Moore Lake - Justin Foell

I thought about posting this to streets.mn as part of their Bike To Work Week series. But I’m going to go beyond their editorial policy and name names. These terrible drivers need to be outed to their neighbors and peers. So here it is, my own Bike To Work Week Wall of Shame.

Normally my commute just consists of me walking down the stairs to my office.

But there were plenty of other trips to be taken during Bike to Work Week that I consider commutes – whether they were to school, the grocery store, or piano lessons. Here are some of the speed bumps I encountered on the way.

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The Plow Guy

In early May I rode with my son to and from school. They were make-up days for the mid-April blizzard that interfered with our 30 days of biking plans. On the way to school I noticed a guy on our route taking the plow off of the front of his truck. He obviously plowed driveways with his vehicle in the winter.

On the way home from dropping Jules at school, I was traveling on Able Street southbound in Fridley. As I approached West Moore Lake Drive I noticed that the plow guy was now in his truck, waiting to turn right on Able Street. Here is my route in blue and his route in red:

He waited for me to pass – I had the right of way. But I could tell he was already impatient. He was one of those drivers that never fully stops on a right turn. His truck just kept rolling. I wondered had slowed down, if we would have simply crashed there in slow motion.

I kept on, and he pulled behind me. Sensing his impatience ahead of time, I took the lane (near the middle of the road) because in 200 feet I’d be turning left on Moore Lake Drive and then on to the shoulder where quick-tempered drivers like him could safely pass.

At one point I believe he actually tried to pass me on the left in the 200 feet from Carol Drive to Moore Lake Drive – I didn’t look back, I was busy pedaling hard so he wouldn’t run me over and kill me.

Once on Moore Lake Drive, I went to the shoulder and he shouted some unintelligible curse-laden something-or-other about “cars” (that’s all I could make out).

Recourse

What could I do? It clearly was harassment. Remember how I saw him taking off his plow? With a little research I found his business, Greenmakers Lawn Care & Landscaping, which has a commercially driven vehicle – the very truck he was harassing me with. So I filed a complaint with MnDOT. Let me tell you how good it felt to hit submit on that form. If you’re ever harassed by a commercial driver you should use this tool.

To my surprise MnDOT actually called me on the phone to speak about the incident before they followed up with the driver. 💯

The Navigator

The next story is from the other side on East Moore Lake Drive. I’ve complained about this road before because 1) it needs a road redesign and 2) I was almost right hooked there. This will make two near right-hooks.

I frequently ride in the road on E. Moore Lake Drive. There is a bike trail on this stretch, but it is in such terrible shape that it will rattle your brain loose. I’ll take the ultra-smooth road, plus there’s an extra lane here that doesn’t get much use.

On this particular day I was riding with my son to piano lessons. Thank God I took the lead here. This woman who was going to the strip mall crossed right in front of us. I swear if I leaned over the handlebars I would have been able to touch her car.

I decided to take action and follow her for a chat. “Can you do that?” my son asked. “Watch me.”

I pulled up behind her car and snapped this photo just as she got out:

I told her that she pulled right in front of us almost causing a crash. I reminded her that we had the right of way and that she can’t turn in front of us from the left lane, cutting us off. Then I gave her a chance to reply by asking “What were you thinking?!?”

“I was navigating”

She replied as she gestured to the phone in her hand.

So this is what it’s come to. We’re all going to get run over by idiots who can’t take their face off of a screen for even the shortest of drives. Be safe out there everyone – stay vigilant and get home safe!

← Summary Only

I had the opportunity to represent my city’s “Active Transportation” group in the 2013 Fridley 49er Days parade. We were parading under the auspices of getting around Fridley using non-motorized transportation.

I was disappointed in the turnout of or group. We had some great volunteers from the Fridley Senior Program walking with signs and banners. However my family and neighbors were the only representatives on bicycles. So if I didn’t show up (or recruit my neighbors), the parade unit would have been almost non-existent.

I was starting to get the feeling that here in Fridley, we’re all still stuck in our cars and could care less about weirdos that walk to the store or ride bikes to work.

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Our group was promoting “share the road.” We were given handout materials from sharetheroadmn.org and carrying a banner promoting the phrase. My only problem with it is the “Share the Road” campaign is brought to you by MnDOT (the aforementioned web address redirects to dot.state.mn.us/sharetheroad/). Most pedestrians and cyclists would agree that MnDOT is the worst single offender when it comes to government agencies that consistently promote driving above all transit modes.

The banner read “Stop for pedestrians at every corner.”

Then the back side (which wasn’t prominently visible) asks walkers to “look again before you cross.” My emphasis added because you never know when you’ll be run down by someone speeding in a SUV while updating their facebook status on their phone.

This two-sided banner assumes that there’s some sort of give-and-take between drivers and pedestrians. But MnDOT just takes and takes until there’s no walking infrastructure left.

At one point a resident watching the parade (who didn’t see the back of the banner) said “well, it would be nice if they [pedestrians] would look out for us [cars] before stepping into the intersection.” I inferred cars & pedestrians because she distinctly used the verb step. She should be a spokesperson for MnDOT.

Then on my way home I was cut-off (almost right hooked) by a car speeding to get into the Lifetime Fitness parking lot on E. Moore Lake Dr. before I crossed the intersection (with my son on the bike and my wife and infant daughter close behind).

