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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBike Lanes2EdinaTLC City of Edina • 4801 W. 50th St. • Edina, MN 55424 Contact: Jordan Gilgenbach, City of Edina Communications Coordinator Phone 952-826-0396 • jgilgenbach@EdinaMN.gov • www.EdinaMN.gov Hilary Reeves, Bike Walk Twin Cities Phone 651-767-0298, x115 Sean McDonnell, for Bike Walk Twin Cities Phone 612-889-3297 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Bike Lanes Expand on Edina’s Streets Edina, Minn., Sept. 26, 2012 – Edina is significantly expanding its bicycling capacity by making key north- south and east-west roadways more bike-friendly and installing 48 new bike racks at 12 popular retail and municipal locations throughout the community. Edina’s bike expansion effort is funded in part by Bike Walk Twin Cities, a program of Transit for Livable Communities. The expansion will triple the number of City streets with bicycle facilities from 4 to 12. Improvements to three of Edina’s most popular bike routes – on 54th Street, Wooddale Avenue and Valley View Road – will provide key north-south connections within the community and a vital east-west connection into Minneapolis. A number of Edina “firsts” will be achieved in these bike improvements, including:  First dedicated bicycle boulevard on West 54th Street and Wooddale Avenue.  First colored bike lanes on Valley View Road.  First neighborhood traffic circles on West 54th Street.  First bicycle detectors at 54th Street and France Avenue traffic signals.  First advisory bicycle lanes on Wooddale Avenue and on parts of 54th Street. Advisory bike lanes look like dedicated bike lanes, except a dashed line is used in place of a solid bike lane stripe. A dashed line signals to drivers that they may drive in the bike lane space when a bicyclist is not present. These features, while new to Edina, have been used in other parts of the metro and other cities to provide safe and convenient on-street bicycle routes. The Bike Edina Task Force has prepared educational handouts about advisory bike lanes and green lanes. As part of a public education effort, City of Edina staff have circulated handouts and posted a traffic message along Wooddale Road. Brad Schaeppi, a member of the Bike Edina Task Force, is excited to see his organization’s years of work on bicycling expansion in Edina become a reality. “Between the enhancement of Edina roadways for bicycling and the City’s new bike racks, this is truly a watershed year in Edina,” he said. “This is a great win for our community and residents, to enhance our overall quality of life.” In addition to Valley View Road, the Edina City Council earlier this month approved the designation and striping of several streets in southwest Edina as bike lanes. Antrim Road, Cahill Road and 70th Street will be restriped with bike lanes this fall. The Council also designated several other bicycle routes that are currently striped or are being striped as bike lanes. Those routes include Interlachen Boulevard from Blake Road to Vernon Avenue and 58th Street from France Avenue to Xerxes Avenue. City of Edina • 4801 W. 50th St. • Edina, MN 55424 “The City is adding these bike routes as the first phase of the bike system that was identified in the City of Edina’s Comprehensive Plan” said Director of Engineering Wayne Houle. “These non-motorized transportation facilities will fit nicely with the Living Streets initiative that the Transportation Commission is currently working on.” Edina’s Transportation Commission recommended bike lanes in southwest Edina as a priority to connect the bike lanes that were previously added to 70th Street between Highway 100 and France Avenue in 2011. “It is very important to look at these projects as the first phase of the overall bikeway system,” Houle said. “A comprehensive system will encourage cyclists to use our facilities on a regular basis, which continues to promote a healthy City.” Joan Pasiuk, Director of Bike Walk Twin Cities, noted the dedication of individuals such as Schaeppi and many others in helping Edina become more bike-friendly. “Edina has incorporated best practices and innovative solutions into bicycle projects and continues to exemplify a commitment to serving all road users,” Pasiuk said. “Suburbs can be a big part of the regional momentum for sustainable communities. This is the kind of demonstrated outcome of the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program that validates strategic bike/pedestrian investments.” Edina will also soon have significantly more dedicated bicycle parking, too. City crews have already begun installing new bike racks at popular city locations including 44th Street and France Avenue, 50th & France, Edina City Hall, and the Edina Public Works & Park Maintenance Facility. For more information on the City projects, contact the City of Edina Engineering Department at 952-826- 0371 or visit www.EdinaMN.gov/Engineering. For more information about Bike Walk Twin Cities, visit www.bikewalktwincities.org. -30- About Bike Walk Twin Cities The Twin Cities is one of four U.S. communities to receive $28 million through the federal Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program to enhance bicycling and walking as transportation and to improve health, community livability, and air quality. Beginning in 2007, the Bike Walk Twin Cities (BWTC) pilot program allocated funding to expand the network of bicycle routes (more than 75 miles of new bike lanes and sidewalks), to innovative ways to increase access to bicycles for transportation (e.g., Nice Ride Minnesota and the Cycles for Change Community Partners Bike Library), and to education, outreach, planning, and measurement. The Twin Cities area count of bicycling and walking, conducted with several local partners and volunteers, is one of the largest counting efforts in the nation. BWTC, along with the other pilot program locations, is working with the US DOT to establish protocols for measuring nonmotorized transportation in ways that are comparable to other transportation modes. Bike Walk Twin Cities count data shows that bicycling increased 52 percent and walking 18 percent between 2007-2011. The Bike Walk Twin Cities pilot program is administered by Transit for Livable Communities, a nonprofit organization focused on increasing transportation options for Minnesotans. To learn more about BWTC, go to www.bikewalktwincities.org.