Transportation

Introduction

Taking back city streets based on neighborhood values.

Overview

This section includes- City/ County /Metro/ State Transportation Contacts , Transportaion Planning Consultants, Transit , Bike and Smart Growth Organizations and Neighborhood Transportation Projects

Page Index

  • Key Issues
  • Common Problems and Solutions
  • Successful Strategies
  • Annotated Web Resources
  • Topic Library
  • Sub-Topics and Vendors


    • Key Issues Related to this Topic

  • Traffic noise, speed and paving can damage the “neighborliness” of an area. Pedestrians using neighborhood business districts often must cross roads that are designed to move high volumes of traffic at high speeds. Studies show that crime rates are higher on blocks adjacent to freeways where neighbors spend less time outside due to noise. On average more than 60% of urban space is devoted to moving & parking cars.

  • Develop a partnership with staff from public works. The public works departments of Minneapolis and St. Paul are giving more time and attention to addressing the traffic management needs of local neighborhoods. City staff can help neighborhood volunteers understand the rules and regulations which govern street design standards, traffic calming options and how your neighborhood’s traffic patterns effect other neighborhoods and the city as a whole.

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    Common Problems and Solutions

  • Engineers often focus on traffic flow, while neighborhoods focus on livability. Cities have often traditionally focused the use of streets for moving employees in an out of downtown areas. Many one-way streets have been created to move commuters through neighborhoods quickly. Many neighborhood groups have begun taking steps to change the focus of street use toward neighborhood uses.

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    Successful Strategies

  • Residents can change the volume and speed of traffic flowing through their neighborhood. Traffic calming methods being used by neighborhoods include adding stop signs, reducing speed limits, visibly marking crosswalks (Cedar-Isles Dean), adding speed bumps on streets and alleys (in the Wedge), adding traffic circles & diverters (Linden Hills), and creating car-free streets (like Milwaulkee Avenue in the Seward neighborhood.)

  • Develop a neighborhood traffic management plan. Neighborhood volunteers can enlist the help of city staff and independent consultants to develop a long-term traffic management plan for your neighborhood. To start your plan, help residents to identify their basic values around the use of neighborhood streets, parking and other forms of transportation. Next, get traffic flow data from city staff and plan which streets should be used to move cars through and/or around your neighborhood and which streets to use primarily for lower speed residential & pedestrian use.

  • Link your local traffic plan with larger plans for the city and region. Meet with residents from adjacent neighborhoods to discuss the future uses of major streets and the placement of new freeway entrances. Be aware that as metro area freeways become more congested, surface streets will get more commuter traffic. Some suggest that the responsibility for traffic planning should be shifted out of the public works departments into city-planning departments.

  • Plan for making added improvements when your streets are getting repaved. Any changes your neighborhood is planning to make to sidewalks, street lights, street width, etc. can become more affordable if they are planned to be included in the city or county’s long-term street repaving schedule.

  • Solve parking problems creatively. While neighborhood businesses and residents often have competing demands for the same parking spaces, parking shortages are being solved by neighborhoods in many creative ways. Large surface parking lots are not always the best option to solve parking shortages. Many neighborhood business districts are putting parking behind businesses to preserve easy pedestrian access on the street. Two or more users (i.e. a shop and a church) may be able to share a parking lot because they have different peak use times. Parking requirements can be reduced when businesses have a high number of pedestrian customers.

  • Pedestrian-oriented streetscapes increase safety and neighborliness. Factors to consider in making a business district more pedestrian-friendly include traffic speed, street and sidewalk widths, storefront design, transit stops, signage and public art.

  • Make transit work for your residents. Block clubs can adopt a bus shelter and serve as an advocate for their local bus routes. Many of the neighborhoods located along the new Hiawatha Light Rail line in Minneapolis are helping to plan the design of their light rail stations.

  • Promote the use of bikes in your neighborhood and citywide. The use of bikes helps the environment, fiscal fitness and neighborliness. Traveling at a slower pace than cars, bicyclists have a more intimate connection with their neighborhood. Many population groups, including youth, rely on bikes as their major mode of transportation. Neighborhood groups can help create dedicated bike lanes in their neighborhood, which connect with citywide bike routes.

  • Managing traffic flow through your neighborhood can also reduce crime. Drug dealing in neighborhoods often happens along high traffic streets that have easy access to freeway entrances. By reducing the volume of traffic on high crime streets through traffic calming methods, neighborhoods can also reduce the amount of drug sales.

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    Annotated WebLinks

  • City & County Transportation Contacts- Minneapolis
    City of Minneapolis Public Works   03/31/03

  • City & County Transportation Contacts- St. Paul
    City of St. Paul Public Works   03/31/03

  • City & County Transportation Contacts- Minneapolis
    Hennepin County Transit & Community Works   09/18/01

  • City & County Transportation Contacts- Minneapolis
    Hennepin County Transportation   03/31/03

  • Metro Mobility
    Metro Mobility   09/18/01

  • Regional Transportation Links
    Metropolitan Council - Regional Transportation   03/31/03
    Links to bus, light rail, bike and other regional transportation options

  • Met Council transportation planning
    Metropolitan Council- Transportation and Transit Development-   03/31/03

  • City & County Transportation Contacts- Minneapolis
    Minneapolis Planning Department   03/31/03

  • State Transportation Contacts
    Minnesota Department of Transportation   03/31/03

  • City & County Transportation Contacts- St. Paul
    Ramsey County Public Works   03/31/03

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    Library

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    Vendors by Sub-Topic

    City, County and State Transportation Contacts  
        Metro Transit
        Metropolitan Council
        Minneapolis Planning Department
        Minnesota Department of Transportation
        Yellow Bike Coalition


    Transit , Bike, and Smart Growth Organizations  
        Alliance For Metropolitan Stability
        Midtown Greenway Coalition
        Transit for Livable Communities


    Transportaion Planning Consultants  
        Design Center for Urban American Landscape


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