All of this has just led me to believe that Fridley’s residents are simply not ready to admit the Suburban Experiment is coming to an end. Or are they?

A Ray of Hope

Thankfully our forward thinking Fridley City Council unanimously adopted the 2013 Active Transportation Plan. It’s not a law (yarr – they be more like “guidelines”) – but I hope when the next re-striping or re-paving project comes along, the city will do it’s best to accommodate those outside of automobiles since it’s good for health, and good for the economy. But it is incumbent upon city officials to act. A plan is just a plan until it’s put into action. Looking at the previous 1975 Bikeway / Walkway Systems Plan (adopted two years before I was born), it’s obvious that the city is still struggling with some of those same issues.

Replace right turn lanes with normal shoulder treatment

Removing the right turns lanes would solve a lot. Just leave the shoulders painted normally all the way up to the intersection so that cars turning right understand that this is “shared space” and that they are not the priority. A good example of this would be the intersection just to the north at Central Ave. & Hillcrest Dr.:

central-and-hillcrest — It’s paint, not rocket surgery

I would remove the right turn lane on Old Central Ave. to Gardena Ave. All you need to do is “erase” the turnout line on the road to reconnect it as a normal shoulder line, and then remove the right turn signs. Residents can put their garbage cans in the street on trash day and pedestrians and cyclists can use the space without fear that they’ll be hit from behind. A side benefit will be that speeding cars will be self-regulated by cars slowing to turn right.

On Gardena Ave. I would also remove the explicit right turn lane and restore normal shoulder painting. Remove the “Straight & Left” arrow from the lane as well and let drivers figure out where they should be going – keeping drivers on their toes will make them more cautious, creating a safer environment for everyone.

East Moore Lake Drive

While only a tiny stretch in length (it only spans three blocks), E. Moore Lake Drive has serious girth. This section of road feels strangely disjointed from its bookends. West Moore Lake Drive and Rice Creek Road which extend to the west and east (respectively) are both 2-lane roads, while E. Moore Lake Drive is a 5-lane stretch that badly needs to be put on a road diet to improve safety, and at the same time, capture value.

There are many fine businesses nestled on this tiny stretch of road: Ax-Man Surplus, Dave’s Sport Shop, Fantasy Gifts (for the naughtier bunch :)), an Asian food market, a couple of restaurants, a day care center, a dentist… the list goes on. Fridley, being the “Suburban Hell” that it is, had little (or no) foresight into how people without automobiles would patronize these businesses – they simply assumed that it would never be the case.

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You can see E. Moore Lake Drive at the bottom of this image, with its surrounding neighborhood to the north:

moore-lake-commons-and-plaza — East Moore Lake Drive (incorrectly labeled by Google as “Lisa Cir”)

One major issue is with everything on the north side of E. Moore Lake Dr. There is no sidewalk on the north side of the street. It is not uncommon for me to see people walking in the street on the north side of E. Moore Lake Drive — especially between Moore Lake Commons and (Old) Central Ave. (the section marked incorrectly as Lisa Circle). Especially in winter, pedestrians have no other choice than to walk in the street. Did city planners ever imagine that anyone living in this block of land would maybe walk to these businesses?

Bus Stop

For commuters, there’s a bus stop bench at the intersection of MN-65 & Moore Lake Drive (lower left blue icon in the above image). From this bench you can easily walk to any of the shops to escape freeway speed traffic, that is if you’re willing to walk through the drainage ditch to get there:

Speed Limit

There’s no posted speed limit on this twisty section of Moore Lake Drive, so it’s confusing if the speed limit is 30MPH as posted on West Moore Lake Drive, or if it’s 35MPH as posted on Rice Creek Rd. after Moore Like Drive intersects (Old) Central Ave. Drivers often opt to go with the higher figure, which really becomes 40MPH.

There are no crosswalks on this stretch. Would you feel safe crossing a twisty 5-lane road with low visibility where there are no crosswalks and the cars are traveling at 40MPH? Why this road is so wide is beyond me. For what, traffic to Lifetime Fitness and Subway?

Fixes

I would like to say at minimum, there should be a sidewalk on the north side of the street. But sidewalks are expensive, and it may take away from precious suburban parking spaces at Moore Lake Commons. So if you’re a penny-pinching city-planner you might just skip to the last paragraph about road diets. Paint is cheap!

The parking lots at all of the businesses along E. Moore Lake Drive – Lifetime, Brand Name Deals (now Salvation Army), Moore Lake Commons, Moore Lake Plaza- could be consolidated and reduced, provided there was a safe way to cross the street (crosswalks, less lanes, reduced speed).

For the road diet, E. Moore Lake Drive could be re-painted as a two lane road, but retain the turn lanes at the intersections. If you got rid of some of the parking lot area, you could allow on-street parking to make up for lost spaces. Add a bike lane and now it seems much more friendly for all modes of travel.

Justin Foell

Technology, Bicycling, Hobbies, Kids, Life.

Tag Archives: Moore Lake

Fridley Hates Pedestrians – Bike-to-Work Week Impatience

The Plow Guy

Recourse

The Navigator

Fridley Hates Pedestrians (Part 5) – Share the Road

A Ray of Hope

Fridley Hates Pedestrians (Part 2) – Moore Lake Beach

Replace right turn lanes with normal shoulder treatment

Fridley Hates Pedestrians – E. Moore Lake Dr.

East Moore Lake Drive

Bus Stop

Speed Limit

Fixes