Two quick items on the theme of “cuts”:

• I heard back from the makers of “Twin City Bridge: After the Collapse,” and sadly, my on-camera interview ended up on the cutting-room floor, or, perhaps more accurately, in the desktop trashcan on some Mac in Hollywood. (My soundbites apparently got cut during the very last part of the editing process.) They did, however, use a couple of my photos, so it’ll be fun watching for those.

• You may have heard that the staff here at headquarters is shrinking again, this time by 23 newsroom bodies. It’s not been a fun day, but Roadguy must give a shout-out to Jaime, the original Greengirl, who not only set up this blog but created the famous cartoon/logo/caricature that graces every post and newspaper column. She plans to continue to blog seasonally, but her presence here at the office will be missed.

It’s a still-fairly-new year, and I’m already behind. But I want my 2009 to be more bloggy, so here are a few items:

Alert reader Froggie sent along a heads-up to this New York Times blog post from last week about the environmental benefits of roundabouts. It includes a link to a Strib story about some of the ones in Minnesota (my photo above is of a roundabout under construction in Richfield in November). Froggie also included this link to an Insurance Institute of Highway Safety page about how roundabouts boost safety and fuel efficiency. I also noticed today that another NYT blog has this fresh post extolling the virtues of variable-priced tolling on highways, and our 394 lanes get a mention.

This morning, alert reader Prof. S alerted me to this Wall Street Journal article about a transit system that Roadguy has a special interest in: Beijing’s subway. When I visited China in 2000, the Beijing subway basically looked like this:

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There were two lines, one straight, one a circle. It was more than a little underbuilt for a city of its size. The Prof writes:

The story is an example of the “if you build it, they will come” aspect of these lines. The development of these subways has created opportunities for new businesses. Even for anti-LRT/pro-road people, this story talks about how the building of new subways made traffic much more bearable. People forget that there is overlap between LRT and roads — not a perfect overlap, but certainly a large one and enough of one to bring benefits to road drivers as well.

The fact that there are other benefits is also important. We could create a new high-paying job by taxing people $200,000 to pay one person $100,000 dig holes and another person $100,000 to fill them back in. But that means taking $200,000 out of productive activities to do something unproductive. It’s the Parable of the Broken Window economic fallacy.

In this case, even if the LRT lines cost $1 billion or more, the ROI is likely >1 because of the amount of time freed up for all commuters — both on the rail and not on the rail. This will only be more and more true as we build a network of lines.

The Prof should be writing items for the New York Times blogs, methinks.

Our last item pertains to an e-mail received yesterday evening from a California production company that made a one-hour documentary about the building of the I-35W bridge. Roadguy contributed a few photos from his vast digital archives and did an on-camera interview, but no word yet on whether I made the final cut. We’ll all find out next week when “Twin City Bridge: After the Collapse” has its premiere Thursday at 7 p.m. on a National Geographic Channel program called “Man-Made.” I’ll be inviting myself over to the home of some friends with cable so I can tune in.

That’s all for the moment. Your comments, as always, are welcomed below.

Here’s my column from the Sunday paper. If you’ve already read it elsewhere, please skip on down to the comments below. Thanks.

DEFINE ‘AUTHORIZED’

When alert reader Glen is driving on the freeway, he keeps an eye on the bus-only shoulders, and he wonders:

What vehicles are allowed to use those special “authorized vehicle” lanes, namely shoulders? It started with [Metro Transit] buses and the like, then I saw Metro Mobility mini-buses, and I’ve seen commercial coaches and school buses do it as well.

Roadguy first went to the state statutes for this one (169.306, to be exact). The law says that transit and Metro Mobility buses may use authorized shoulders, and that such shoulders also can allow buses with a seating capacity of 40 or more “operated by a motor carrier of passengers” in Minnesota. Sorry, Glen: this means that you can’t just run out, buy a bus and give the shoulders a try.

Everyday school buses aren’t allowed, according to the folks at the Minnesota Department of Transportation, so any yellow buses that Glen saw were probably operating as charters.

THE DIRT ON ROAD SURFACES

Alert reader Bill has been checking out the varying shades of gray on Hwy. 12 in the western suburbs, and he has a question:

I noticed there are some parts that are blacktop, some concrete. What determines which type of surface is used?

Kent Barnard, a MnDOT spokesman, said the main factor is the condition of the soil underneath the roadbed. Asphalt is more flexible, so it’s better for areas where soils are less stable.

