Here’s my column from the Sunday paper. If you’ve already read it elsewhere, please skip on down to the comments below. Thanks.

WHEN IT COMES TO HARDHATS, GREEN MEANS GREEN

Roadguy is not a fashion columnist, yet alert reader Mike has a question about hats:

At the 35W bridge construction site, I have noticed several distinct hardhat colors (yellow, orange, green, red, white, etc). I have been wondering if these hardhat colors have any specific meanings, or if it is completely random, and up to the worker’s favorite color.

Roadguy is always given a green hat to wear when he’s down at the site, and Kevin Gutknecht, a Minnesota Department of Transportation spokesman, says there is in fact something of a code.

Green hats are given to new workers or visitors; after 90 days, the workers get red ones. Supervisors from Flatiron Constructors tend to wear white hats, while the Figg Engineering folks lean toward blue and MnDOT prefers orange.

There are exceptions and variations, of course. And Gutknecht said a yellow hat could belong to a subcontractor or an inspector. (Or perhaps it just matches the wearer’s socks.)

LEFT EXIT OR RIGHT?

Alert reader LeRoy has a question about freeway signs that say things like “Hemlock Lane — 1 mile.”

In many states, LeRoy says, the little part of the sign showing the exit number will be attached on the right side of the sign if the exit is on the right, and attached on the left if the exit is on the left.

“One state that does not do this is Minnesota,” he writes. “Why not?”

Federal guidelines call for the exit plaque, as it’s sometimes called, to correspond to the side of the freeway that the ramp will be on, said Heather Lott, a MnDOT signage maven. Minnesota hasn’t always done it that way — they’re often in the center — but is in the process of moving the panels, she said.

ANOTHER ROAD VANISHES

After last week’s item on the disappearance of Hwy. 65 from downtown Minneapolis, a few alert readers noted that Hwy. 55 also has departed.

Indeed. When sections of state highways no longer serve as real trunk routes, they’re often turned over to cities or counties. (And, really, who from Eagan would take Hwy. 55 all the way to Plymouth when Interstate 494 is speedier?)

So Hwy. 55 is now in two parts: Olson Highway and points west, and Hiawatha Avenue and points southeast.

On the Olson end, there are a few signs directing Hwy. 55 traffic onto I-94, but if you’re heading north on Hiawatha, there’s nothing similar — 55 just evaporates. Lott says there isn’t room for more signs at that spot, where Hiawatha splits into a tangle of roads.

Here’s Roadguy’s column from the Sunday paper. If you’ve already read it elsewhere, please skip on down to the comments below. Thanks.

A SHORTENED ROAD

Alert reader Sharon, unhappy when her out-of-town visitors became lost, has a question about a highway that is no longer where she thinks it is:

When you are traveling north on 35W [near the Convention Center], you see exit signs for downtown Minneapolis indicating that it is also the exit for Hwy. 65. Those of us who live northeast of downtown all know that Hwy. 65 continues out of downtown over the Third Avenue Bridge and is the same as Central Avenue through northeast Minneapolis.

However, once you take that exit, there are no signs downtown to indicate that if you want to follow Hwy. 65, you need to turn left on Washington and right on 3rd Avenue.

Hwy. 65 is actually no longer mentioned on the “downtown exits” signs, but Roadguy, like Sharon, was not aware that the road had been officially shortened. The state still considers the Third Avenue Bridge and points north to be Hwy. 65, but the downtown portion has been turned over to the city.

However, the freeway portion, which connects downtown to 35W, is still maintained by the state and has mile markers that say Hwy. 65. Those were left in place to help stranded motorists and emergency responders because it’s tough to locate vehicles on a road with no name.

LANE GAMES

Alert reader S. has a question about lanes:

I’ve been puzzled about just how many lanes Lyndale Avenue officially has beginning at about 31st Street and heading south. Because cars can park on both sides of the street, it ends up being big enough for about 1.5 lanes in each direction. Some people seem to treat it like it has two full lanes. … There are no lines to give guidance, either.

Roadguy has been tempted to take a paintbrush to that stretch of Lyndale for quite some time. But county officials say the road was never striped because they didn’t want to encourage people to drive in lanes that often have parked cars in them, or to drive side by side where there’s a less-than-optimal amount of room.

Drivers have been doing those things anyway, but a solution is coming: Starting this summer and continuing through 2009, Lyndale will be rebuilt from 31st Street to 50th Street. (The official contruction info page is here.) The new medians, turn lanes and bumpouts should make it very clear where everyone should be.

