Lyndale needs to be reconstructed, as the pavement is beyond resurfacing and the underlying infrastructure (water mains, sanitary sewers, and stormwater utilities buried beneath the street) is aging. Lyndale has been a "high injury street" - the intersection of Lyndale and Lake Street has historically seen some of the highest numbers of vehicle-on-pedestrian crashes in Minneapolis, but that was cut by 50% by merely adding a center left-turn lane in 2022. Somehow, the "conventional wisdom" has become that Lyndale needs to be completely redesigned/reinvented to accommodate and promote peds, bikes, and buses at the expense of cars. If this were merely "reconstruction," it probably could be done in a year. I don't understand the reinvention.
I don't think we have to choose between safer streets and thriving businesses. Walkable neighborhoods bring lots of foot traffic. Encouraging people to use alternative means of transportation is good. Cars and their infrastructure have brought a lot of negative externalities to America and the Twin Cities and I'm glad our urban planners are working to make things easier and safer for those without a car or those who prefer not to drive (me!) The reason I live in Minneapolis proper is that I like the bike trails, public transit options and walkability. I'd like to see our city continue to develop them. I agree with a lot of what Better Minneapolis has to say about city council dysfunction and the problems we face, but I think the Lyndale Ave reconstruction will be a step in the right direction.
Thank you for your feedback. Walkability and alternate transportation options are certainly worthy goals, and I appreciate you sharing your perspective.
What many people seem to be advocating for is more of a balance — and a recognition that, whether we like the world this way or not, many businesses currently rely on customers who arrive by car. The median in the middle of the road may not be the most effective tool for improving walkability; if anything, it appears to contribute to traffic congestion without meaningfully advancing pedestrian access.
One point I've heard often is that we should be building for how people will travel in the future, not just today — and that in five or ten years, transportation needs could look very different. I think that's a fair and important point. Before the current design is finalized, it might be worth taking more time to think carefully about where things are headed.
Our entire public transportation network currently seems designed to move people downtown, which may have made sense pre-COVID, but no longer appears to reflect how and where people are actually moving. A more forward-looking approach could serve our community much better in the long run.
Thanks again for reading and for offering your perspective.
I hear your perspective but I do not agree with it. The thriving businesses need deliveries of their products or raw materials to be able to sell to the walkers, bikers and pedestrians who don't drive. Thank goodness commercial vehicles are still able to deliver to them. And Vision Zero and the safer streets has not made our streets safer for bicyclists, pedestrians and scooters in Minneapolis and in St Paul. Take a look at Carol Becker's post to the Minneapolis Times: https://minneapolistimes.com/the-failure-of-vision-zero/ And the city website says "2021 saw 168 severe injury or fatal crashes, the highest number since 2017." 2017 is when Vision Zero was implemented in Minneapolis. Everyone has to look both ways before they cross and that is just not happening.
My mother didn't drive and she took 2 buses to get to her job, from NE to near the Witches Tower in SE, retiring in 1994. The bus system worked fine for her. I biked to my high school job in the 70s from NE Mpls to Northwestern hospital (pre Abbott merger). I took the bus to my waitressing job at 9th and Nicollet Walgreens from age 14. And I've biked all my life. We rode the side streets to avoid traffic and pollution. Commuting to high school, the University of Minnesota and even City Hall for a short while. I've bicycle toured across the U.P. Michigan, from NE Up to St Croix State Park in a day and even the Denali Park Road in a day. My family has had close to 50 years of annual rides to Stillwater with modifications throughout, depending on how dark and rainy it ended up being when riding from NE, and how many kid trailers were towed, to now starting in Maplewood along the rails to trails: the Gateway and Brown's Creek State Trails.
And I love to drive cars, trucks and take road trips. I could make it to Fairbanks in 3.5 days when I was working my job in a National Park in AK. I drive commercially, driving bus and drove a 13 speed gravel truck in a National Park along w the various loaders we used to load our vehicles. And now I drive 7 or 11 ton trucks in the metro delivering something people really want and many rely on--many who don't drive. I switched to a hybrid for my personal vehicle, am very aware of climate change: Alaska and arctic areas are warming 7 times faster than lower latitudes. The current increase in fuel is making the switch to EVs even quicker than expected around the world. I think that is where we are headed for transportation in the coming years. So, what is the point?
