09.16.07 Final Draft of Plan

Comments from Kirk Johnson

These are based on the hardcopy version of the September 19th draft. Page numbers match that version. These are separate from comments discussed at the meeting held on 9/19.

First of all: Thank you for the work on this! As I was reading through this for the first time in its entirety between my regular work meetings/tasks, I appreciated the breadth that we covered, represented in this plan. This plan is an accomplishment that we can be proud of, and one that will need ongoing support as outlined in the plan. I apperciate having been part of this effort. I hope that the comments below (some minor, some possibly very important) will be meaningful for your final edit.

P. 8: The two photos could have captions to make a quick read more clear. Suggest to put text under the first "before" photo that says something like "Above: Without improvements" and under the second, "after" photo that says "Above: With improvements-even modest investments…"

P. 15 and overall: Question to consider…use "trail" and "path" meaningfully throughout the plan if the Bikeway Definitions are important and meaningful (http://www.bikeedina.org/library.htm).

P. 17: I don't think that the statement "…the only opportunities for change will take place" is correct (use of "only")

P. 20: Recommend to cite the section dealing with policies, 1.7 as part of the "fortunately" logic - greatly supports your important points

P. 21: Suggest to define "cycling facility"

P. 21: Vernon's 40 mph does not stop at Tracy when going east as stated. It actually is signed at 40 mph until getting near Villa Way.

P. 22: Recommend to "See section 2.5" when noting regional connections for our important priority

P. 23-24: For this section and others, I think maybe the obvious is not stated, something like what the affect would be if students/staff going to schools used 5% transportation choice of the bicycle…this would be a meaningful automobile/parking/noise/congestion improvement.

P. 25. Highand is really "Highlands Park" and has no bike parking.

P. 26: Top paragraph (shorten)?

P. 26 Bottom paragraph: Recommend to add verbiage similar to: "Additional locations will be proposed for future count locations as advised by the City Bicycle Coordinator and Bicycle Advisory Committee" or something like that.

P. 27. I think this is a great section. Foundational, even. Consider value of moving this earlier in the study. Establishing the need early on is a captivating approach for persuasion and sound reasoning/logic.

P. 28-29: Ditto above comment -this is great stuff.

P. 29: "…ride on sidewalks, or against traffic…"  add that this is all statistically dangerous (it will not be clear to some readers, especially the part about the sidewalk).

P. 30: Policy basis: Consider moving this up in the sequence as this too is a good foundation for context.

P. 34: Suggestion: Include the phrase "within ½ mile" of residents somewhere in the list if I heard that requirement correctly.

P. 38 Text Box: Bottom section, check the wording for reading ease where the sentence ends in "deprecated" - I don't think the whole sentence makes sense or maybe it just has some opportunity for improvement.

P. 40: Safe Routes to School: Important request: change "so that children may be able to safely ride" to "so that children and school staff may be able to safely ride…" because I know several school workers that also are riding to work (school) now and the "Safe Routes to School" aren't just for kids. In fact, having adults biking to school is a great model for the kids and brings a potential training/support source for kids.

P. 43: First paragraph in "Decrease Automobile Travel Speeds" first paragraph ending in "length" - consider adding something to the effect of "Yet traffic often reaches 50mph or more (see box at right)"

P. 49 and related points that talk about the Bike to School routes…strike "potential" and/or at least write "recommended" instead.

P. 57 last paragraph before Trail Concept: Change "could potentially" to "would" or at least just say "could" because without this change it appears very iffy but I think the value proposition is extremely strong and our confidence is higher that it would make a difference.

P. 58 Consider saying that the bikeway would be engineered to accommodate 24-hour lighting but it would not necessarily need to be implemented (or lighted) right away on an all-night basis.

P. 61: Recommendation: There is a lot of overlap between 2.5.1 and 2.5.2 - consider pulling out the common items in just 2.5 and then and then focus on the differences in 2.5.1 and 2.5.2, thereby shortening those and focusing on the unique aspects.

P. 64-65 or elsewhere: Quality of Life: I noticed CNN Money has a listing by city for every state for Quality of Life. One of the 6 measures is "% population walk or bike to work." You can see what CNN records for Edina at http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/... . The important point to make is that this is a quality of life indicator commonly accepted/reported/tracked by several stakeholders.

P. 65, top paragraph for Bike Parking: This second sentence ("It is especially…") seems hard to read. Re-phrase.

P. 70-71 - Some contents (many?) are duplicated with 2.4.1. Consolidate.

P. 77. - earlier comments included recommendation to achieve some evening services, important for bikers using transit. Please re-consider including that as it might carry some weight for future negotiations. For example, the bus schedules for Vernon and Eden have removed evening services as of several years ago; however, I believe the ridership would warrant at least a few evening service stops

P. 81: Recommend to include the 3-foot statute for motorists (Minnesota statute 169.18; Subdivision 3, item three (motorists must pass with at least three feet distance between them and bicyclists sharing the road)… http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/g...

