urbanMSP

So the idea of a RYG right turn arrows could work, but again there's things to think about 1) You would need to provide right turn lanes, otherwise we're in the same situation we're trying to solve by banning left turns, where a driver is unable to make a turn for a substantial amount of time, so s...

If it did turn out to be a real problem, we could just change the lights to have only straight arrow/right turn arrow, instead of full green, and then it would be completely unambiguous. (As a bonus, this also makes it easy to implement a leading pedestrian signal). Green arrows are only allowed wh...

Eliminating street parking and left turns into businesses will be a sure-fire way to gain local buy-in. That's fine; I still think it's the most efficient and safe design that balances the different uses for the corridor. That doesn't mean it's politically popular or feasible, but it's worth identi...

Do people actually abide by left turn bans? Even if it's 90%, the 10% that ignores it could really grind that street to a halt. I think you would really need a more drastic change (either making the E/W street one-way, or closing the entrance, or building a median to block the turn) to make that vi...

I think banning lefts not only makes the project enormously easier to accommodate all the desired uses, but also probably makes travel times faster for drivers. It's relatively uncommon in the Twin Cities, but banning lefts on major arterials is not a ridiculous or extreme proposition by any means. ...

I think transcontinental HSR is more of a political framework than a transportation framework. It signals to activists that the scale of investment would be large, it signals to non-coastal states that this won't just benefit NY and CA, and it has the big, ambitious, optimistic feel of going to the ...

I'm not really surprised, Amtrak has been more aggressive in trying to find ways to cut long distance service ever since Anderson was appointed president (maybe even since Moorman to an extent) and I think is still true with Flynn. Question is does the Twin Cities make the cut for Amtrak's other go...

I'm always fine with a tunnel, of course, but it's expensive and takes longer and might lead to stops being placed less conveniently to cut costs. This project is already expensive. Granted it would be more expensive with a tunnel, but lets not pretend the Blue Line Extension running almost entirel...

I know the politics of cars are nothing like the reality, but from a geometry perspective I really don't find the argument that Broadway is too narrow to be particularly compelling. It's part of a mostly grid-like structure so flow changes from cutting down to one slow travel lane each way and banni...

The current Green Line is great for connecting people to destinations like the U and Midway, but it doesn't effectively solve the problem of a fast trip between Minneapolis and St. Paul, and that in turn really diminishes the value of treating SWLRT as an extension. There are lots of great ideas for...

Not to say that it wouldn't be useful, but doing something on Selby has much more significant impacts than on the others: A 12' cycle track, a 3' curb buffer, an 11' travel lane, and an 18' travel/parking lane seems more than adequate and consistent with city width guidelines (and even leaves a cou...

Not to say that it wouldn't be useful, but doing something on Selby has much more significant impacts than on the others: - Selby is 46' (ish) curb to curb, so on 3-lane sections a cycletrack means removing both sides of parking in a busy commercial district - The trail comes out on the north side ...

I think there are real opportunities for bike improvements on Jefferson, St. Clair, Grand (to connect to Summit), and Hamline. This part of Hamline in particular is part of the city/county 4-3 study. Selby is probably the least likely/most difficult to make improvements on. Any of those would be pr...

There will be trail spurs at each ramp (Jefferson, St. Clair, Grand, Hamline, Selby) connecting the trail up to the surface. But there is a need for more work to make those streets comfortable when you're up there. Yeah, as much as I think better (and more frequent) connections on/off the new trail...

The abundant green of the Midtown Greenway trench isn't an incidental quality, it's key to the success of the trail as a recreational amenity and intimately connected to its appeal as a commuting option. You can see that in the very different use that a trail like the Hiawatha trail. Sometimes ther...

My 2¢: I think our collective vocabulary around historical preservation is pretty lacking and it shows in discussions like this one. Our laws and processes and organizations are very good at protecting specific structures and encasing them in amber. They're much worse and finding graceful ways for n...

I do not disagree with this, and that is why I would prefer to be as precise as possible with terms. Because the distinction between dedicated ROW and non-dedicated ROW is one of the most important that exists for any transit service, it's a natural place to draw a line. It is true that San Francis...

Ultimately even a heavily spoke-based or trunk-based system benefits enormously from having feeder lines serving its stations--and feeder lines need to be relatively high-frequency or else you lose the benefits of the trunk line frequency. And a system built in this way ends up looking a fair amount...

If we really want light rail on the Nicollet-Central Corridor there will need to be grade-separation for a large portion of the route. We’ll see what happens with West 7th and Riverview LRT but I think after that there won’t be enough political and public willingness for another light rail line on ...

Let's try to be clear about terms. If it runs entirely in an exclusive right-of-way, it's light rail, not a streetcar. Tbh the terms themselves aren't that clear. There's a spectrum from the most "streetcar-like" (runs in mixed-traffic; small, single-car vehicles; street- or curb-level step-up boar...