The 36th Street protected pedestrian and bicycle lane is open on 36th Street. We received a few calls and emails last week about traffic backups going westbound, here is an update from public works staff below. We will pass on any additional comments to staff as they continue to observe and refine the project. ~ ~ ~ From public works: We had received complaints about westbound traffic backing up at Richfield Rd. After observing traffic on Wednesday afternoon, westbound 36th St was backing up past Hennepin Ave, consistent with the complaints. The issue appeared to stem from the fact that westbound 36th St at Richfield Rd was receiving very little green time – less than 20 sec. This issue may have been an error when we turned on the new pedestrian signal earlier in the week. Traffic signal staff was alerted and a change was made on Thursday morning. We returned to 36th St on Thursday afternoon and the issue appears to be addressed. Westbound 36th St now receives 45 sec of green and all westbound queued traffic is now making it through in one cycle. Eastbound traffic appears to be operating with minimal issues in the afternoon peak but we still need to observe the morning peak period and we will continue to monitor this. We are also working with Metro Transit to refine the design of the bus stop on the southeast corner of 36th St and Hennepin Ave. Due to difficult left turning maneuvers, Route 23 buses are stopping in the eastbound travel lane to pick up passengers. They are not utilizing the bus bay that was provided, resulting in eastbound queues. We believe adding some length to the bus bay can alleviate this issue and are working with Metro Transit and hope to make a change within 2 weeks. Signage and durable crosswalks will be installed over the next few days. Due to the Met Council sewer project, we are going to hold off on installing a few markings at the Kings Hwy intersection. The remaining markings will be installed in spring of 2015 when the sewer project is complete.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 14:32:59 +0000