Architecture, Development, and Infrastructure of the Twin Cities
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This I can see as an advantage. Does that offset the additional distance to destinations on Nicollet and eastward? Maybe.But the nice thing is that buses can GO AROUND other buses since there are two lanes in each direction.
Would you be ok with running transit over the stone arch bridge (ignoring width issues) or say through the heart of a major park? Those are two areas like Nicollet mall where people naturally want to congregate, recreate, and relax. Transit is not a universal positive to all places for all people.See, but what you're saying here is that transit is *detrimental* to a place, pretty much exactly opposite of what I believe.I don't know about mainstreet, but Nicollet is meant to be downtown's shopping district, which yes, should be served by transit. But that doesn't mean transit should funneled through it to the detriment of it as an appealing place.
Yeah, actually I would. I was just thinking about that the other day.Would you be ok with running transit over the stone arch bridge
Yeah same. Hennepin is not ideal, location-wise, but at least the buses, you know, move.I was one of the people screaming “transitpocalypse” back when they said they were moving the buses from Third to Hennepin…
…but now I actually kind of like it. I live in Whittier and work downtown. I can walk from my office on Third Street (part of why I didn’t like the buses moving) over to Hennepin in a few minutes and choose from the 4, 17, or 18 (whichever comes first). Traffic isn’t really that bad, and most of the delays are when buses prevent other buses from making lights (5th Street’s far-side bus stop can be infuriating). But the nice thing is that buses can GO AROUND other buses since there are two lanes in each direction.
I used to be pretty adamant about keeping buses on Nicollet. But now I think I could see them staying on Hennepin.
I honestly don't know if it's worth it. And I certainly won't despise the return to Nicollet. But if they said they were going to stay, I think I'd shrug more than anything else.This I can see as an advantage. Does that offset the additional distance to destinations on Nicollet and eastward? Maybe.But the nice thing is that buses can GO AROUND other buses since there are two lanes in each direction.
Honestly, I think it does. If the additional distance was a long ways, like even three blocks like the 3rd Ave detour was, that would be one thing. But the Hennepin detour moves the buses a single (increasingly long), or at worst, two, blocks off of Nicollet. It's not ideal, but it's really not that bad.This I can see as an advantage. Does that offset the additional distance to destinations on Nicollet and eastward? Maybe.But the nice thing is that buses can GO AROUND other buses since there are two lanes in each direction.
The argument could be made that those rides went away because of the detour to Marquette/2nd/3rd.For all the anecdata here, several million fewer bus rides last year speaks volumes about the Hennepin detour.
What? the green line opened in 2014. We're talking about 2015 ridership. I'm confused with you half year of ridership comment. Buses lost 8.6% rides over 2014. MT cited the reason as BOTH transition from buses to LRT AND significant detours on Nicollet mall routes. Their words, not mine.Or it speaks volumes about transferring half a year's worth of 16/50 bus rides to the Green Line.
The Hennepin detour is an inconvenience, no doubt about that, but (anecdatally!) the detoured buses were very full during rush hours pre-detour, and remain very full during rush hours now. Unless you can show me ridership data showing a significant decrease on the detoured routes, I'm not buying that it's caused a significant drop in ridership.
Which is something that could have been designed into the Nicollet Mall rebuild, if the transit function the street were at all considered in the design. The transit function, i.e. the most important non-psychological function of Nicollet Mall.But the nice thing is that buses can GO AROUND other buses since there are two lanes in each direction.
Of course it is. Would you rather stroll or sit at a cafe next to a bus or a train, or where there is none? Obviously, the latter.See, but what you're saying here is that transit is *detrimental* to a place, pretty much exactly opposite of what I believe.
Yes you could. Nicollet is 80' wide. The current curving design reduces sidewalk widths to 15' in many places. A bus passing lane doesn't need to be more than 10' wide. Try math sometime.You couldn't do multiple lanes on Nicollet without drastically narrowing the sidewalks and pedestrian amenities. Nonstarter.