MnDOT seeks public input on bicycle plan

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is asking for public comment on its Statewide Bicycle System Plan draft — the first comprehensive bicycle plan update in more than 10 years. Comments on the 105-page proposal will be accepted until Nov. 16.

Among the plan’s initiatives is a stronger commitment to support and fund local, protected bikeway connections. It also focuses on making current paths that run along state highways more comfortable and creating two new bike paths that would connect cities around the state. Finally, it aims to expand ridership monitoring and measurement.

As part of the initial planning process, a record 4,500 people participated in two sets of public feedback sessions the agency held during 2014 and early 2015. In those sessions, participants said investment in local bicycle travel was two to three times more important than investments in long-distance, statewide bicycle travel, according to the plan summary. That reaction departed from previous MnDOT priorities, which primarily revolved around long-distance paths along the state trunk highway system.

“Ten years ago, I think part of the goal of bicycling was [long distance] destination trips,” said Tim Mitchell, bicycle and pedestrian program manager for MnDOT. “I think what we are seeing now is people are looking at this as an everyday activity they want to engage in while they are at home.”

As a result, the agency has proposed dedicating 70 percent of its bicycle infrastructure funds to supporting local and regional projects going forward, focusing on areas where local paths cross state highways. Currently, 1.4 percent of all MnDOT roadway funding goes toward bicycle infrastructure. The agency is targeting $10 million a year toward bike infrastructure.

The plan gives preference to projects that include bike lanes physically separated from vehicle traffic. It also prioritizes connecting current state highway bicycle routes to local meeting places like schools and workplaces.

The remaining 30 percent of MnDOT bicycle infrastructure funds would be allocated toward maintaining, improving and developing its state bikeway network and potentially increasing the state’s participation in the U.S. Bicycle Route System. The agency will work to widen shoulders or separate routes along existing state trunk highway bikeways to make bicycling more comfortable for riders. In its plan, MnDOT set a goal to facilitate adding two statewide trails in the future.

Currently, Minnesota has one bikeway — the Mississippi River Trail — that is part of the U.S. Bicycle Route System. The 800-mile route runs along the Mississippi River and in surrounding areas from Lake Itasca to the Iowa boarder.

The plan gives priority to three potential routes MnDOT could aid in developing a statewide pathway by working with local agencies to piece together a larger trail:

• Twin Cities to Grand Portage via Hinckley and Duluth.
• Twin Cities to Mankato via the Minnesota River Valley and Northfield.
• Moorhead to St. Cloud via Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls and Alexandria.

MnDOT also hopes to expand the Minnesota Bicycle and Pedestrian Counting Initiative to gather more bicycling data that could inform future funding, projects and safety measures.

Last year the agency for the first time installed permanent automated bicycle ride counters on trails and roads in Duluth, Eagan and Minneapolis to monitor bicycle ridership. In the next week it will be placing more, eventually adding four to eight more counters around the state, Mitchell said.

Counting the number of bicycle riders on Minnesota roads will provide the agency a baseline for planning in future years, in the same way the agency plans for motor vehicle routes, Mitchell said. It may also help place other pieces of data into perspective.

To read the full plan or the executive overview, visit the MnDOT website.