each block. But the project is finally funded. There isn’t money for every idea on the table, but something is likely to get done. Unfortunately not all of the possible designs include protected bikeways. Tell the city this is critical for getting people to start riding. Make comments here: https://zanassoc.mysocialpinpoint.com/northside-greenway/survey Project website: https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/projects/northside-greenway-project/ Keep Quincy WeirdTLDR - Minneapolis wants to tear out the trademark red brick streets around Northrup King: Quincy, Tyler, 14th, etc. to update the city plumbing below and improve the driving surface. - The red bricks and city neglect has kept traffic slow and safe, helping to activate these avenues for pedestrians and contributing to the success of the businesses in the area (Centro, Indeed, Buch, MN Nice Cream) which all benefit from pedestrian access to outdoor space. - The repaved streets will increase traffic speeds, reduce the vibrancy of these avenues, and stifle business growth. - Instead, the streets should keep their characteristic red bricks and slow speeds (10 mph), but maintain access for all. - The driving surface should be raised six inches to signal to drivers that they are entering pedestrian space. - That's it. Access for all (walkers, rollers, patios, deliveries, etc.). Quincy and Tyler are currently working great for businesses, residents, and visitors. They do not need to be "fixed." We should lean into the qualities that make them great now instead of erasing those qualities, surrendering another walkable street to traffic, and risking hurting the businesses that inhabit these vibrant corridors. To comment on these projects, reach out to Ward 1 City Council Member, Elliott Payne and city project planner, Katie White: elliott.payne@minneapolismn.gov katie.white@minneapolismn.gov Sept 17, 2024 Last month Minneapolis city planners held back-to-back community engagement sessions for the redevelopment of the Logan Park Industrial (LPI) area streets. These are the signature red bricks around Northrup King: Quincy, Tyler, 14th, etc. What we said on Monday was activation, walking, vibrancy, character. What was delivered on Tuesday was parking. Gone are the red bricks. Gone is walking in the street. At risk is the vibrant event center of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District that has fostered so many great businesses.  Project lead, Katie White, addresses those gathered for the community engagement session Sept 17, 2024. I do not envy the job of the Minneapolis city planner. The loudest voices tend to be the least happy. And no plan can make everyone happy. But LPI has something we just can’t get anywhere else in Minneapolis and the sheets of fresh asphalt and reams of formal parking spaces will throttle the energy and the vibe and the pull that this area has for customers and residents. This plan will reduce the value of the neighborhood for everyone, even the people that will only visit if there is access to convenient parking. Today LPI has almost no pedestrian infrastructure and so, people simply walk in the streets. This is fine because the neglected streets’ red bricks and potholes force cars to drive at safe speeds. This deterioration has helped foster a vibrant, activated commercial district with thriving businesses like Indeed, Centro, Buch, and Bauhaus. This is the heart of Art-a-Whirl. It is one of the few commercial spaces in Minneapolis where it feels safe to be a pedestrian. Smooth asphalt will increasing the speed of cars and change the life and character of Quincy and Tyler that feeds these local businesses and makes LPI a jewel in our city. It will be another half-century commitment to cars. Instead, we should keep the historic brick. This is the industrial brand of these old streets. The road surface should be leveled and raised six inches. This will eliminate the curbs and communicate to drivers that they are entering a public walking space. The presence of pedestrians and the texture of the bricks will keep traffic slow and safe as it does now while still allowing access for drop-offs and deliveries. The edges of the right-of-way need concrete sidewalks (tinted red to match the bricks) for accessibility. That’s it. Access for walkers and drivers and rollers and deliveries and residents and customers and patios and workers and all.  