[Mpls] 5 lanes

[Jeff Rosenberg]

Part of the problem in the pedestrians vs. car debate are the sort of
numbers we take for granted.

Wizard Marks wrote:

> WM: Here is the crux of the problem we have been struggling with for the
> last 19 months. We have 68 feet of space. Neighborhoods want 20 feet for
> wider sidewalks. Merchants want on-street parking @ 8 ft./parking lane
> or 16 ft. for both sides. That's 36 ft. We need 4 lanes for vehicular
> traffic @ 11 ft./lane or 44 ft. All that equals 80 ft. in total.

I say:

11 ft/lane is absolutely absurd! The lanes on I-35 are 12 feet . . . anybody
think that traffic on Lake Street should move in the same way as the
highway?

How about 9 ft/lane? The hummer is one inch under being 7 ft wide, so I
think that width is imminently doable. If need be (though I don't think it'd
be necessary), the right-hand lanes could be 10 ft to accommodate buses.

Now, all of the sudden, you have an extra 8 feet . . . now you only need 72
feet. That's a lot closer.

--Jeff Rosenberg
Cedar-Riverside