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Plans for 30 miles of protected bike lanes in downtown Minneapolis put bike plans in your city to shame

Plans for 30 miles of protected bike lanes in downtown Minneapolis put bike plans in your city to shame

A plan to add 30.7 miles of protected bike lanes to city streets by 2020 goes before Minneapolis City Council this month, potentially bringing the total of dedicated bikeways to 44 miles over the next five years.

Bike infrastructure in the Twin Cities is nationally recognized, but not everyone in the region is convinced it’s a wise investment, reports the Star-Tribune:

Protected bikeways represent a victory for cycling activists and are a gamble that at least $6 million in new taxpayer funding will increase ridership.

Most of the new bike lanes are proposed for the downtown core. None of the protected lanes scheduled to be completed by 2017 lie north of 26th Avenue North or south of East 28th Street—a decision transportation officials said makes sense if the goal is to increase ridership and improve access to the greatest number of people.

Government financing at the city, county, and federal levels has topped $6 million. All of the protected bikeways recommended through 2020 are estimated to cost somewhere between $6.4 million and $11.6 million, but the Star-Tribune pointed out that the city estimates the cost of reconstructing a single mile of major street for general traffic at more than $8 million.

Another 12 miles are proposed for construction after 2020.

PDF: [planned long-term bicycle network]

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