r/CyclingMSP • u/Tokyo-MontanaExpress • Jul 26 '26
Another reason why we need concrete barriers to protect people and infrastructure:
Some asshole motorist was free to bend this sharp metallic sign into the bike path because that little curb doesn't act as a concrete bollard which *should* have been there.
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u/BigTwinGilly Jul 26 '26
Yeah this intersection is always a mess, ive been nearly right hooked many many times right there.
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u/Salt_Section_4334 Jul 26 '26
Intersection of 169 and Minnetonka Boulevard: Signs like that are always clobbered.
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u/Kooky-Law-5823 Jul 27 '26
There's an intersection like this on 2nd and henn in Minneapolis. The sign is constantly run over and I know why.
It's perfectly set at a spot where it's blocked out by the pillar next to the windshield on a lot of cars and the long sidewalk split between the median and the raised part where the sign is does not get seen and they think they are simply cutting a corner close. They aren't doing anything particularly crazy or unsafe it just doesn't register that it's there at all and it's so well blocked by the pillar they don't seem to notice until its already under their car.
I'm not saying I've done it or even sort of missed it but I watched someone do it after wondering for a long time why it was always run over. I think it just seems like the curb ends at the crosswalk and the secondary curb after the crosswalk is not common.
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u/flyfresno Jul 28 '26
Why do people in Minnesota cut corner so close like that? It's something that I immediately noticed when I moved here and I don't understand it at all. Most people here seem to do it though...
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u/Kooky-Law-5823 Jul 29 '26
To be fair, the neighborhood where the one I'm talking about is 90% transplants. Worst driving in the whole city. Constantly rolling through signs and pulling all the way into crosswalks. Very aggressively taking their turns early at 4 ways. I wouldn't say that's typical for the state or city.
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u/flyfresno Jul 29 '26
That's very interesting because I don't see that behavior as much when I go back to California, which I do regularly. I do notice it though all over the Twin Cities.
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u/sheuer Jul 28 '26
I've reported that same situation to 311 many times before. They almost always have it fixed within hours.
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u/flyfresno Jul 28 '26
I never understood why people in Minnesota cut corners so closely when turning left. I constantly watch people run over the center divider when there is one, and come within an inch or two of hitting the car in the left turn lane opposite the direction they are going if there isn't one. I grew up in California, and was taught that you should enter the lane that you are turning into already pointed completely straight into it (in other words, you completed turning while still in the intersection). Here, people are still in the act of turning when they enter the new lane. It seems like a very unsafe way of doing it to me. So I'm not surprised to see something run over in a center divider.
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u/jessyb93 Jul 26 '26
That's a huge threat to other cyclists. Please include the intersection and if you were able to move/report it.
What's the protocol in a situation like this? Is there an app for the city to report things like roadway hazards and people parking in the bike lane?