Protected Bikeway Update to the Bicycle Master Plan (June 2015)

Minneapolis City council has adapted “Protected Bikeway Update to the Bicycle Master Plan,” in June 2015. City Council has already recommended the implementation of 30 miles of on-street protected bike facilities by 2020. This Plan Update identifies priority locations, capital costs, and maintenance costs for the implementation of protected bikeways in Minneapolis. A protected bikeway is a bicycle facility that is physically separated from motor vehicle traffic. Off-street trails are the most common type of protected bikeway; however, protected bikeways may also be located within street corridors and separated from traffic lanes through parked cars, curbs, medians, bollards/flexible traffic posts, planters, or other vertical features. Although protected bikeways are not the only tool in Minneapolis’ bikeway toolbox. Other bikeway facility types include bike lanes, shared lanes, and bike boulevards. Please refer to sections #1 and #2 for various strategies that have been proposed at Northside. The City will consider a variety of criteria when implementing protected bikeways, including the following:

Transportation Criteria

High bicycle demand
High traffic conflict
Good network integration Equity Criteria
Racial/ethnic populations (census data)
Economic (Areas of Concentrated Poverty and Racially Concentrated Areas of Poverty)

Other Considerations

Routes identified in the overall Bicycle Master Plan
Street reconstruction projects already programmed
Linkages to other projects (e.g. Hennepin County and Mn/DOT)
Projects must be definable – termini make sense, the project can’t be too small or inefficient
Other unique circumstances

There are several projects that are labeled “to be determined” because more evaluation is required before a positive recommendation for a protected bikeway can be made. BALL will continue to monitor the situation.