The point is, through maybe 2010 the metro infrastructure was fine. I remember taking the bus to the Red Owl for groceries that used to be at the shopping center at University and Central where Cobalt Condominiums is now. Many streets had 4 lanes and you could get around left turners, no problem. If you wanted to bike, you could. My brother biked from St Anthony to his job in downtown St Paul for YEARS. But ever since this change to the infrastructure to accommodate a special group of people who don't want to own cars--even though people like my Mom did fine--it has just been awful. Now we are stuck in gridlock. I saw 2 school buses, going in opposite directions a couple days ago, trying to navigate 34th Ave So. by the Crosstown Gas at E 58th--struggling to make the turn. And now we sit idling behind the left turners at multiple lights, increasing the pollution. And heaven forbid a street needs some construction--it's a MESS! You used to be able to shut down a lane and work on the other. People are frustrated. You wait for a left turn light and the front car is distracted on their phone and they are the only one to make it through the light before it turns red. I think this is what leads to more red light running. People are frustrated.
The point is, We had the OPTION to bike, drive, walk or take public transportation depending on ALL the variables in your life, and traffic flowed and people weren't frustrated. When I learned to drive, gas was 17-18 cents a gallon and I might put in $3 at a time. I learned it's best to keep moving to get the best fuel mileage. This bike lobby is trying to legislate infrastructure without legislating common sense and personal responsibility. I drive every day and regularly see bikers scooters and pedestrians run red lights or not look when they set off the curb. Some seem to believe the city hype about safer streets, others honestly look like they are trying to force the issue and won't be happy until the whole metro is closed to vehicles. St Paul had an ebike fatality a couple days ago--ebike ran the red. Same article said a pedestrian was hit on W 7th--not in a crosswalk. Crimewatch posts bike scooter and pedestrian accidents all the time--including bike hitting a pedestrian and bike hitting a parked car, recently. Changing the whole infrastructure that makes everyone idle more year round, and is hardly used half the year, is just not good common sense and not good fiscal sense. Can you imagine what we've spent on the bollards alone? You don't need a bike lane on every street. The city should be looked at again and put bike lanes on some streets giving a reasonable commuting grid and restore the rest of them to sanity. Riding on streets like Broadway is just asking for trouble. Ironically, until the DSA stops fighting public safety and policing, public transit will stay low ridership.
Both these stories (Lyndale, GFS) are kind of demoralizing.
Regarding GFS, it sounds like there are no objectively good development organization alternatives at present. I retired a few years ago from working in a Fortune 500 company. There, in the 2010's, a middle manager caught the eye of top executives by constantly having great "plans", and us worker bees would just snicker. His "plan" was always just an objective, stated in active voice, with numbers and dates, such as "We will have a sales increase of 35% by this quarter three years from now". There was never any "plan" to the plan. We could never figure out why execs were impressed with him. Of course, none of his plans ever worked out. Both of the leading "plans" for the former gas station site feel like his plans. The groups are well-meaning and know what they'd like, but lack anything even resembling the appropriate experience, talents on-board, etc., to even develop an actual working plan to get there - never mind the execution of the plan.
Regarding Lyndale, I made a point in recent past years of keeping an open mind on the Hennepin rebuild. After all, most of us are not really capable of knowing what something like that will "feel" like from even the best artistic renderings. Recently, there were two times I found myself needing to drive the entire length - once in each direction. Set aside how long each of those drives took. How it "feels" is *hopeless*. Less like driving an urban commercial street and more like driving in a constrained tube with few opportunities to escape. I've reached the conclusion that if the objective was to literally make driving Hennepin something that made one *not* want to visit any of the businesses - today or in future... well... Mission Accomplished! Folks operating small businesses on Lyndale are right to be concerned. Hennepin is no longer a "business street" in the sense of "a place where I might become intrigued to visit a new store because I saw it while driving on my way to somewhere else." I don't *want* to drive on Hennepin now. I'm still able-bodied, and like to get a little walking in, so I almost always park on less busy streets, anyway, and walk some to an urban shopping destination. I've already decided that for those businesses on Hennepin I'd like to continue to visit, I will approach from east or west, park, and try never to actually *be* on Hennepin. I am sadly aware that this will somewhat limit my ability to learn of anything new that opens there. I can't be the only one who just doesn't want to drive this stretch any more. And that can't be good for small business owners, current or future.
Finally, regarding the Mayor: What you describe is just how he is. Much as I try, I could never achieve his level of equanimity in the face of folks yelling at me, being "ambushed" (as he was here), etc. I once asked him about it outside during a break in some DFL meeting (where he'd been yelled at...), and he just waved it off and said something on the order of "just part of the job..." Someday, he'll be gone, and we're going to miss him when he is.
