Just a quick update from the As you’ll no doubt remember, a version of the bike rental or bikeshare idea was floated in Grand Forks just about a year ago, to varying degrees of support. With the rollout of bikeshare in more and more American cities, will we see more support or less, locally? What should come first: more commuter cyclists in general, or some type of bikeshare system?
Month: April 2013
UND Has a Columbia Road Update
I think I see why people always say that traffic is “so much better” after new road construction: these are the sorts of detours we’ll deal with this summer. I feel bad for anyone along 17th Ave S or S 20th Street, they’ll be screaming for Columbia Road “improvements” by the time this is done.
Via email:
Reconstruction on the South Columbia Road Project from 11th Avenue South to DeMers Avenue has been rescheduled to begin Monday, May 6. It was originally scheduled for May 1. Minor work will continue next week, but it will not generally impact traffic on South Columbia Road. For a map of the area, please see http://und.edu/road.cfm.
South Columbia Road will be closed to traffic beginning on Sunday, May 5, in the late afternoon to early evening and will remain closed until early August. The project completion date(s) are unaffected by the rescheduled closure date.
EDIT 04 May 2013:
Received this in an email as well: “The walking bridge on the overpass is expected to remain open for the first phase of construction.” Details please! This overpass is the single connection you can make across the rail yard without going all the way to either 42nd Street or South Washington Street. If the city cuts off pedestrian access, it is creating a huge issue.
Map below is from http://und.edu/road.cfm
What’s your Big Hairy Goal?
Racers feeding their inner demons at CP3 of END-SURE.
With summer spring not-winter on the horizon, it’s time again to put your money where your mouth is and pick a “big hairy goal.” I think I first heard this term either from Andy or one of the good folks at Operacion Muerto, but I can’t find any evidence of that. All it means is a goal that’s going to send you over the moon if you accomplish it. Sometimes the planning and execution of these things can take years (summiting Everest, cycling around the world, etc.), but that’s for the people I like to call (affectionately) “the real crazies.” If you’re new to the game, pick something doable but hard. Like the hardest thing you’ve ever done. Or the most planning you’ve ever needed. Or something you’ve failed at before.
One such BHG that requires no entry fee is the Operacion Muerto Summer Challenge 2013: a ride or run across Manitoba without using any paved roads. Another in my local area is the Winnipeg-Grand Forks-Fargo ride (2013 details TBA; not sure if this will be gravel-only as well). For touring cyclists, though, this stuff is easy. For multi-sport athletes, perhaps the Minnesota Lowest to Highest Duathlon Challenge is your cup of tea: race from Lake Superior in Grand Marais to the top of Eagle Mountain (the highest point in MN) and back.
Personally, I’ll be tackling the Lutsen 99er as proof that I can ride farther off-road than ever before, on this on a Surly Pugsley, as well as finishing a complete 24-hour adventure race at END-AR. Are these big goals compared to other people? Not necessarily. Do they matter to me? Undoubtedly.
You’re primed and ready now: what’s your Big Hairy Goal?
If something can be improved, why not improve it?
Had someone else read something I wrote recently. I criticized a system of closed data, and then suggested a crowdsourced solution to get around the data guardians (not illegally, just through data mining from published works). This person’s response? To say that closed data should be closed because someone paid for it, and to ignore my solution. In another section, I lamented various issues with data digitization projects, because I wanted to add another (citable) voice that could be used for digitization project funding. Response: these issues aren’t new, and you don’t need to waste your time with them.
Who is it going to hurt to try to improve things? It’s no skin off anyone else’s nose.
Regional Inspiration – Sioux Falls and Fargo, Cycling and Walking
The Argus Leader has a great, long article about how the city of Sioux Falls wants to encourage more people to commute via bicycle, how to ride in traffic, and coverage of the two recent cycling deaths. Plus: bike share in the future? In Fargo, Eric Christeson laments the loss of neighborhood schools to which walking or bicycle commuting by students is safe.
Greenway Trail Users Advisory Group Meeting tonight
Just a quick reminder: Recently, discussion on Green Lanes (bike lanes striped with different colors to differentiate them from motor vehicle lanes) has been occurring at these meetings. If you have any thoughts about this project, you might want to show up. I think the other group involved is the Grand Forks-East Grand Forks Metropolitan Planning Organization.
You can read old meeting notes in the archive.
Greenway Trail Users Advisory Group Meeting
7 PM Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Grand Forks Park District, 1210 7th Ave S
Saturday Grab Bag 2013-04-06
Some things that have been on my radar lately. First, in today’s news:
- More mixed commercial-residential development coming on 42nd Street. Is three a trend? We now have the Dakota Textbook Company building, Northern Heights at Griggs Square, and this new project as examples of mixed development in locations that in the past would have been either strip malls or apartment buildings. Downtown counts as well, so maybe we should quantify what the difference in these locations versus downtown represents?
- Tina Rakowski writes in to say “the rent is too damn high!” Not in those exact words, but what are we doing in Grand Forks to examine the reasons for rent going up across the board?
Second, it’s been a positive week in the American streets blogosphere:
- Cycling advocates so polite they might actually be Canadian install bike lane pylons in Seattle. How cool is this? Not only is the city completely polite in return, but they offer to return the pylons…in essence allowing the group to stage a protest at another location in he future.
- Old people get to have all the fun–when they get old. The question is a great one: why wait until retirement to live in a place that lets you walk and ride where you need to go in complete safety?
- College was awesome, not only because you didn’t have to drive anywhere. It’s argument by nostalgia, but even if you didn’t go to college (or didn’t live and eat on campus), there are a lot of things to be said for 1) lots of time off and 2) having good food close by.
- Accessibility as a replacement for mobility (scroll down to “Moving green”). A short piece about interconnectedness versus disconnectedness in a longer article about greening cities.
Thirdly, some of the recent local/regional articles you may have missed (copies available on request):
- Columbia Road widening project is pushing ahead (2013-04-02)
- Central parking ramp to be repaired (2013-04-02)
- Drunk driving is mostly victimless, so why should it be illegal? (2013-03-23)
- We need Arts and Entertainment zones in Grand Forks (2013-03-17)
- Speeding tickets are just a money grab (2013-03-02)
- It’s no longer weird to ride your bicycle in the winter, in Winnipeg at least (2013-02-15)