Posted by justinph on June 12, 2011

Yesterday the Riverlake Greenway opened. I didn’t make it there for the opening festivities, but managed to bike down the entirety of it shortly thereafter. Overall, I’m a fan of any plan to highten awareness of bicycling and promote safer streets for cyclists. I especially love the bump-outs (aka corner curb extensions) that were added along the way.

Two things about the greenway could use improvement, though.

First, the signage directing bikers north up Nokomis Ave from 42nd to 40th could be better. There is a sign, but it could also use some painting on the road. Overall, this isn’t a huge problem.

Secondly, 40th west of Hiawatha could use a lot less stop signs. When I hear the word Greenway, I think of the midtown greenway, a blissful 4 mile expanse with only a handful of stop signs, most of which cars will actually stop for you at. The Riverlake Greenway, however, seems to have just as many stop signs as any normal residential street. Especially appalling are the stop signs at the diagonal diverters (where cars have to turn, but bicycles can go straight). A highway for bicycles the riverlake greenway is not.