Concept art for a street conversion in Atlanta, GA. (source) All that is needed is slow cars. It’s all that Quincy and Tyler have now and it has helped these streets thrive. Truly slow cars. Streets DESIGNED for 10 mph speed limits give commercial streets the opportunity to have it all. We live in a city that recently dropped speed limits from 30 to 20 mph on all municipal streets. Has anyone noticed? Speeds still average above 30 mph. This is because signs don’t slow traffic. Minneapolis streets are designed for faster speeds. The current conditions of Quincy and Tyler simply won’t permit driving above jogging speed unless drivers are willing to risk damage to their cars. This is how street “design” works. These are vibrant activated streets only because they have not been brought up to the city standard, which favors lifeless car throughput over activated commercial corridors. One fear from local property owners is that parking = customers. This is a completely rational fear. Most of us use our cars to access businesses. And we all prefer to park as close as possible to our destination. Convenient parking makes a business more attractive. Parking increases the DRAW that a commercial district has (or any destination). Draw is the reason to visit a place. It is the pull of the products or experience we expect when we arrive. Draw is why we go. And it’s enough to support plenty of businesses. Home Depot has enough draw (and convenient parking) that it is self-sustaining. The same Home Depot and parking moat works in community after community. But Home Depot scores very low on DWELL. Dwell is the amount of time people spend. It is the feel of a place. It is the energy of the street. It is the intangible thing that makes you leave one store and drift down to another one nearby. Dwell makes it easy and pleasant to stay. And the longer a customer stays, the more money they spend. This is the bargain we make with parking. Drivers are more likely to go to their destination, get what they came for, and leave. That’s what we do at Home Depot. There are 22 businesses at the Quarry (not counting the Amazon lockers and Tesla charging stations). After visiting Home Depot or Target, how many do you walk to? How many can you name?  Area residents and businesses owners trying to work out the plan for Quincy. Sept 16, 2024 Very few of these businesses benefit from the throngs of customers that are drawn to Home Depot or even the convenient parking. Parking lots inspire us to complete our errands and move on. They don’t inspire us to stroll, to continue shopping. What Home Depot and its vast sea of parking lacks is dwell. It’s just no fun to stroll the parking lot to see what else is available. And the next destination is so far away, it hardly catches our eye and draws us in. We may have other errands to run at the Quarry and we may combine trips by also grabbing what we need at Target. But this is not the same as spending leisure time walking over to Famous Footwear to see what’s in the window. It’s not the same as wandering down Quincy to get an unplanned cone at MN Nice Cream after dinner at Centro. Or sticking around to have a beer at Indeed because another friend is headed that way. Maybe Centro and Indeed have enough draw that they don’t need to share customers with Architectural Antiques. But why give those customers up? Parking lots push destinations away from each other and decreases customers’ desires to walk to the next shopping opportunity. Convenient parking gives businesses a little boost of draw. But it destroys dwell. Parking lots and traffic actually divide Quincy into THREE distinct shopping districts that help each other out but are not getting the full benefit of dwell because of the space and cars that separate them. Indeed and Centro anchor one of those districts. Buch and MN Nice cream carry another. And then right across Broadway is little Franky’s. It’s right there. It’s just steps away from MN Nice Cream. But Franky’s might as well be a mile away. Broadway keeps Franky’s from getting the full benefit of the energy and the vibrancy of Quincy because Broadway is so hostile to pedestrians. Cars are great, but their presence makes us want to spend less time (and less money). Draw and dwell within the LPI project area are strongest during Art-a-Whirl. They are strongest when destination and activity density (pop-ups and open studios and food trucks) are the highest and easy parking evaporates entirely. Quincy and Tyler are at their best when cars have almost no access and people are everywhere. The more places there are for customers to visit, the more customers are drawn to an area and the longer they stay to shop. The truth is, when Indeed has a show or Francis Fest jams up the street, a driver still has plenty of access to free parking. And the walk is no more than the length of a Home Depot parking lot. This is how life is for the businesses on SE Main St or in Dinkytown. Parking sucks in these neighborhoods. But the customers still come. Because customers aren’t parking. So keep the bricks. And keep the cars. Just keep them under 10 mph. Let the people keep the street and the businesses keep the customers. This is working now. Don’t “fix” it. Tell Ward 1 City Council Member Elliott Payne and city planner Katie White that you want to keep Quincy weird. elliott.payne@minneapolismn.gov katie.white@minneapolismn.gov And ride your bike and carry your helmet when you shop so that businesses can see that customers aren’t cars.
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