Bike/Walk Streets in the Twin Cities!

People who live and work in the Twin Cities area will have a new, safe way to get where they're going. Thanks to Transit for Livable Communities’ Bike/Walk Twin Cities initiative, “bike/walk streets” are coming to the Twin Cities area.

These streets are like nothing seen before in Minnesota. Bike/walk streets accommodate auto travel but literally give priority to cyclists and pedestrians. These streets use traffic calming techniques, signage, lighting, and other amenities to provide a safe, quiet, and direct route for bicyclists and pedestrians to reach everyday destinations like schools and commercial centers. These streets especially cater to new, inexperienced, or young riders, helping them move from riding on paths and trails onto shared roadways.

The idea intrigued local media, including Minnesota Public Radio, which featured it in a morning drive-time newscast recently. WCCO radio, KFAI, and the Southwest/Downtown Journals also featured pieces.

Bike boulevards, a variation of bike/walk streets, are used with great success in many cities around the world. In Portland, Oregon, bicyclists can ride on 30 miles of dedicated bike boulevards, many of which have recorded zero crashes over the last decade. The Bicycle Transportation Alliance in Portland plans to expand this network of bike/walk streets by dozens of miles in coming years.

As part of the Bike/Walk Twin Cities initiative, Transit for Livable Communities brought bike/walk street expert Mia Birk to speak in the Twin Cities. At least 50 people, including government officials, engineers, planners, students, advocates, and other concerned residents attended the presentation. If you’d like to see her presentations, click here. You can also view a video featuring Mia Birk here.

These streets are great neighborhood assets – calmer, quieter yet very functional. Residents in other cities have clamored for their streets to be designated for such treatment. They are also very cost effective for communities, adapting existing resources with minimal construction, to enhance the travel potential of low-traffic volume streets. 

"Bike/walk streets will change how people get around the Twin Cities area," says Joan Pasiuk, Program Director of the Bike/Walk Twin Cities initiative for Transit for Livable Communities. “Many people already bicycle and walk to reach their destinations, but these bike/walk streets will be welcome mats for cyclists and pedestrians.”

Bike/Walk Twin Cities is an initiative of Transit for Livable Communities that aims to increase walking and bicycling and reduce driving by 2010. As part of this initiative, Transit for Livable Communities administers a $21.5 million federal grant making investments in planning, infrastructure, and public education to increase rates of bicycling and walking, and documenting the best strategies. Using this funding, Transit for Livable Communities is currently soliciting proposals for new bike/walk street locations in the Minneapolis area.