Touring - Minnesota Bicycle Map

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backontheroad
08-28-12, 09:35 PM
The State Of Minnesota has released the first draft of the new Minnesota Bicycle Map. Check it out online at: www.mndot.gov/bike/maps/ (http://www.mndot.gov/bike/maps/).

Also there is a short survey to give feedback about the map.

OldZephyr
08-29-12, 03:33 PM
The State Of Minnesota has released the first draft of the new Minnesota Bicycle Map. Check it out online at: www.mndot.gov/bike/maps/ (http://www.mndot.gov/bike/maps/).

Also there is a short survey to give feedback about the map.

There are quite a few errors in the map regarding traffic density, shoulders, etc.

I now have learned that this map is a "mockup" to show design choices, which explains the prevalence of those errors.

With respect to design, there are some areas for improvement. Here are the biggest ones:

There are only two classes of road, "lighter traffic" and "heavier traffic", with no indication of the dividing line. This is near useless, especially if the cutoff is an AADT of, say, 3500. There's a huge difference between a road with an AADT of 500 and one with 3500. Note: most bike maps of this sort have at least 3 gradations for traffic density, some have 5.

The map doesn't differentiate between paved and unpaved roads (this is information that's already on the standard MN highway map).
OldZephyr
08-29-12, 04:32 PM
I was contacted by a person at MN DOT and I understand from her that the draft map is only a design mockup.

gpsblake
08-29-12, 09:44 PM
Besides the map being 28mb, I did find the map to be a bit confusing, with too many routes listed. Hopefully they will condense this down to be regional maps of Minnesota. I submitted feedback and did also thanked them for the effort. Minnesota has a very good reputation for cycling, especially Minneapolis.
OldZephyr
08-30-12, 12:44 AM
Besides the map being 28mb, I did find the map to be a bit confusing, with too many routes listed. Hopefully they will condense this down to be regional maps of Minnesota. I submitted feedback and did also thanked them for the effort. Minnesota has a very good reputation for cycling, especially Minneapolis.

I agree, a state the size of Minnesota should be divided into at least 4 regions for a map project like this. Wisconsin's map set is 4 maps, although you can download them county by county. The Illinois map set is something like 8 or 9 maps (and that's for a state that's smaller than Minnesota).