P. 83: Mpls Bike Tour: Change to refer to this in the past tense. Ridership for the first year was huge: more than 4,500 riders! Story on Star Tribune at: http://www.startribune.com/462/story/142...

P. 84: Bicycle Coordinator to include for duties to make and publish Edina bikeway maps

P. 93: Designating Automobile Space bullet point and Developing Bike Facilities (Within two years") second bullet… these might not reconcile or they are duplicate-I am not sure…this is the point about striping.

P. 94: This info is repeated about the traffic counts from an earlier section. Suggest to put in one spot and refer to it from the other.

P. 95: Another task/responsibility: Include making and publishing the map of bikeways (see P. 84 comment above).

P. 95: Another task/responsibility: Reside/participate on Transportation Committee and also work with the Edina Bicycle Advisory Committee

Finally, some editing comments:

P. 16: The WWII is a title and should be capped or use standard abbreviation. Also, overall comment:
P. 7: Colon usage example: I believe most style guides would specify use of colons within a sentence when using two independent clauses to begin the second clause with a capital letter, so it would be like on P. 7 "…everyone will choose: Some…"
P. 43: Mis-placed apostrophe after "roadways' " - this is a singular so would be roadway's
P. 80: "Each type of cyclist has his or her" instead of "their" or re-phrase to be less awkward

Wow, this is looking great! Thanks, BETF and CDG for all your extra hard work. I am very happy to see you added all the data on City parks. That adds strength to the case by showing a gaping deficit. Wondering: Is there auto parking info for Rosland to show the contrast? It's got to be in the several-hundreds. If available, I would also love to see added the stats on average daily attendance at the Aquatics Center pool in the summer, because we all know a lot more people could be riding there as a destination in the fair weather of summer. Also, is Edinborough and parking stats included (the indoor park with Adventure Peak, community pool and gym and amphitheatre), wondering if they have any bicycle parking?

Other comments are more minor, more of the red-pen variety after a quick read through (not fine-tooth editing, by any means):
1.5 Page 20 -- "Fortunately, there is some good news" (not are).
Page 22 -- Add comma after "...or ancillary facilities,"
2.2 Page 40 -- There is a star somewhere near Lake Cornelia located on the bottom map on the page. It is not indicated on the legend what it is.
2.7 Wondering if this is correctly spelled, "modifided quadrupole loop" (or do you mean Quadruple as in four?)
Page 99- On the goals chart, I would add words to the "install bicycle loop detectors" to indicate they are on the intersection or road, because although this was mentioned previously, this term is probably new to a lot of folks.
2.7 Signing -- This again is probably a term of art, but it makes me think of American Sign Language. If it is possible to say "signage," wouldn't that be more correct in the heading and body copy (where appropriate).
3.3 Is there going to be a conclusion summary paragraph? I thought it might be appropriate since there is a foreword. It could nicely tie in the theme that we start by by "imagining" (as you state in the foreword), then begin with implementing (as with the Plan's steps), or something to that effect. It would be a nicer close to have some summary. Most Case Statements do.
Appendices -- When they are set, don't forget to go back and fill in internal references that stand now as "Appendix A.x"

All in all, a major accomplish to have this for Edina -- even as a living document. Kudos, team!

Thanks for getting this in for review. I'd recommend adding the traffic count planning as short term for the Bicycle Coordinator. Maybe the section on "Benchmarks" should be shortened considerably because in this 3.3 section the Bicycle Coordinator and related groups should work to establish measurable goals and objectives. Also for this section I recommend that the specific route treatments should be assessed/planned on a periodic basis by the Bicycle Coordinator and related groups so that implementation progress moves forward. That is a short-term and ongoing activity.

Some comments on this section--I recommend not mixing the concept of goals/objectives with benchmarking; it seems like these might be used synonymously. Benchmarks are existing measures whereas the objectives are measurable changes we hope to see. If this section is truly about benchmarks, maybe it should focus on creating them--you mention future count activities and I definitely agree with that. If this section is about what success looks like compared to current benchmarks, then I would suggest a tabled (matrix) approach with current conditions and desired conditions. I also would recommend attention toward route treatments (signage, etc.).

In Section 2.9 I did not see inclusion of the police department for education. I don't know if that request (previously submitted) was considered and rejected or just missed. The police department needs to train its officers to know statutes related to bicycling for both motorists and bicyclists (a current gap). Also, police presence at community bicycling events, especially for children, is recommended.

In Section 2.4 I didn't see treatments for Vernon Ave. Is that forthcoming? This street is as important as Interlachen and other east-west bikeways to address.