It snowed in Minneapolis. A normal thing for this time of year. Unusually, though, the bike trails were indifferently cleared and on the road the plows piled their snow in the bike lanes. Seems like it's better and safer to stay on the main roads rather than try to use bike facilities.
It's starting to look like the city is caring less about bikers, or at least winter bikers.
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
17 April 2018 - Morning
I know we had a big snow, but still the bike lanes, including the "protected" lanes, and the trails are all impassable.
Yesterday I was in a meeting where people discussed adding bike lanes to a street that already has no place to store snow. Sometimes I think the goal for some people is bike lanes -- not people on bikes.
Yesterday I was in a meeting where people discussed adding bike lanes to a street that already has no place to store snow. Sometimes I think the goal for some people is bike lanes -- not people on bikes.
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
6 March 2018 - Evening
They city has cleaned up fairly well. Really, the only problem spots were the entrance and exit to/from the Franklin bridge westbound. Lots of snow at the entrance and iffy surface condition at the exit.
Monday, March 5, 2018
5 March 2018 - Monday Morning
'til a blustery day!
The wind was mostly going my way so that was nice, but the sideways guests were challenging.
The wind was mostly going my way so that was nice, but the sideways guests were challenging.
Monday, February 26, 2018
26 February 2018 - Monday Morning
Day 2 of a snow emergency so today's trip wasn't great.
A few noteworthy things:
The Greenway and the exit at 29th had been plowed!
On Riverside, some parking lanes had not been cleared so people were parked partly in the bike lane and partly in the general travel lane.
Elsewhere on Riverside, the street had been plowed to the curb ... I could see the curb face! The U Landcare folks didn't put snow in the street this time but the aftereffects of earlier deposits meant that this block sucked in the midsts of other blocks that were well-plowed.
A few noteworthy things:
The Greenway and the exit at 29th had been plowed!
On Riverside, some parking lanes had not been cleared so people were parked partly in the bike lane and partly in the general travel lane.
Elsewhere on Riverside, the street had been plowed to the curb ... I could see the curb face! The U Landcare folks didn't put snow in the street this time but the aftereffects of earlier deposits meant that this block sucked in the midsts of other blocks that were well-plowed.
Friday, February 23, 2018
23 February 2018 - Friday evening
The roads were impressively clear after the snow. East river road trail was even wider than yesterday, though there were still some narrow places, and I had to negotiate with a walker at one of them. Franklin Bridge entrance was impassable again because snow was piled up and the bike lane was about 1 foot wide in spots due to piled-up snow. East of West of there, the bike lanes were better than this morning, but still sketchy mostly because it was dark and I couldn't always see the snow piles 'till I was right there. The local roads from the Seward Coop were not great, but surprisingly good under the circumstanses. The 29th and Greenway crossing had not been plowed so I took 30th. Otherwise fine, 'till my alley which had been plowed but was still not great, and my driveway which sucked. Somebody needs to shovel that.
23 February 2018 - Friday Morning
It snowed last night and so this morning's commute sucked. I should have walked from my house to Lake but I peddled instead and that worked ... barely. I took this as my clue to stay off the side streets I normally use.
Lake street had been nicely cleared and 31st Ave was mostly good. The Franklin bike lane had obviously been plowed, but it was still unusable because of all the snow. Were people putting their sidewalk snow in the street? That'd be illegal.
Riverside had problems for two reasons; most of the blocks of bike lane were impassable because of snow and even some where the bike lane was clean, motorists were driving in the bike lanes because they didn't want to get too close to the median -- snow had effectively made the roadway narrower on the left side too. Some blocks' bike lanes were cleaner than others and I suspect that the difference, like on Franklin, was people dumping sidewalk snow in the street.
The U was mostly very good, except that the section of bike lane between the Mall and Church is getting awfully narrow.
Lake street had been nicely cleared and 31st Ave was mostly good. The Franklin bike lane had obviously been plowed, but it was still unusable because of all the snow. Were people putting their sidewalk snow in the street? That'd be illegal.
Riverside had problems for two reasons; most of the blocks of bike lane were impassable because of snow and even some where the bike lane was clean, motorists were driving in the bike lanes because they didn't want to get too close to the median -- snow had effectively made the roadway narrower on the left side too. Some blocks' bike lanes were cleaner than others and I suspect that the difference, like on Franklin, was people dumping sidewalk snow in the street.
The U was mostly very good, except that the section of bike lane between the Mall and Church is getting awfully narrow.
Thursday, February 22, 2018
22 February 2018 - Evening
Better...
The East River Road trail was still too narrow, but wider than before. In the places where I had to pass others, I had room to squeeze by. The entrance to and exit from the Franklin Bridge still required special caution because of the lack of plowing, but I didn't have to walk my bike. Local and main streets were fine and I didn't notice so much of the "sand" near home as I did this morning.
The East River Road trail was still too narrow, but wider than before. In the places where I had to pass others, I had room to squeeze by. The entrance to and exit from the Franklin Bridge still required special caution because of the lack of plowing, but I didn't have to walk my bike. Local and main streets were fine and I didn't notice so much of the "sand" near home as I did this morning.
22 February 2018 - Morning
My alley had been plowed so that's nice. The first block from home had a lot of smashed snow and ice that formed into something like sand so I had to watch out for that. The rest of the side roads and main roads were fine. The 29th Avenue exit on the Greenway still hadn't been plowed. The bike lanes on Riverside were a bit better but on many blocks they were unusable. Once I got to the U, things were dandy.
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
21 February 2018 - Evening
Went to the Midtown Global Market after work today. Church Street was fine as was the bike lane through the U West Bank. The bike lanes on 20th Ave S were unusable because that's where the snow got plowed. Ceder was fine and the parking lot to the Hiawatha LRT trail was snowy but passable. The trail was icy but fine as was the Greenway.
Back towards home, their were sketchy icy spots on the Greenway and a snowy ridge at Hiwatha and at Minnehaha. The crossing at 29th has not been plowed. The local and main streets were fine and even my unplowed alley was OK for the short distance I rode it.
Back towards home, their were sketchy icy spots on the Greenway and a snowy ridge at Hiwatha and at Minnehaha. The crossing at 29th has not been plowed. The local and main streets were fine and even my unplowed alley was OK for the short distance I rode it.
21 February 2018 - Morning
Side roads had been plowed and so were not too bad. The Greenway as still a bit icy; better than side roads, not as good as main roads. The bike lanes on Riverside were unusable because of snow and/or parked cars. Getting onto the U West Bank bike lanes I had to jump a curb to get around illegally parked school buses. The West Bank bike lanes were in great shape; much better than yesterday.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
20 February 2018 - Evening Commute
Washington Avenue and Harvard were fine.
East River Road Trail 'tween Harvard and Franklin was OK for one line of traffic, but crap passing walkers or other riders.
The entrance and exit of the bikeway on the Franklin bridge were impassable.
The bike lanes on Franklin Ave were crap too.
27th Ave was fine. The Greenway was smooth, but icy. and the rest was good 'till my alley.
Minneapolis Commute Reporting
Minneapolis.
I report the quality of my three mile commute (especially during the winter) between the Minneapolis Longfellow Neighborhood and the East Bank of the University of Minnesota.
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