That's very magnanimous of Josh Sprague to "not begrudge" the City Council for trying the failed system. Josh here's a news flash: you sit on the City Council and you VOTED FOR this nonsense.

So glad the Council has finally seen the error in their initial decision! THANK YOU.

Crashes and speed are not a true indicator of safety. Edina was not the first to use these advisory lanes but the second. Since when is a small community of Edina a leader in new types of road design? Traffic circles that have started to pop up in Edina have been used for decades around the US. Next time take a wait and see on any new ideas for roadways.

I'm proud of our City Council trying a different way of making our town a more active and viable community. Keep up the good work City Council.

I am missing the part that describes how the bike lanes were a failure and a fiasco. They seem to enhance bicycle safety and driver awareness of the importance to share the road.

So glad the bike lanes will be removed!!!
Two questions: Will the sharrows simply be reminders that bikers will be sharing the lane? and, would it be feasible to put the replacement lane on a less busy street?
Thank you.

In that the evidence does not support a change it’s disappointing that the council which in previous actions has made controversial bike related decisions based on what they determined was “the greater good “would now succumb to the negative ancedotal reactions to Wooddale‘s advisory bike lanes.

Commuter Services, the evidence of the fiasco is in the number of complaint letters still streaming into the City Council a full six months later. And the very obvious swerving of cars on the street, the use of the parking lanes which means driving over a solid white line, etc., etc. Of course the biggest reason was mentioned by Josh Sprague during the meeting: the unpopularity of this project is jeopardizing their wider transit plans. And possibly the re-elections of Josh Sorague and Joni Bennett in 2014. We can only hope!

I am proud of the city trying to find ways for helping our citizens to become more active, but I believed from the very beginning that Wooddale Ave was a poor choice. How about having this bike lane run down Concord Ave, past the elementary school, middle school, Community Center and Kuhlman Field? It may be a tiny jog out of the way for bicycle commuters, but it would be a boon for the hundreds upon hundreds of children and adults that flock to that area every day. This would be a great way to get our kids engaged in the activity of bicycling, and would keep them off of one of the city's busiest streets. As for Sprague, he has been a BIG disappointment. Although he voted "yes" for the bike lanes, his yes vote was contingent upon the city using Edina tax dollars to "fix" the stair treads and bike channel gutter on the Hwy 62 footbridge near Roslund park. It's debatable whether the bridge needed fixing, but even so, Sprague leverage his "yes vote" on the spending of additional tax dollars. And for those residents concerned about the "McMansions" popping up all over, do you really think that Sprague (a realtor, whose face is plastered all over the city's quarterly newsletters) is going to vote with the residents best interests in mind? Please.....he will vote for whatever equals the best bottom line for his realty career.

I ride with a video camera mounted on my handlebars. Truth be told, 99% of motorists are able to pass the bike with seven to ten feet of clearance. The other one-percent are a concern.

It is interesting that the in-your-face, baseless comments are offered by people hiding behind monikers like edinamom2 (whoever he/she/they are). The Wooddale experiment is being modified to make it safer, but still we hear complaints. It is unfortunate that someone who claims to be a mother values her vendetas above issues of safety. I agree with commuter services. The Wooddale design can be improved, but it did bring driver awareness of the importance of road sharing.

Here are the facts from Edina's own traffic study, published on the City of Edina webpage: In the five years preceeding the bike lanes (2007-2011), there were, on average, six traffic accidents on Wooddale anually. For some reason, in 2012 in the months leading up to the bike lanes, traffic accidents spiked to eleven. The bike lanes were then installed, and the remainder of 2012 saw five more traffic accidents on Wooddale, or a total of 16 for the year. I don't know the reason for such a dramatic spike. More interesting facts included the city's own bicycle study, conducted in August of 2012 (before lanes) and October of 2012 (after lanes). You gotta look real hard for these statistic folks, as they are buried on the very last page of the study. The pre-bike lane study showed how many bicyclist used Wooddale on one day in August. I don't believe that would constitute a very representative slice of bicycle usage. In October, over the course of a few days, the study showed that at Wooddale and 60th, 57% (41 of 72 bikers) did not use the bike lane and instead chose to use the parking lane or the sidewalk. At Wooddale and 55th, 62% (96 of 154 bikers) did not use the bike lane and instead chose to use the sidewalk or the parking lane. It would appear at face value that for some reason, the majority of bicyclists choose not to use the bike lanes, for whatever reason (I will make no assumptions here). Interesting facts, however...

