Last weekend, or maybe it was the one before, I biked along the Midtown Greenway for the first time this season, out beyond the point where it had still been under construction. Last year, I did bike through that area with a friend, while it was still a big muddy ditch, but now, it’s paved all the way to Hiawatha, and biking along it is wonderful.
It’s such a great bike and pedestrian thoroughfare, from Hiawatha, all the way past the Lakes in Uptown, with only one problem right now. The few blocks right by Chicago Avenue are closed right now for the construction on the old Sears Building right there, so you have to leave the Greenway and go on surface streets for a few blocks. Not too bad, but still a pain. Since the greenway is below surface level, having to climb up out of it does add a nice bit of intensity right there, but I’d still rather it be open. You don’t have to worry about traffic down there; in fact it’s kind of a different world, and you leave the city behind a bit. The only traffic to worry about are the few pedestrians that don’t seem to understand the difference between the bike and walking lanes. Those are few and far between, unlike on the bike lanes around Loring Park, where I’m always having to weave my way through walkers on the bikepath (usually, I go on the grass to get around them). But like I said, not a huge issue on the greenway.
Between Nicollet and Lyndale on the Greenway, there are a few garden areas where you can stop and meander for awhile. Vera’s Garden is right by Lyndale, and if you’re walking, you can go “up the garden path” and exit on Lyndale, just in time to get a cup of coffee and Vera’s Cafe, a block south.
What I’d really like to see down there is for one of the buildings that has access on the greenway, like the one just west of Lyndale or Bryant, to open a little patio cafe at that level.
The Midtown Greenway Coalition has updates and articles of interest to users of the Greenway.