Many excerpts from this piece will be shared because they are so accurate.*
Much of this same over lap involves DSA membership, which is about 85 % white. Feels like many of the same folks showed up to take over the community meetings around where the new 3rd Police Precinct should be located. Their conduct, which came from almost exclusively white folks, ( bolstered by CM Wonsley, who showed up at all the mtgs, as the proponent for abolishing the police ) was aggressively anti police. They successfully created a very hostile and intimidating environment for the presenters, especially, and then the community members, who were simply there to listen to the presentation and talk locations.
These are the same folks that are fortunate enough to have secure places to park their cars, (while pretending that they never drive) and the same folks that can afford the $500 plus deductible every time their car may go missing or get buglarized. The same folks that can afford security features for their homes, cars, and, yes, the bikes. 🏡 +🚘 + 🚲
We have allowed these SAME people to run the table, and in doing so, nearly run Mpls...into the ground.
* "Listening to the protesters on Monday, I was struck by their entitlement, arrogance, and ableism. They were young with few physical limitations. They were also 99% white. Few BIPOC voices were present, let alone leading the charge against small business owners. Their sense of injustice runs far deeper than bike lanes."
I was at that meeting and it was rough. I generally try to look for positivity and points of agreement. And I am a cyclist who drives as little as possible and lives just off Lyndale for the walk ability.
I'm not entirely convinced that the issue is anything more than the extended construction timeline, and what's what makes or breaks it for the businesses. But as Jim mentioned in an earlier comment the extended timeline could be driven by the major changes proposed.
What was hardest for me was seeing my fellow cyclists and lefties being unpleasant to fellow neighbors who they've suddenly decided are the enemy because of differences of opinion over urban planning. It wasn't cool.
I should say "some of my fellow cyclists and lefties."
It wasn't everyone there who supported the Lyndale changes. And it quieted down quite a bit after the leader of MOVE Minnesota (I believe the group that organized the bike-ped attendance at the meeting) was given the microphone and told their supporters directly that they were being disrespectful (my words).
But man, position on the issue notwithstanding the supporters who attended should do some self reflection.
These activists are leading the city around by its nose. I don’t see how it stops until politicians simply ignore them.
Lyndale needs to be reconstructed, as the pavement is beyond resurfacing and the underlying infrastructure (water mains, sanitary sewers, and stormwater utilities buried beneath the street) is aging. Lyndale has been a "high injury street" - the intersection of Lyndale and Lake Street has historically seen some of the highest numbers of vehicle-on-pedestrian crashes in Minneapolis, but that was cut by 50% by merely adding a center left-turn lane in 2022. Somehow, the "conventional wisdom" has become that Lyndale needs to be completely redesigned/reinvented to accommodate and promote peds, bikes, and buses at the expense of cars. If this were merely "reconstruction," it probably could be done in a year. I don't understand the reinvention.
Grateful that you endure these meetings and offer us readers your spot on analysis.
Activists are the tail which wags the dog.
I don't think we have to choose between safer streets and thriving businesses. Walkable neighborhoods bring lots of foot traffic. Encouraging people to use alternative means of transportation is good. Cars and their infrastructure have brought a lot of negative externalities to America and the Twin Cities and I'm glad our urban planners are working to make things easier and safer for those without a car or those who prefer not to drive (me!) The reason I live in Minneapolis proper is that I like the bike trails, public transit options and walkability. I'd like to see our city continue to develop them. I agree with a lot of what Better Minneapolis has to say about city council dysfunction and the problems we face, but I think the Lyndale Ave reconstruction will be a step in the right direction.
Thank you for your feedback. Walkability and alternate transportation options are certainly worthy goals, and I appreciate you sharing your perspective.
What many people seem to be advocating for is more of a balance — and a recognition that, whether we like the world this way or not, many businesses currently rely on customers who arrive by car. The median in the middle of the road may not be the most effective tool for improving walkability; if anything, it appears to contribute to traffic congestion without meaningfully advancing pedestrian access.
One point I've heard often is that we should be building for how people will travel in the future, not just today — and that in five or ten years, transportation needs could look very different. I think that's a fair and important point. Before the current design is finalized, it might be worth taking more time to think carefully about where things are headed.
Our entire public transportation network currently seems designed to move people downtown, which may have made sense pre-COVID, but no longer appears to reflect how and where people are actually moving. A more forward-looking approach could serve our community much better in the long run.
Thanks again for reading and for offering your perspective.
