Twin Cities Streets for People

Tuesday afternoon was a rotten commute in downtown Minneapolis no matter the mode.  The rain was falling steadily and had been all day, fans were pouring in to watch the Twins in their (amazing!) tiebreaker game at the Metrodome, and thousands of workers were headed out.  It was just slow going.

I was in the car, inching along South 2nd Street, a street with a single auto lane each way, a bike lane on each side, and on-street parking.  The car ahead of me and the truck behind me, along with several other vehicles, seemed to feel that they would move faster if they straddled the bike lane stripe.  

I guess the tendency comes from traffic jams on freeways, where a driver might edge to one side or the other of the road to see what's ahead or what's slowing everybody down.  But as someone who commuted by bicycle in Monday's rainy rush, I know that it's hard enough to navigate around puddles and parking or exiting cars, never mind half of an idling half-ton pickup.  

So, stay in the lines and hope for sunshine tomorrow.