City Testing New Bike Lanes

Test of Protected Lanes Runs Through July

DULUTH, Minn. – The city recently opened new bike lanes on Michigan Street downtown and leaders are looking for input.

These protected bike lanes are the first of their kind in the city.  Traffic flows both east and west separated from vehicular traffic by pylons.

The test runs throughout July, and the city encourages cyclists, drivers and businesses to give feedback.

“I think this is a great way for us to be able to test this,” said Kristi Stokes, President of the Greater Downtown Council.  “The demonstration is really about testing the waters and getting that valuable feedback.  We need to hear from our businesses.  Does this work, has it caused problems, is there a way to tweak it to make it better?”

Michigan Street will go back to normal in August.  What happens from there depends on public opinion.

“If we complied a report saying there’s a lot of support for this kind of a bike lane, we have a close connection with City Hall, and we’ll be able to show this is something we might want to do on a more permanent basis,” said Rocn Chicka, Director of the Metropolitan Interstate Council.

Michigan Street was picked for the test because of a potential connection between the Munger Trail at The Depot and the Lakewalk at the Fitger’s complex.  There’s no timetable past this test.