Southwest Minneapolis drivers who are already feeling trapped by the Crosstown Commons project might want to rent a helicopter from June to November, when Lyndale will be closed to through traffic between 38th and 50th Streets.

PARKING-RAMP PATIENCE

We conclude today with a quick Minnetonka question from alert reader Shawn:

What is up with the unfinished look of the parking ramp at Hopkins Crossroad and 394? On the 394 side it has a very unfinished look compared to the other sides.

Bob Gibbons of Metro Transit has a logical answer: “The ramp is not yet complete.” Work should resume this summer and be done by October.

Here’s my column from the Sunday paper. If you’ve already read it elsewhere, please skip on down to the comments below.

LIGHTS ON

Alert reader John has a question about illumination, or the lack thereof:

There seem to be more lights out on the metro roadways now than a few years ago. Where are the guys who fix them? Did MnDOT get rid of them all when they were trying to save money? Why are so many out?

Amr Jabr, who oversees lights on major highways in the metro area, says his electrical maintenance staff “is slightly down from the past.” The bigger issue is that his crew has more things to maintain every year.

The current numbers: 19,000 lights and 670 traffic signals, serviced by 13 field workers and a couple of supervisors.

Wintry weather slows down light repairs, Jabr says. Sometimes the wiring is beneath frozen ground, and the workers who close down traffic lanes are the same ones who clear snow (and perform other jobs), so they’re not always available — and there are fewer of them.

“We do our best to keep up,” Jabr said, adding that the recent increase in transportation funding should help.

PICK A COLOR

Alert reader Jon is seeing red — and yellow — when he parks his car:

I have a question that’s been bothering me since I moved to the Twin Cities last June. I’ve noticed that some parking meters in Minneapolis are different colors, specifically red and yellow. I’m assuming this represents something, probably a restriction on the meter, but I can’t seem to find any signage that explains. … What do these colors represent?

The Minneapolis parking meter palette includes red, yellow, gray and green. Gray is your basic meter, while the green ones are operated by the Park and Recreation Board.

The city’s yellow meters mean short-term parking, generally 15 minutes.

Red meters, meanwhile, are used in places where parking is prohibited during one or both rush hours.

Restrictions should appear on signs and on the meter, though you might have to peer beneath the curved, often grubby glass to read them.

LONG BEFORE PLASTIC CARS…

For those who feel that their cars and motorcycles don’t contain enough metal to set off the pavement detectors at traffic signals, alert reader Gary from Crystal offers this:

Some of us have a similar problem at signal lights where our antique cars, made with wooden frames, do not trigger the left-turn sensors. My 1902 Oldsmobile has this problem, and often I wait a couple of changes, then make a run for it.

Be careful not to crash, Gary — air bags weren’t standard equipment for the 1902 model year.

Daylight saving time and relatively tropical temperatures are having an effect on local transportation: Roadguy saw numerous bicycles crossing the new Midtown Greenway bridge over Hiawatha Avenue yesterday evening while he was driving nearby. And alert reader Michelle from Maplewood is among those who have biking on their minds:

I’ve been increasing my time commuting to work/running errands by bike and decreasing my car time. A few months ago you mentioned some local stores that were good for baskets and other items to add to bikes to make the bikes more friendly for carrying shopping bags (cloth of course, not paper OR plastic!) and other things. I can’t find this column any longer and haven’t had luck with online searches of local bike shops. Can you share the info again? Thanks!

The Roadguy blog archive has indeed become somewhat unwieldy — I tried searching for the recommendations, but they’re scattered in various posts and comments. So I figured that, because bike folks like to talk about bikes, if I posted the question, Michelle would get plenty of answers in the comments below.

Also biking-related is this editorial from the Oregonian, the daily newspaper out in Portland. Portland is the No. 1 biking city in the country, just ahead of Minneapolis, and it’s hoping to get even more bike-friendly. (Thanks to alert reader Matty for the link.) With gas prices hitting a new high today, pedaling certainly has some appeal.

Below is my column from the Sunday paper. If you’ve already read it elsewhere, please skip on down to the comments. Thanks.

A heat wave seemed like the only solution, but Tom Noland wasn’t willing to wait all winter for one.

Noland is the Metro Transit bus driver who contacted Roadguy back in December to talk about the challenge of dropping off riders amid the snowbanks of downtown Minneapolis. Since then, Noland has tried just about everything he could think of to get more curbs cleared of snow and ice (he stopped short of jackhammering them out himself).

