urbanMSP

Mod42, the 30-unit project at 32nd Ave and 42nd St, has suddenly topped out after the site was idle for a few months, as the main modules for the construction were put in place last week. Business Journal has an article up about the building and Rise Modular, the construction company. Looks like the...

The MnDOT study for a Northstar extension to St. Cloud is out now: https://www.dot.state.mn.us/passengerrail/northstar-study/index.html They looked at four scenarios, which are all pretty minimal if you ask me. I've only had a chance to look at the executive summary so far: Only one inbound train an...

Rep. Dan Wolgamott of St. Cloud has introduced another bill this year to get funding to push Northstar along. Following the $650,000 from last year to study the route and begin negotiations with BNSF, this year's bill would put another $6 million into negotiations and planning. It's HF 4017. https:/...

Viking never did pull off the Mississippi River cruises, did they? They've announced new plans to start Great Lakes tours in 2022, including at least one route that should stop in Duluth.

http://www.startribune.com/viking-splas ... 567075242/

Yeah, kind of, though moving the buses closer to 24th Ave likely means that it's not as bad as it used to be -- there's probably better ventilation to the "outside" than there used to be. Some of the trucks and construction equipment made the air quality near the old station entrance really bad whil...

Here's a Channel 9 article on the bus tunnel that's going to go in by the I-35W/I-494 interchange, which has a couple renderings: https://www.fox9.com/news/four-years-of-construction-coming-to-i-35w-i-494-interchange It's not entirely clear when buses might start using the tunnel. That article says ...

The St. Paul Farmer's Market is going to set up indoors at Union Depot year-round on Thursdays from 10:00 am to 1:30 pm, starting this Thursday, October 17. Apparently they did that for six weeks last year.

https://www.twincities.com/2019/10/14/s ... rs-market/

Photos from this morning. Here's the entrance, just off the end of the Blue Line platform. The bus area is off to my right in this shot. The signage needs work. There had been a nice lighted sign above the entrance, but it's missing for now. They still have an old sign pointing at the old transit ce...

Wisconsin Public Radio is starting a podcast called "Derailed" about the attempts to get high(er)-speed rail going in the state up until the election of Scott Walker in 2010. Here's an article on it from The Capital Times in Madison: https://madison.com/ct/news/local/derailed-tells-the-story-of-the-...

I wouldn't be surprised if there'd been some Koch brothers influence with this, especially considering there's a Koch (Flint Hills) refinery right on Hwy 52. I was briefly on a Community Advisory Committee for Zip Rail, but it got heavily loaded with people from the Cannon Falls area rather than peo...

Now delayed until the following Monday, October 14th.

On Monday (9/16), MVTA is adding a downtown Savage stop to route 495, which runs from the Mall of America down MN-77 and MN-13 to Burnsville and on to Shakopee. Seems strange that they're only adding it on 6 trips each direction, though. They're also adding route 498, which runs from the Marschall R...

Yeah, a second platform and two additional tracks are penciled in on the diagram here (in the transit-center-specific thread that slipped my mind when I posted...): viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1264&start=60#p135976

After going to a movie last night, I noticed that the columns in the bus area in the mall's transit center had been repainted. There's still quite a lot of work needed for the new transit center lobby area, so I was surprised to see the new bus platforms were in use this morning when I came in to wo...

There will be a new M Health Fairview Clinic location at the mall, next to the (pharmacy-less) Walgreens: http://www.startribune.com/mall-of-america-will-get-a-walk-in-clinic/512785382/ A photo from when I saw it on Monday: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48302025492_dda46c4028_z.jpg IMG_-zajl0t...

Yeah, Microsoft bought Great Plains Software back in 2000-2001.

These days, I prefer to use the Census Bureau's "urban area" populations when comparing different large regions, since that's based on more fine-grained data that's more consistently filtered, while MSAs use county boundaries that include a lot more exurban sprawl and cause more variation due to the...

They're also bad for bicycles, since reaching certain destinations can technically require you to go around an extra block or two (though of course most people will just end up riding against the flow or going on the sidewalk, etc.). They cut down on the number of alternate routes people have to get...

The project between 34th and 33rd Ave where the Blue Line turns is now called The Fenley (looks like it was previously Indigo Phase II). I finally saw a banner showing the name, so I got off and took some photos on the way to work, though it's a bit hard to convey how it's laid out since it's so big...

I saw a worker pulling cling film off of the windows up on the 4th floor above the 46th & Snelling Cub entrance this morning, so they're getting close to done with the apartments.