[Mpls] Cool idea, signage & painting

[Sean Ryan]

>From: Erik Riese <riese at tcfreenet.org>

>I was just musing on the new signs our fair city to the East has planted in 
>the median of many streets it hopes to make pedestrian friendly. They are 
>neon green with black lettering and a picture. They say "Yield to 
>Pedestrian in Crosswalk State Law" or something like that. They're about 10 
>to 12 inches wide and maybe three feet tall on those rubber things that 
>flex if you were to hit them.

  Speaking of the those rubber sign bollards- what happened to the ones on 
Hennepin Avenue downtown? They used to clearly mark the bike lane at each 
intersection asking drivers to yield to bikers. If you've ever driven 
Hennepin on a weekend evening, you see countless imbeciles driving in the 
bike lane and using it as a turn lane all while cutting off bikers and 
pedestrians.

  Perhaps it is the higher number of suburban drivers or higher alcohol 
consumption but something needs to change to protect the safety of peds and 
bikers alike.

  The streetscape recommendations for Hennepin have only been partially 
implemented. The plan by HGA also called for large clearly marked 
intersections with bulbous corners [narrowing the roadway for walkers] and 
crosshatching in the center of all intersections similar to New York's 
(similar to lattice). All of downtown should be painted in such a manner not 
just Hennepin.

(On a random note, why doesn't Minneapolis use more durable street paint and 
prioritize painting to dangerous corners such as downtown, Hennepin/ 
Central, Cedar/Washington/Riverside etc.??)

Sean Ryan
Nearly killed several times on Hennepin
Audubon

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