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The Bicycle masterplan will receive a hearing in front of the Rochester Planning & Zoning Board on May 23rd at 7 PM (the meeting is at the government center and is typically in the council chambers).  If you care about these issues, plan on showing up and speaking.

Meeting notice.

They will be weighing in on whether the Bicycle Masterplan should be adopted.

Bicycle Masterplan.

Here are some facts you should know.

Minnesota bike facts.

• Minnesota has over 1500 jobs in the bike industry, 350 businesses, and 144 million in annual revenue.
• Biking / Walking in MN receives biking receives 1.5% of Federal funding, represents 12% of all trips, and 9% of all fatalities.
• The percentage of trips traveled by walking / biking is higher in cities and increasing.
• The cost of the entire bike masterplan is less that the Elk Run intersection.
• The cost of the entire bike masterplan is about 2.5% of total 2040 infrastructure spending. (per Phil Wheeler)
• “Gas Tax” revenues fund less than 2% of transportation infrastructure in Minnesota.
• The other 98+% comes from other sources.
• 40% of Minnesotans do not drive.
• Bike paths and bike lanes serve different users.

I want more safe routes for recreational and commuting bikers and fewer memorial bike rides.

Here is one of many county roads in Rochester which fails to account for pedestrians, cyclists, businesses, transit users, the young, the old, or the disabled.

Check out these great urban places.

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/a_gallery_of_walkability_part.html

Also based on the metrics used Rochester MN would rate highly on this list of the best cities for singles.

http://www.planetizen.com/node/54444

I am happy that our city sidewalk have never been cleaner.  There have been a number or questions on Rochester sidewalk snow removal policies.  I have kids that may walk in a couple of years to school, seniors in my neighborhoods, and I represent at least 2 legally blind men how need sidewalks for mobility.  I will protect their safety even if it is unpopular.

Here are a few questions and if you send me more I will answer them here:

Q:  Why do you want to stick it to us?

I don’t want to stick it to you.  I want property owners to be responsible and clear sidewalks.  Zero fines is my desired outcome. Read the rest of this entry »

Rochester property owners have always had an obligation to promptly remove snow from sidewalks.  This has never been an option.  Now we have a policy that will provide better enforcement and make sure that taxpayers are not responsible for clean up of others.  I am NOT willing to endanger the 40% of Minnesotans that do not drive (including my kids) because someone does not fulfill their responsibility.  Most areas will only be responded to on a complaint basis.  Read the rest of this entry »

To often traffic engineers place a value on expedited automobile transport over everything else.  Is this wise, efficient, or fiscally responsible?  I don’t think so.  Here is a great article written by the former mayor of Milwaukee in Atlantic Cities. Read the rest of this entry »

Having lived near a roundabout for 6 years, I have become a huge fan of them.  In general they are safer, more efficient, calm traffic, and more aesthetically pleasing.  They are also very good at dealing with intersections where not everything is perfectly aligned at 90 degrees (Highway 14 and Marion Road is a great example). As a taxpayer, I love that operating costs are much lower than a signalized intersection. There is a large roundabout planned for US 63 and 75th street North.

One down side is that roundabouts can be intimidating for cyclists especially if they have multiple lanes or higher design speeds.

Here is the proposed language for administrative fines for failure to clear sidewalks within 24 hours of the end of a snow event. These fines would be in addition to paying the full cost of a private company removing the snow. Read the rest of this entry »

40% of Minnesotans don’t drive yet some people still won’t clear their sidewalks despite requirements to do so.

Among those that I represent is a blind man that uses pedestrian facilities to get to work.

At a committee meeting today we discussed some snow emergency pilot programs aimed at better and more efficiently clearing streets.  I took it upon myself to also introduce a plan to address sidewalk clearing.  Last year I called on public works to clear sidewalks many times and they just didn’t have the resources to get it done.  Here is the new plan that I proposed.

1. City negotiates rates for clearing uncleared sidewalks with approved private companies (probably per foot or similar).  The understanding is that the sidewalk must be cleared within 24 hours of receiving a complaint.  (The city policy is that the walk must be cleared withing 24 hours of the end of a snow event.)
2. The contractor must take and provide a time stamped picture to document the uncleared walk.
3. The property owner is charged the full amount of the cost of clearing the walkway + $60 administrative fine for each occurrence.

The cost + fines angle should force those that are repeatedly negligent to just hire someone to do it, as it will be cheaper.  Previously we just charged a flat amount which often was less than the cost of removal.

No one spoke against this at the committee meeting so I hope this passes next Monday.

Here is how you design an intersection with absolutely no consideration for pedestrians.  Bill Bruins sent me this photo.  This is the area on North Broadway that I refer to as death triangle for its awful bike and pedestrian design.  Here you can see that there are situations where someone with a disability could not reach the crossing button.  There are similar boneheaded intersection layouts at many intersections along West Circle Drive as well.