New Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator: Shaun Murphy

Public Works Director Steve Kotke has appointed Shaun Murphy as the City’s first Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator.  You may be familiar with that name, as Shaun has coordinated the incredibly successful Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot since 2007, and has been one of the public faces of the City’s bicycle program. 

I think very highly of Shaun, having worked with him on several projects in the ward, including Riverside, 27^th Ave SE, 26^th Ave S, 15^th Ave SE and Como Ave SE.  His work in all parts of Minneapolis over the past few years has given him a wealth of knowledge about bicycling in this city, about the City’s bureaucracy, and about our neighborhoods.  He is quite adept at working with community members, and is focused on the right goal: making Minneapolis a place where everyone, no matter their level of comfort riding with traffic, can use a bicycle to get around. 

I’m excited to welcome Shaun into this new role, in which he will have substantially increased clout and capacity to make positive change.  It is vitally important, especially as our resources don’t keep pace with our needs, to coordinate the work of the various transportation departments in Public Works (Traffic, Transportation Planning and Engineering, and Maintenance and Repair) and across both City departments and outside agencies (the County, MnDOT, etc). 

As you may recall, there was some controversy when this position was created earlier this year (partly generated and fueled by the Star Tribune), but it was supported by eleven of thirteen Council Members earlier this fall.  I think Shaun is the right person for this important job, and I’m thrilled that he’s moving to this new role.