Concrete is the overall preferred paving material because it’s generally longer-lasting, Barnard said, though when it ages, it often gets smoothed out with a layer of asphalt on top.

RESOLUTIONS REVISITED

Now that it’s 2009, Roadguy took a look back at his transportation resolutions from a year ago, and he didn’t do too badly:

• I have more or less eliminated talking on the cell phone while driving unless I’m on a rural interstate. I don’t even keep a headset in the car anymore. My work and personal life appear to have survived.

• My respect for yellow lights has grown considerably, and I now hit the brake pedal more than the gas pedal.

• I managed to ride my bike to work (twice).

• I finally purchased a parking meter card, though the card is heading toward obsolescence as Minneapolis’ meters are replaced.

If you have some transportation resolutions — for yourself, not for the inferior drivers all around you — send ‘em to Roadguy.

At least four of my coworkers fell on their way to work. Facebook friends announced that they had landed on their butts after tumbling off bikes. Perfectly agile acquaintances looked like apprehensive toddlers on the slick streets. Last week’s thaw-freeze was bad enough, but the thick new coating of snow took things to the next level — or rather, the next level of hell, if hell had frozen over.

The sidewalk in front of where I live is shown above, in a photo taken Monday night. This skating rink appeared while I was gone for Christmas, and the time I spent with an ice chopper on Sunday proved fruitless. Fortunately, I had a bucketful of sand that I’d swept up from the alley a spring or two ago, so I spread that out, and after it was gone, I picked up more sand at one of the city of Minneapolis’ free sidewalk sand distribution points.

I’m ready to do another coat tonight if need be — the neighbor who shovels the snow may have also shoveled off the sand.

If you have an ice remedy, or a tale of a tumble you took, please share in the comments below.

Here, somewhat belatedly, is my column from the Sunday paper. It was also posted here, where it’s already garnered a couple of dozen comments, but your thoughts are still most welcome below. Thanks.

LET ‘EM THROUGH

Alert reader Thomas Alfred Hanson, who uses all three names because there are a lot of Thomas Hansons in Minnesota, drives a snowplow for his hometown, Brooklyn Park. He called up Roadguy with a suggestion: Give plow drivers the power to change traffic signals to green, the way emergency vehicles do.

This would be beneficial in numerous ways, he said. Streets would be cleared faster, and plows would operate more efficiently — it takes a lot of energy to move them from a dead stop.

It also might reduce the number of dangerous maneuvers that car drivers undertake to try to get around plows, Hanson said: “If we could change the lights, everyone would want to be behind us.”

MORE ON METERS

After last week’s column about the testing of new parking meters, alert reader Lisa wrote in to report that one of the old meters seemed to notice when she moved her car. It wouldn’t accept her money at first, then it did after she moved the car.

Such technology does exist, but it’s not in use locally at the moment, says Tim Drew, Minneapolis traffic engineer. Some of the new meters being tested can automatically go back down to zero minutes when a car pulls away, meaning no free minutes for the next person. The city hasn’t decided whether to use that feature yet.

Alert reader Chris the Nurse, meanwhile, was concerned about how drivers with disabilities might fare with the kiosk-style meters, which make you pay at a kiosk somewhere on the block. “Do they have to walk MORE to use this new ‘meter’?”

Drew pointed out that drivers with disability plates or window tags can park for free for up to four hours at most metered spots in the city, so they wouldn’t have to go down the sidewalk to pay. And the future pay-by-cell phone option could allow anyone to make a payment from the comfort of one’s vehicle.

A final thought comes from alert reader Becky, who tried some of the meters in the Warehouse District test area:

So far they work well — except they are too high for me. I am about 5′ 2″ tall and have to stand on my toes whenever I read the meter to see the display. I know this is pretty minor — but there are many people shorter than I am, and they will not be able to read the display at all.

This had not occurred to Roadguy, who is a foot taller than Becky. Drew says the new meters aren’t any higher than the old ones, but the display is angled upward, making it more difficult to read if you’re short and not carrying a stepstool.

Becky has already shared her thoughts with the city’s 311 phone line, and if you try the new meters, you should, too.

Roadguy is on a short vacation, but he wanted to wish you a very happy holiday. And what could be more festive than …

…a Christmas sweater vest on a bike rack? I came across this last week while checking out new parking meters in Dinkytown. It was quite bold of the owner to leave something so beautiful unlocked.

May your Christmas be filled with peace and safe travels.