Biking is king in Twin Cities
BICYCLING
BY MIKE MCFADZEN
How can a northern climate city become one of the top bike-friendly cities in the country? You understand how cities like Portland or San Francisco are in the mix, but Minneapolis?
It doesn’t happen by chance. Anyone who “gets” urban biking, marvels at this city. A terrific network of biking and hiking trails ring the Twin Cities. Take in the cityscapes, gorgeous river views and urban sites – you name it.
Minneapolis is always mentioned as a top-ten bike-friendly city, often near the front of the pack with other perennial favorites. Bicycling Magazine currently pegs Minneapolis at No. 4.
The Twin Cities also has the hipster thing going. Microbrews, art galleries, foodie districts – these are amenities that attract millennials and their employers. These folks take their biking very seriously.
I recently talked with nationally-known biking expert, Stephen Clark, and Minneapolis Planning Commission President, Sam Rockwell, to find out how Minneapolis does it.
“You have to remember that the Twin Cities have key cultural and lifestyle advantages that are an attraction to millennials and active boomers,” Clark told Silent Sports. “People live here intentionally – they take pride in being hardy and tough. Getting key political support early in the process is necessary, which builds the bike-support foundation. Good public support helps undermine the naysayers.”
In Hennepin County (Twin Cities), government entities work together, including Minneapolis, St. Paul, the park boards, public works departments and city councils.
Local champions are a necessary component of the process. A CEO, legislator or city mayor biking to work helps provide the needed example.
“Lots of credit goes to former Congressman James Oberstar for being a role model in this urban area,” said Clark. “In some cases, you don’t need tons of money, just the political will. If you can make it a legitimate activity, that helps to get others on board.”
Another key role model was former Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak, who encouraged bike advocacy and development.
“The leadership of both Oberstar and Rybak really helped push this forward,” Rockwell said.
There are key pieces that helped make the Twin Cities a biking mecca, including savvy city planners in the late 1800s who established the lake parkways.
“Because of the parkways and other biking systems, it was possible to have the connectivity that makes non-motorized transportation happen,” said Rockwell, whose 6-mile daily work commute is almost completely on bike lanes. “People tell their friends about bike commuting and it starts growing organically. But you have to feel safe, or you won’t do it.”
Rockwell believes that smart transportation and land use decisions help build strong communities.
The European connection
Many European cities have biking built directly into their culture. Almost all roads have biking and walking infrastructure amenities.
“We learned a lot from the Europeans,” Clark said.
These communities make biking easier and more convenient by placing bike parking closer than car parking. There are also convenient bike racks located around the city, road diets that make additional bike lanes and key downtown areas are blocked off to cars. Making bike routes faster than some car routes also helps.
“The Midtown Greenway (key Minneapolis bike route) can be faster on a bike than trying to take a car,” said Clark.
Northern climate cities have unique demands. Communities like Minneapolis maintain many bike paths year round, including winter.
Some people have accused Clark of being irresponsible and unsafe by promoting winter biking. Clark is the first to stress safety and will tell you to have the right gear for winter conditions. In many cases, you need studded tires, and good lights are a must for almost any condition.
“Minneapolis always had strong bike growth, but the biggest increases over the last several years were winter time use,” said Clark. “Big, hip promotions on winter biking also help.”
Another key component is a feedback loop to politicians and city planners.
“Once people start using it, they become a key constituency, which creates a level of accountability,” Rockwell said. “An active and growing constituency is hard for decision-makers to avoid. You also have the health and environmental benefits these systems provide.”
Having an innovative planning process is also important.
“The Minneapolis 2040 Plan provides a framework on how the city will grow,” said Rockwell.
The plan covers housing, job access, building design and how transportation will be designed and function from 2020-2040.
The plan includes goals, policies, and most importantly, implementation steps.
According to plan documents, during more than two years of engagement, the people of Minneapolis shared their vision and hopes for the city.
The main theme voiced was that as the city grows, everyone must benefit. The plan included input from over 100 meetings and conversations with thousands of residents, business owners and others.
Midwest small/mid-size bike-friendly communities
Small communities have advantages over large cities, as kids grow up biking to school and around their neighborhoods. There is also slower traffic and sidewalks are commonplace.
But there is a big step in transforming normal, non-motorized transportation to a truly bicycle-friendly city. The transportation plan must include pedestrian-friendly facilities and be built when road infrastructure is built. It’s very expensive to retrofit existing roadways for walking and biking.
Want to transform your community? Check out the National Complete Streets Coalition.
Complete Streets integrates people and place in the planning, design, construction and maintenance of transportation networks. This helps to ensure streets are safe for people of all ages and abilities, balance the needs of different modes, support local land uses, economies, cultures and natural environments.
According to Complete Streets, over 1,325 agencies at the local, regional and state levels have adopted Complete Streets policies. Maybe your community is next?
Small and mid-size cities are growing their biking game as city leaders understand the community and economic impacts.
The League of American Bicyclists said the top Midwest bicycle-friendly communities include Champaign and Urbana, Illinois, Grand Marais, Minnesota, Iowa City, Iowa, and Wisconsin cities Wausau, Stevens Point, Eau Claire, La Crosse and Madison.