He sent letters to supervisors and the city. He called 311 and got work orders to have specific corners cleared. He posted notices at the bus garage under the name GlacierGuy.

“I think I would rather have a root canal than to retrace my phone calls and correspondence with the city of Minneapolis,” he wrote at one point.

Metro Transit removes snow from the park-and-ride lots and downtown bus shelters it owns, but it doesn’t have the money or staff to clear other areas, said spokesman Bob Gibbons. Property owners are required to shovel sidewalks but not the snow piled along curbs; the city clears bus stops as workers are available.

Which meant that, months after our first significant snowfall, Noland and other operators would grimace at the obstacles facing their passengers, one of whom went so far as to ask Noland to get out of his seat and lend a hand as she climbed over a snowpile.

While it’s too late for major changes this winter, Metro Transit hopes to find some solutions, Gibbons said. The agency has formed a working group to check into problem locations, and staff members are looking into the snow-removal practices of the more than 80 municipalities Metro Transit serves.

The agency is also trying to figure out the cost of removing more snow itself, and whether doing so would be feasible — no easy task, given the agency’s deficit.

Noland has learned that there are no easy answers, and he eased up on his unorthodox efforts as the winter dragged on. But at the breakfast table with some other drivers the week before last, he decided he was tired of the persistent piles at 4th Street and Hennepin Avenue, near ramps that bring buses into the Warehouse District from Interstates 94 and 394.

So he borrowed a cell phone and left a message for Sam Jacobs, director of bus operations, and wound up having a conversation with him this past Monday.

The next day, Noland said, one of his fellow drivers let out a big “Hallelujah.” And the exuberant Noland wrote Jacobs a thank-you note:

“With the Tuesday morning sun facing the operators as they made their way down 4th Street today, there was indeed something spiritual about not seeing that menacing snowbank at our first stop. It was a great morning and even greater to be alive.”

Here’s Roadguy’s column from the Sunday paper. If you’ve already read it elsewhere, please skip on down to the comments below.

THAT WARM-UP COULD COST YOU; PLUS, SHIFTING THE BLAME FOR A TICKET

Aside from some momentary thaws, this winter sure is taking itself seriously — bus-stop glaciers, ice-covered bike lanes, and some very, very cold mornings for warming up the car.

Roadguy had always thought that it was illegal to leave one’s car running with the keys in the ignition anywhere in Minneapolis, but it’s actually against the law only if the vehicle is on a public road.

Anyplace else, it’s merely a bad idea.

Sgt. Therese Hoffman, who works in traffic control for the Minneapolis Police Department, says officers wish the law were a bit broader. Thieves tempted by a running engine aren’t likely to develop a sudden respect for private property just because the vehicle is parked in a driveway.

Locking the car is only a modest deterrent, Hoffman said, and the fact that the auto was running makes it more difficult for prosecutors to deal with suspected thieves who have keys in their hands. (St. Paul and other cities have ordinances similar to the one in Minneapolis.)

So if you can’t stand a cold car and aren’t too worried about your carbon footprint, remote starters that prevent the car from being driven are the way to go. Hoffman has one herself and describes it as “phenomenal,” though she warms up her car only for a minute or two: “I’m too cheap to pay for all that gas.”

The computer made me do it

Hoffman’s job means she’s always good for a story, and one she told the other day was almost enough to get Roadguy on a personal-responsibility high horse.

Seems that a suburban resident driving through northeast Minneapolis complained about getting a ticket for making an illegal left turn from 7th Street onto Central Avenue. I went out there on Friday to see whether the intersection was rife with ambiguity.

Not really:

I even watched one driver switch off his turn signal as he approached the no-left-turn signs. Cognitive behavior is a beautiful thing. (The city closed the lane after the Interstate 35W bridge collapse to improve the flow of traffic in the neighborhood.)

So what was the ticketed driver’s excuse for making the turn?

Mapquest. The directions he’d gotten from the Web had told him to go left, so he did.

Roadguy called up Allie Burns, a spokeswoman in Virginia for Mapquest. She said that the mapping software can’t know about every temporary lane closure and that the site’s disclaimers are there for a reason. She pointed out that her GPS unit recently instructed her to make a U-turn that would have been illegal, and she chose not to make the turn.

So while digital technologies are making it easier to find your way around, there’s something less newfangled that you should always bring along:

Your brain.