Is there a protected bike lane coming to a Minneapolis block near where you work or live?

A draft plan for which streets on which to create the city’s goal of 30 miles of such protected lanes by 2020 has been forwarded to the City Council. It will be discussed on Tuesday before an open house scheduled for April 29. Here's a link to that proposal.

A protected bike lane is separated from motorized traffic by flexible plastic posts, parked cars, medians, curbs or planters. The few such lanes in Minneapolis typically use the posts spaced every 30 feet, but one downtown bike lane uses cars for separation. A planned protected lane on SE Oak St. will use both cars and posts.

The proposal caps almost a year of discussion and feasibility analysis that began with an open house and an online survey to gain suggestions. It will be adopted later this spring by the council as an amendment to the city’s 2011 bike master plan, which makes the proposed segments more likely to attract outside funding.

The proposed new protected lanes are concentrated in the city’s core. That’s because traffic volumes are heavier there and bikers often compete for space with cars at tighter places such as bridges over freeways or railroad tracks or the Mississippi River, according to Anna Flintoft, the former city transportation planner who oversaw the proposal.

The proposal represents a bet by the city that increased investment in the lanes will attract additional riders, especially in higher-volume streets where some may fear to ride without the additional margin of separation.

The council's Transportation and Public Works Committee takes up the proposal in a meeting at Tuesday at 9:30 am in room 317 of City Hall. The open house is scheduled for 4:30-7:30 pm at the Central Library.