Bob CollinsHow is it that a car ended up driving on the Midtown Greenway, the 5-mile stretch of bike and pedestrian trail that runs parallel to Lake Street?
Janelle Nivens got plenty of pictures to go with her story on streets.mn.
At first she thought it was a pace car for the Bike MS: Twin Cities Ride. It wasn’t.
What’s Wrong With This Picture? https://t.co/GRiCEV4M5G
— streets.mn (@StreetsMN) May 9, 2016
How could it happen?
At the intersection of Midtown Greenway and 5th Avenue S., a street sign has two small green signs with a bicycle symbol, indicating which direction to turn to get to Lake Calhoun (in one direction) or the West River Parkway (in the other). A person unfamiliar with the area might not conclude that those are direction signs for bikes, not cars.
I’ll offer that at a minimum, the signs at all intersections where drivers could turn onto the Greenway should be redesigned.
I’m used to observing sign designs favoring drivers but ironically, in this case, the “no motorized vehicles” is sized and positioned so it’s easier to read for pedestrians and cyclists than drivers whom I’ll assume are the target audience for this message.
Additionally, the street name signs at the intersection use the same design as the signs used on the growing network of streets that have both car and bicycle traffic. Should we be concerned that this may cause confusion?
Police apparently escorted the car off the bike trail successfully.