Madison is the only platinum-rated city in the Midwest.
The League of American Bicyclists also noted the Biking Friendly Community (BFC) program is revolutionizing the way communities evaluate their quality of life, sustainability and transportation networks while allowing them to benchmark their progress toward improving their bicycle-friendliness.
There are 371 BFC programs in all 50 states. The BFC recognizes commitment to improving conditions for bicycling through investment in bicycling promotion, education programs, infrastructure and pro-bicycling policies.
The application itself is a rigorous educational tool. Since its inception, more than 800 distinct communities have applied to be a BFC. There are five award levels based on criteria, from diamond to bronze. The awards provide a clear incentive for communities to continuously improve.
The first step to a bicycling-friendly community is getting involved. Attend planning meetings, talk to local officials and rally support for pedestrian facilities. Most city planners want to hear from their citizenry. The pay-off can be big. Transform your community – make it more livable, friendly and safe.
Sidebar one: Headed to the Twin Cities? Check out these trails
Midtown Greenway – A 5.5-mile long former railroad corridor in south Minneapolis has three lanes: two for biking and one for walking/running.
This well-maintained route is plowed in the winter, lit at night and open 24/7.
For most of its distance, the paths are separated from streets, making for a safe and barrier-free ride at all times.
The Greenway connects with the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes and the Southwest LRT Trail and adjoins trails along the Mississippi River to the east.
Chain of Lakes – Take in the beauty of the many lakes, including the shorelines of Brownie Lake, Cedar Lake, Lake of the Isles, Bda Maka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun) and Lake Harriet.
The 15-mile route connects each lake to the next.
You will never run out of impressive views.
Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway – About 50 miles long, the roughly circular byway consists of a linked series of parks and weaves through seven segments of the city.
Bike from the downtown riverfront all the way to the Mississippi River.
This route includes the Minnehaha Parkway, Chain of Lakes, Theodore Wirth Park, Victory Memorial and Northeast Byway.
One of the country’s longest continuous systems of public urban parkways, you’ll view lakes, woodlands, riverbanks, wetlands, lagoons, gardens and parkways.
Minneapolis River Parkways – Located on the east and west banks of the Mississippi River and extending into St. Paul, these corridors are ideal for transportation or a fun bike ride.
Make your way downtown along the West River Parkway and across the Mississippi River at Franklin Ave.
Take a small detour into Prospect Park and visit the Witch’s Hat Tower at Tower Hill Park for an incredible view of the Minneapolis skyline.
Head back on the East River Parkway to finish with another beautiful view of the city across the Stone Arch Bridge (source: Minneapolis.org).
According to Hennepin County (which comprises most of the Twin Cities), the 2040 bicycle transportation plan lays out a vision that emphasizes ways to make bicycling safe and comfortable for people of all ages and abilities. The plan guides how, where and when the county and park districts will build bikeways and other facilities.
Don’t have a bike? No worries – you can rent them cheap at the Nice Ride stations across the Twin Cities from March/April through November.
This bike-share service has over 3,000 bikes at 400 locations. It’s a fun and affordable way to get around. It’s simple, too. Download the Nice Ride app, locate a bike and start pedaling. A daily pass is $6 or an annual pass is $75.
Like to mix a little beer with your biking? It might not be for everyone, but check out the Pedal Pub. It’s a human-powered 12-person vehicle with beer on board.
Sidebar two: Stephen Clark
There is often a story within a story and this one is about Stephen Clark.
His impressive credentials and accomplishments make for good reading on its own.
Clark’s impressive resume includes being the Non-motorized Pilot Program Coordinator for Minneapolis-St. Paul, bike coordinator for Boulder, Colorado, founder of Minnesota Coalition of Bicyclists and program manager for Transit for Livable Communities.
Clark also helped plan and develop Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail.
Clark practices what he preaches. He visited 204 cities for the League of American Bicyclists, working with city leaders to encourage and plan non-motorized transportation.
Clark and I helped implement the federally-supported Non-motorized Transportation Pilot Program.
The program’s intent was to demonstrate if bicycling and walking could carry a larger part of the transportation load, and represent a major portion of the transportation solution, within four selected communities.
Clark worked the Twin Cities, while I worked on the Sheboygan County part of the program.
Clark often commuted 75 miles from Minneapolis to his farm in Cushing, Wisconsin.
I could barely do my 20-mile commute in Sheboygan County.
I caught up with Clark in February when I started researching this story. We were talking winter recreation (including the Birkie) when he revealed (with some prodding from me) that he essentially biked from Cushing to Cable with a modified ski rack to ski the Birkie.
Following the race, he turned around and biked another 80 miles home.
“It really wasn’t that bad, other than the snowstorm for the last 20 miles,” Clark explained.
There was no time for rest, though. He planned on defending his 10k and half marathon U.S. snowshoe championship titles in Cable the following weekend – and he did just that, repeating in both classes.
He also won both 2018 world titles in Spain.
I asked Clark if he wanted to defend the world titles in 2019.
“One world title is plenty – If you really want a world title, do it in snowshoeing. It’s really not that tough,” Clark told me in self-deprecating fashion.
Clark calls these mega workouts and events “his worst character flaw.”
Oh, to be flawed like that.