Terry, I had noticed the spike in accidents in 2012 and wonder what was going on at the time. Does the spike coincide with the addition of the solid white parking lines? I am no traffic expert (clearly) but it seems to me the issue most of us had with the Wooddale was the fact that car drivers were confused about their driving lanes. A yellow center line could have solved the issue, giving drivers a place to stay. Wouldn’t removing the white parking lines (but still allowing for parking at the west site of the street, as is) give us enough space to be able to add center line all the way from 50th to Valley View Road?

What is really comes down to is the simplest, most effective solution that makes the most sense (the reason the City Council won't do it).... eliminate all striping from the Wooddale pavement, period! Many streets with little traffic have no markings at all , which describes Wooddale perfectly.

Related to this issue... Councilwoman Bennett at a council meeting a couple of months ago had the gall to say the next elected Council (they can't raise their pay till that next election) deserved a raise because of all the hours they put in on the job. Well, they would have many fewer hours on the job if they wouldn't waste time and money on this re-striping fiasco, and Ms. Bennett's nonsensical pet project, "Naming the Neighborhoods."

@Mike B -- well since the whole controversy was over the inability of Edina drivers to comprehend a street without a center line, I can't imagine removing all striping would do any good!

Sharrows sound fine to me. As a cyclist, I did not care for this advisory lane setup -- it encouraged cyclists to ride too close to parked cars or the gutter, rather than riding in the travel lane, where they belong. However, I think the crotchety drivers who complained about the advisory lanes won't like cyclists legally and safely "taking the lane" either.

An 18 year veteran of biking RAGBRI just told me that she will bike where she has biked for years--on the sidewalks--she has no idea what those bike lines mean or even care to take a chance riding in them let alone drive around them. The path on 54th
street has so many pot holes that bikers have to go out into the road to get around their pot holes in their lane.. Do we not have any "better" ways of spending our intelligence. What about Highlands school which has to endure the next months without their principal because he thought biking was safe in the winter time. Maybe someone who is responsible for so much and so many should think twice about taking this kind of risk--which it obviously was-
I understand accidents occur but personal responsibility also has to be accounted for.

Apparently none of you or very few of you even ride a bike let alone use a bicycle for commuting. Having a bike lane to go along with traffic is ideal in any situation. It can speed up the commute almost like having an express bike lane. It's quite evident from reading the comments so far that we are dealing with ignorance, politics, and the almighty dollar in regards to what really will happen at Wooddale. I highly doubt the "good" people on the City Council really give two shakes about the bikers in Edina. Perhaps Mike B. should become a 1% and try riding a bike once in a while. I ride 365 days a year, so nothing precludes me from getting out there and riding!!!! Like I said the City Council will do as they please regardless of input, data, or any other extenuating influence.

95% of the bicycle riders in Edina are just out for a leisurely ride; we don't need highs-speed bike lanes. There are a few Lance Armstrong-wannabes out there with their bike outfits, and the City of Edina has no business catering to their every whim on every blasted street in town.

I am amazed that you all can spend countless post on bike lanes and the quality of life in Edina...I wish you would consider the question of Section 42 housing and how you should share the burden with work force housing...

No section 8 housing or other subsidized housing in Edina!!! Crime results, and lowers property values. Keep the Minneapolis crime in Minneapolis!