Hello All,
Vibrant Streets Duluth (formerly We Walk Duluth) met with MNDOT staff in 2023-24 about the inadequate multimodal infrastructure in the 26th Ave East roundabout design and in general along London Road. No substantive design changes resulted, even as MNDOT staff admitted this is a flawed design that does not provide safe access for all users. Specifically, pedestrian and bicycle travelers on the south side of London Road have no way to reach the southeast quadrant of the intersection. City engineers and planners continued to meet with MNDOT to express their concerns with no results for their efforts.
In the current design, bicyclists traveling eastbound on London Road lose the bike lane at the proposed roundabout at 26th Ave. This design creates unsafe conditions as bicyclists must enter the vehicular travel lanes to pass the roundabout, a condition that makes many drivers upset. Upon exiting the roundabout cyclists are again met with a dangerous situation as they are then pinched between eastbound traffic and traffic merging from the offramp slip-lane. This traffic includes trucks and larger vehicles that will bypass the roundabout with the slip-lane at relatively high speeds while the bicyclist is stuck in the left lane with no clear path to the bikeable shoulder.
The current design includes new bike and pedestrian infrastructure on London Road, both east and west of the 26th Avenue roundabout, south of London Road. This condition encourages riders to use London Road. To that end: The goal should be a design so appealing that faster riders, especially those on electric bikes, will use London Rd instead of the Lakewalk. Reducing congestion on the Lakewalk is a high priority that will be undermined if people on bicycles do not feel safe on the entire span of London Road.
MNDOT’s ‘solution’ is to use signage to tell people on bikes to cross traffic as a pedestrian before the roundabout and head up 26th Ave to the Lakewalk. They can then get back on London Road further east when the bike lane re-starts around 29th Ave E at the bottom of a hill, in an unexpected midblock location, without protection or ways to stop fast moving motor vehicles. This requires the bicyclist to navigate past six lanes of traffic as a pedestrian as they zig zag across both London Road and 26th Ave. Instead of promoting an unsafe plan, MNDOT should ensure continuous and safe access for cyclists and pedestrians, in line with the 2019 Duluth-Superior Metropolitan Bikeways Plan and the City’s bicycle and climate plan.
Vibrant Streets Duluth supports single-lane roundabouts that are proven to have a lower crash frequency than multilane and unbalanced roundabouts. However, the proposed multi-lane and “unbalanced” roundabout with a slip lane promoting high speed vehicles at the 26th Avenue East roundabout will likely increase crash frequency and will pose challenges for pedestrians and non-motorized traffic. A single lane roundabout will reinforce to drivers that they are no longer on a freeway, promoting safer driving, increased awareness, and slower speeds. In fact, MnDOT’s own data shows that multi-lane roundabouts can increase the frequency of crashes, potentially even as the severity of crashes may be decreased. See https://edocs-public.dot.state.mn.us/edocs_public/DMResultSet/download?docId=26347095
MNDOT Staff stated that the current design is necessary because London Road crosses the freeway with entrance and exit ramps. However, in the Twin Cities, there are locations where pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure crossing freeway ramps is built into the design. These include controlled intersections and “Freeway ends” signage. Freeway entrance and exit ramps do not necessitate high speed roadway designs; they should instead be designed to reinforce the need for a change in driver behavior as they exit an environment that removes all complications and potential conflicts, to an environment where people are encouraged to bike or walk. Slip-lanes defeat the traffic calming purpose of the roundabout, by encouraging a driver to continue into the city street network at freeway speeds.
MNDOT has justified the existing design which includes the slip lane in order to keep traffic flowing off the interstate as efficiently as possible to prevent backups from happening on the interstate. We assert that a design that merges I-35 traffic to a single lane prior to the roundabout, allowing any resulting traffic to backup on the interstate exit, will be a safer condition than the current design which merges traffic in a complex urban street environment along London Road. This will reinforce the message that drivers are entering a complex urban environment that requires different driving behaviors than the interstate.
We also assert that a comprehensive redesign should include integrated and gapless bike lanes throughout the design with physical barrier protection instead of simply visual barrier separation such as flexible posts. The 26th Avenue intersection has ample space to accommodate such facilities.
Vibrant Streets Duluth developed the attached figure showing proposed improvements to the 26th Avenue roundabout. We feel that these small design changes will provide a more holistic experience for all users of this intersection. We are available to discuss these proposed design changes at any time. Feel free to contact us at ykaratai@vibrantstreetsduluth.org (612-616-3923). We appreciate your attention to our concerns and we look forward to collaborating with you to create a stronger, more vibrant Duluth.
Sincerely
Yauhen
Vibrant Streets Duluth