I hear your perspective but I do not agree with it. The thriving businesses need deliveries of their products or raw materials to be able to sell to the walkers, bikers and pedestrians who don't drive. Thank goodness commercial vehicles are still able to deliver to them. And Vision Zero and the safer streets has not made our streets safer for bicyclists, pedestrians and scooters in Minneapolis and in St Paul. Take a look at Carol Becker's post to the Minneapolis Times: https://minneapolistimes.com/the-failure-of-vision-zero/ And the city website says "2021 saw 168 severe injury or fatal crashes, the highest number since 2017." 2017 is when Vision Zero was implemented in Minneapolis. Everyone has to look both ways before they cross and that is just not happening.
My mother didn't drive and she took 2 buses to get to her job, from NE to near the Witches Tower in SE, retiring in 1994. The bus system worked fine for her. I biked to my high school job in the 70s from NE Mpls to Northwestern hospital (pre Abbott merger). I took the bus to my waitressing job at 9th and Nicollet Walgreens from age 14. And I've biked all my life. We rode the side streets to avoid traffic and pollution. Commuting to high school, the University of Minnesota and even City Hall for a short while. I've bicycle toured across the U.P. Michigan, from NE Up to St Croix State Park in a day and even the Denali Park Road in a day. My family has had close to 50 years of annual rides to Stillwater with modifications throughout, depending on how dark and rainy it ended up being when riding from NE, and how many kid trailers were towed, to now starting in Maplewood along the rails to trails: the Gateway and Brown's Creek State Trails.
And I love to drive cars, trucks and take road trips. I could make it to Fairbanks in 3.5 days when I was working my job in a National Park in AK. I drive commercially, driving bus and drove a 13 speed gravel truck in a National Park along w the various loaders we used to load our vehicles. And now I drive 7 or 11 ton trucks in the metro delivering something people really want and many rely on--many who don't drive. I switched to a hybrid for my personal vehicle, am very aware of climate change: Alaska and arctic areas are warming 7 times faster than lower latitudes. The current increase in fuel is making the switch to EVs even quicker than expected around the world. I think that is where we are headed for transportation in the coming years. So, what is the point?
The point is, through maybe 2010 the metro infrastructure was fine. I remember taking the bus to the Red Owl for groceries that used to be at the shopping center at University and Central where Cobalt Condominiums is now. Many streets had 4 lanes and you could get around left turners, no problem. If you wanted to bike, you could. My brother biked from St Anthony to his job in downtown St Paul for YEARS. But ever since this change to the infrastructure to accommodate a special group of people who don't want to own cars--even though people like my Mom did fine--it has just been awful. Now we are stuck in gridlock. I saw 2 school buses, going in opposite directions a couple days ago, trying to navigate 34th Ave So. by the Crosstown Gas at E 58th--struggling to make the turn. And now we sit idling behind the left turners at multiple lights, increasing the pollution. And heaven forbid a street needs some construction--it's a MESS! You used to be able to shut down a lane and work on the other. People are frustrated. You wait for a left turn light and the front car is distracted on their phone and they are the only one to make it through the light before it turns red. I think this is what leads to more red light running. People are frustrated.
The point is, We had the OPTION to bike, drive, walk or take public transportation depending on ALL the variables in your life, and traffic flowed and people weren't frustrated. When I learned to drive, gas was 17-18 cents a gallon and I might put in $3 at a time. I learned it's best to keep moving to get the best fuel mileage. This bike lobby is trying to legislate infrastructure without legislating common sense and personal responsibility. I drive every day and regularly see bikers scooters and pedestrians run red lights or not look when they set off the curb. Some seem to believe the city hype about safer streets, others honestly look like they are trying to force the issue and won't be happy until the whole metro is closed to vehicles. St Paul had an ebike fatality a couple days ago--ebike ran the red. Same article said a pedestrian was hit on W 7th--not in a crosswalk. Crimewatch posts bike scooter and pedestrian accidents all the time--including bike hitting a pedestrian and bike hitting a parked car, recently. Changing the whole infrastructure that makes everyone idle more year round, and is hardly used half the year, is just not good common sense and not good fiscal sense. Can you imagine what we've spent on the bollards alone? You don't need a bike lane on every street. The city should be looked at again and put bike lanes on some streets giving a reasonable commuting grid and restore the rest of them to sanity. Riding on streets like Broadway is just asking for trouble. Ironically, until the DSA stops fighting public safety and policing, public transit will stay low ridership.
Both these stories (Lyndale, GFS) are kind of demoralizing.
