Glenwood Avenue Residents Upset Over New Bike Lanes

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- New bike lanes on Glenwood Avenue have some people who live along the corridor upset.

The county put the lanes in along Glenwood Avenue from Interstate 94 all the way to Theodore Wirth Park.

Hennepin County officials say the new bike lanes make sense to help connect bicyclists to downtown and regional bike paths. But some say it's the process of developing the new bike lanes that has them upset.

For 33 years, Maiska Woolley and her neighbors along Glenwood Avenue have parked in front of their home.

"The process was undemocratic. There was no due process done," Woolley said.

Maiska says county and city officials tried to put bike lanes along Glenwood Avenue several years back.

"We got leaflets so all the residents organized themselves and we pointed out all the pitfalls," Woolley said.

At that time, Maiska says the idea of new bike lanes was put off until later because of their input.

"You have to park several blocks away, carry your groceries, carry your kids. You have friends and neighbors, well friends and family coming and no place to park," Woolley said.

"Formally there was a bike lane on one side of the road and not the other, and that created some conflict between vehicles and bicyclists having to share the same lane of traffic so in a lot of ways we were trying to make it more consistent experience," Kocak said.

He says the county met with the Harrison Neighborhood association, business owners and community stake holders, who all approved the plan.

"He said the neighborhood OKs it, they invited people and I think how the heck did we miss that," Woolley said.

Hennepin County says it takes community engagement very seriously and tries to coordinate that input in every project.

Kocak says the county is continuously working to improve and be more comprehensive when making change in neighborhoods.