Do the Governor or Met Council Chair Ride Bikes to Work? Well, I do not either.

I went to a Met Council meeting on Robert Street in St. Paul last week. Outside of a nearby parking ramp for cars, there was this bike path in the middle of the road. In fact, when I came out of the ramp street side about 4:20 pm, a nice man was riding his bike on the “path.” I had to kind of dodge him because I was not expecting a bike in the street. And the path was really “engineered.” This is more than a bike path. It is more like a bike roadway.

Here is what the bike road looked like later in the evening (after I had grabbed some dinner at the Handsome Hog):

(Just an aside: won’t this new infrastructure interfere with snow plows? And require new equipment and public employees to keep it clear of snow and ice? Striped and in good order? Note that this bike road even has its own landscaping and curbs. WOW.)

As I ran over to the Met Council meeting scheduled for 4:00 pm (I was late due to heavy traffic), I muttered to anyone in earshot: I wonder if any of the commissioners appointed by Gov. Dayton who make transit and planning policies rode a bike to the meeting today? What about Council staff? Or the reporters in the room?

Did the Chair ride her bike to the meeting? What about the train? Did any of them take light rail, or a bus?

If they did, will they do that on rainy days like today? Or when the temperatures drop? Have they given up their cars? Or one of their cars? In other words, is the Council guilty of: “Do as I say, not as I do?” policy making?

When the Governor talks about attracting a new Amazon distribution center to Minnesota, does he tout our great bike paths? Er, bike roads?

Maybe reporters should ask these questions: the answers would be, I expect, revealing.

(Here is another photo, facing east.  Check out all that paint. The “Green” bike road is green!):