Regarding GFS, it sounds like there are no objectively good development organization alternatives at present. I retired a few years ago from working in a Fortune 500 company. There, in the 2010's, a middle manager caught the eye of top executives by constantly having great "plans", and us worker bees would just snicker. His "plan" was always just an objective, stated in active voice, with numbers and dates, such as "We will have a sales increase of 35% by this quarter three years from now". There was never any "plan" to the plan. We could never figure out why execs were impressed with him. Of course, none of his plans ever worked out. Both of the leading "plans" for the former gas station site feel like his plans. The groups are well-meaning and know what they'd like, but lack anything even resembling the appropriate experience, talents on-board, etc., to even develop an actual working plan to get there - never mind the execution of the plan.
Regarding Lyndale, I made a point in recent past years of keeping an open mind on the Hennepin rebuild. After all, most of us are not really capable of knowing what something like that will "feel" like from even the best artistic renderings. Recently, there were two times I found myself needing to drive the entire length - once in each direction. Set aside how long each of those drives took. How it "feels" is *hopeless*. Less like driving an urban commercial street and more like driving in a constrained tube with few opportunities to escape. I've reached the conclusion that if the objective was to literally make driving Hennepin something that made one *not* want to visit any of the businesses - today or in future... well... Mission Accomplished! Folks operating small businesses on Lyndale are right to be concerned. Hennepin is no longer a "business street" in the sense of "a place where I might become intrigued to visit a new store because I saw it while driving on my way to somewhere else." I don't *want* to drive on Hennepin now. I'm still able-bodied, and like to get a little walking in, so I almost always park on less busy streets, anyway, and walk some to an urban shopping destination. I've already decided that for those businesses on Hennepin I'd like to continue to visit, I will approach from east or west, park, and try never to actually *be* on Hennepin. I am sadly aware that this will somewhat limit my ability to learn of anything new that opens there. I can't be the only one who just doesn't want to drive this stretch any more. And that can't be good for small business owners, current or future.
Finally, regarding the Mayor: What you describe is just how he is. Much as I try, I could never achieve his level of equanimity in the face of folks yelling at me, being "ambushed" (as he was here), etc. I once asked him about it outside during a break in some DFL meeting (where he'd been yelled at...), and he just waved it off and said something on the order of "just part of the job..." Someday, he'll be gone, and we're going to miss him when he is.
Many excerpts from this piece will be shared because they are so accurate.*
Much of this same over lap involves DSA membership, which is about 85 % white. Feels like many of the same folks showed up to take over the community meetings around where the new 3rd Police Precinct should be located. Their conduct, which came from almost exclusively white folks, ( bolstered by CM Wonsley, who showed up at all the mtgs, as the proponent for abolishing the police ) was aggressively anti police. They successfully created a very hostile and intimidating environment for the presenters, especially, and then the community members, who were simply there to listen to the presentation and talk locations.
These are the same folks that are fortunate enough to have secure places to park their cars, (while pretending that they never drive) and the same folks that can afford the $500 plus deductible every time their car may go missing or get buglarized. The same folks that can afford security features for their homes, cars, and, yes, the bikes. 🏡 +🚘 + 🚲
We have allowed these SAME people to run the table, and in doing so, nearly run Mpls...into the ground.
* "Listening to the protesters on Monday, I was struck by their entitlement, arrogance, and ableism. They were young with few physical limitations. They were also 99% white. Few BIPOC voices were present, let alone leading the charge against small business owners. Their sense of injustice runs far deeper than bike lanes."
I was at that meeting and it was rough. I generally try to look for positivity and points of agreement. And I am a cyclist who drives as little as possible and lives just off Lyndale for the walk ability.
I'm not entirely convinced that the issue is anything more than the extended construction timeline, and what's what makes or breaks it for the businesses. But as Jim mentioned in an earlier comment the extended timeline could be driven by the major changes proposed.
What was hardest for me was seeing my fellow cyclists and lefties being unpleasant to fellow neighbors who they've suddenly decided are the enemy because of differences of opinion over urban planning. It wasn't cool.
I should say "some of my fellow cyclists and lefties."
It wasn't everyone there who supported the Lyndale changes. And it quieted down quite a bit after the leader of MOVE Minnesota (I believe the group that organized the bike-ped attendance at the meeting) was given the microphone and told their supporters directly that they were being disrespectful (my words).
But man, position on the issue notwithstanding the supporters who attended should do some self reflection.
We fought ICE together! That's an enemy! Not the guy who owns the pizzeria and disagrees with you about street design!
[Just trying to find the humor, not sure if it lands]
will it be Waymo Ready?
Council rejects Frey choice for remaking Floyd Square
https://replica.startribune.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=75db9c16-ef40-4595-b210-9d42c6702813&share=true