Links: Bikes, transit and death on America’s roads
Posted on July 24th, 2007 – 11:49 PMBy Roadguy
- You can’t bike to the Lindbergh terminal at the airport, but if you do, there’ll be a bike rack waiting for you starting next month. For a Strib story on MSP and bikes, including a visit with the airport bicyclist who ended up in court, click here. (And to see what the new racks will look like, click here.)
- Doom on the Greenway? Alert reader Mary points us to this forum thread on the 28th Street crossing that will exist once the bridge over Hiawatha opens. Mary writes: Getting ready for the Midtown Greenway Slaughter at the new 28th Street crossing, we have a thread running on Mpls Bike Love. The idea is that we need a “Pre-Memorial” fund for the dead cyclists, that could be used to buy a decent traffic light system, so that the dead cyclists wouldn’t actually have to be dead to get their safe crossing.
- Behind on transit? A former Strib writer who’s now at a think tank says Minnesota should do more; click here.
- Doom on America’s roads? The United States is “becoming comparatively one of the most dangerous places to drive in the industrialized world,” according to a New York Times story. Click here for the cheery news.
Feel free to comment below on any of the above, and send any links on in to Roadguy.
14 Responses to "Links: Bikes, transit and death on America’s roads"
That’s a lot of doom:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKb7hEpjyjc
In case readers don’t follow the MPLS Bike Love link, here’s a link to the innovative loop detector and bicycle signal employed in Portland, OR:
Re: Transit
We need a steady funding source and a comprehensive plan. Our current approach is like duct tape and bailing twine. It may get the job done, but it ain’t pretty and you know the breaking point is coming.
Re: Road safety
While we aren’t #1 any more, our roads are much, much safer than they were in 1970, when we were #1. I’m not overly worried about than one.
More doom and gloom from a failing newspaper.
As much respect as I have for Rep. Lieder, he’s completely wrong on why the transportation bill failed in 2007.
In a poll during the session, 70% of the metro area supported it. That support cut across city and suburb and across party lines. The sales tax did not kill the transportation bill.
What killed the transportation bill was the DFL’s lack of engagement across the aisle. Because the other side was essentially cut out of the bill writing process, the governor was in a position where he could force his caucus to uphold his veto. If the legislature had flexed its full power, Pawlenty would have been irrelevant.
I’m skeptical about Lieder’s “idea.” Many very smart people have looked at the transit funding issue and the sales tax is the only viable option. Whatever he has cooked up, it likely won’t raise nearly enough to even get us to the point where we’re caught up with our peer regions.
I never quite understood how the new bridge over Hiawatha @ 28th was going to be safer. In a couple years of regular riding through that intersection, I have NEVER had a problem with traffic. Sure, I had to wait until the stoplight changed, and occasionally a large group of cyclists would build up at the corners, but I never had any altercations with any motorists there.
Now they build this fancy new bridge over Hiawatha so that cyclists have to cross over 28th?? This year, while construction has been ongoing, I am typically crossing 28th near The Depot and using the sidewalk along Hiawatha. I have had several close calls crossing 28th and could see this would be an issue…
One more doom reference (19 seconds):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdJZhdi_-Tc
I actually like this one better (from Cannibal the Musical), but didn’t know it was posted.
It even has French subtitles. Parfait!
Much as I love to see money going to bike-friendly projects, the bridge over Hiawatha baffles me. I’ve never heard of accidents there, and as JJ says, it’s not hard or scary to wait at the light. While the bridge looks cool, I worry that it won’t get used. As a bike commuter, I try to go places in the most efficient possible way. Why would I purposefully choose a longer, more uphill route over the direct route across the street? Especially if there’s an uncontrolled crossing at the end where I’ll probably have to wait just as long for a break in traffic? It’s pointless.
Between this and the ramp before Franklin and Lyndale, I have to wonder if the people who design these things even ride bikes regularly.
I, too, was very exciting about the new Greenway Bridge until I read that there will be a crossing at 28th.
The two pros I saw for the bridge were: not stopping momentum to wait for a long light, and there is going to be an “observation point” on the new bridge.
The one con, which overtakes the two pros, is the new crossing at 28th. What in the world!
I have been looking forward to this bridge for a long time, but I don’t know jack about 28th, how busy it is, etc. You guys have me worried now.
Moderately busy, as city streets go.
Also, busy enough to where, combined with volumes along the Greenway, it might actually meet the signal warrant criteria.
As for a signal there, a typical signal runs in the $200K-300K neighborhood, so if Mary wants to get the fund drive started, that’s the goal…:o)
In response to “Doom on America’s roads?” I would like to point out, as I have in previous posts, America’s vehicular fatality rate is no better, and at times worse, than that of Germany where some 70% of the Autobahn system has no speed limit. I do not want to derail this thread but merely point out to all of those perpetuating the “speed kills” myth, including our State Patrol, that the statistics show time and time again that speed is not necessarily as dangerous as some would have us believe.
Well K, also consider that Germany has much stricter and more expensive driver licensing standards than we do in the U.S. The additional training required over there pays off in the form of better drivers.
Germany also has speed cams that automatically send you a ticket if you speed in the areas where there is a speed limit. And Germany has trains, subways, buses, etc. so people with 20/80 vision, seizures, unstable diabetes, angina, etc don’t have to drive. They have frequent and rigid safety inspections for cars, which a country can get away with if the poor people can get to work without a car. So with most of the drivers able to see, not on the brink of passing out, and driving something with most of the parts still attached, it’s not surprising that they are fairly safe.
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