Bicycle lanes are planned along 16th Street Northwest as part of the City of Minot’s street seal project this summer.

The project includes bike lanes from 21st Avenue to 30th Avenue Northwest, providing a connection between the shared-use paths on 21st Avenue Northwest and on 16th Street north of 36th Avenue Northwest, according to information from the city.

The Minot City Council on Tuesday approved a reduction in speed limit on 16th Street Northwest between 21st and 36th Avenues to increase safety for all roadway users. The speed limit will be lowered from 40 mph to 30 mph.

The council also voted to change the zoning code to eliminate public hearings before the city council on requests for interim use permits and zoning text amendments. Hearings still would be held before the planning commission, and the council can elect to take public input outside the public hearing format.

The changes eliminate duplicative hearings before both the planning commission and council. However, the council decided to retain the two hearings for requests for conditional use permits and for zoning map amendments due to the potential for these types of requests to generate neighborhood concerns. Conditional use permits are required for operations such as group homes or child care facilities in many residential areas and cellular towers, clinics or hospitals in commercial areas.