The Midtown Greenway--A great ride in any weather for some.

In the 1999 motion picture Office Space the character of Tom, at his wits end and frustrated with a line a questioning from “the Bobs,” shouts out an exasperated, “What is wrong with you people!” The SBT crew recently flipped through the winter edition of the Rails to Trails publication and came across the story of the Midtown Greenway, a nearly six mile straight line asphalt trail that cuts straight through downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Winter in Minnesota sees temperatures on average below freezing and the city receives over 50 inches of snow.  Yet, people still ride the Greenway (with all of the white stuff that falls in the twin cities, “Greenway” would seem to be a contradiction in terms) which leads the SBT crew to let loose with Tom’s quivering refrain: “What is wrong with you people!”

But before we throw a blanket of contempt on Minnesotans we do have to explore the history of the Greenway.  The line was originally constructed in the late 1870s by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul and Pacific Railroad (simply the Milwaukee Railroad) as part of its main line to the Pacific.  In 1912 it was decided to move the line below grade so a nearly straight line trench was dug and the rails were moved below street level.  In 1985 the Milwaukee Railroad was absorbed by the Soo Line and much of the Milwaukee line was converted to light rail operations.  By 1993 light rail services were discontinued and almost immediately the idea of the Midtown Greenway came into being.  The Greenway has been a success from the start (it opened in 2000) and it is part of the reason Minneapolis has been named the most bicycle-friendly city in the country by Bicycle magazine five years in a row (the last coming in 2011).  Interestingly enough at the Pacific terminus of the Milwaukee Line near Seattle, Washington another of the company’s abandoned lines has been converted to a trail within the Iron Horse State Park in the Cascade Mountains.

The Midtown Greenway is a highway of sorts allowing bike commuters from residential areas easy access to the downtown districts.  It has become so popular there is even an evening and afternoon rush hour.  In sum, the Greenway has on average 5,000 daily users.  The trail is open all day, every day no matter the conditions.  The Greenway is owned and maintained by the city and riders claim the trail is plowed of snow before many city streets.  A small of group of volunteers known as the Trail Watchers patrol the Greenway protecting riders.  That is just one group of volunteers, other volunteers plant trees (4,000 last Arbor Day) and one group commissions art for placement along the trail.  The Greenway has plans for expansion beyond the Mississippi River but has yet to receive approval.  Of the many highlights along the trail is the ride over Lake Calhoun on a section known as Chain of Lakes Trail.  Another is the Midtown Global Market at 10^th Avenue.  A former Sears building, the market has been converted into specialty groceries, coffee shops, bakeries, restaurants and bars.  

With all the Midtown Greenway has to offer the SBT crew can see why it is popular year-round.  But still, we’ll wait for spring.   We have short 30 second video of the Greenway in the snow on our website www.stickybottleteam.net.