urbanMSP

It is truly frustrating how many people fail to understand the difference in the service of LRT vs regional rail, commuter rail, and intercity rail. There needs to be a "transit mode identification" PSA or seminar in Minnesota at some point :lol: people actually call the NLX a light rail? ...

https://downtownrecovery.com/charts/trends

This is great news! I wonder what changed in the last year? Still a lot of work to be done though.

The problem is that the article failed to clearly inform readers of exactly what the problem was, whether this 25' was a requirement, and what effects it has. It may as well be newsworthy, but the article seemed to have been posted as yet another " NIMBYs complain about the light rail" art...

Could the section of track between the O&M and Union Depot be used as the tail near Target Field is?

I've given it a bit of thought, and I think that in order for the boulevard to be constructed, there would be a lot of different things that have to be done in tandem with each other. Here is a list of what I think should be done in order to avoid or minimize the chances of a Hiawatha Avenue: 1. Spl...

I wonder what traffic counts even are on 4th St there, surely less than what some trams could carry?

I really like this concept, it would be cool if the planners had made more effort into finding interlining opportunities. I suppose you could probably email this idea to the project staff? It's not too late for a change like this, though I'm sure they would find a reason why they couldn't do it. Par...

I mean, he literally calls himself the "armchair urbanist," for what it's worth... I just don't want this to turn into a "bury the freeway" thing and thought this video was pretty good at arguing that. (tangent: the only "urbanist" youtubers I really support are CityNer...

https://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/circulars/ec058/08_04_sela.pdf The existing regulations are general in nature. There are no specific design requirements. However, in practice, freight and passenger-carrying vehicles must meet stringent requirements, even when the LRT track and the freight rai...

It's mostly concerning to me that this article indirectly promotes people to go into a construction site illegaly and unsafely. This is especially ironic given that this NIMBY did it in the name of "safety" re: the 25 foot thing, I did some research and it is an FRA spacing requirement, so...

Found this somewhat relevant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5pPKfzzL54

It's really unfortunate how much service--and subsequently ridership--we have lost in just the past few years. I find it very frustrating because the gridded areas of the Twin Cities are perfect for a frequent grid bus network---and to some extent had that for many years. A thought I had would be to...

As icing on the cake, they even mention the other "tracks in wrong location" one in this article!

Also, obligatory Star Tribune comment section sucks remark. That was worse than usual, though.

"Light rail project encounters new obstacle in Minneapolis' North Loop: Major utility lines " https://m.startribune.com/light-rail-project-encounters-new-obstacle-in-minneapolis-north-loop-major-utility-lines/600359603/?clmob=y&c=n&clmob=y&c=n "We look at it as just normal...

I do know there are a couple park-ride signs with large "(T) METRO" logos along highways 169, 212, and 62, but they got covered up a couple weeks ago to avoid confusion.

Love that "smart bike parking" idea.

These were some of the best signage touches I could find on Google Maps from what I remember. It is just such an inexpensive way to make riding less confusing, I hope that we can retrofit our existing METRO infrastructure with similar stuff, or make it more visually consistent. https://www.google.co...

I think the public launch they used to use got removed or their contract to use it expired. I think they had plans to construct a new one.

For the rapid transit map: - The M6 segment to Wayzata and M9 through Northeast Minneapolis are almost verbatim what I have in my in-progress fantasy map, but as one combined line, I think realistically something like this should be the next light rail project to be proposed (outside of Midtown Gree...

I see, I think some better north-south bus connections should be made along a lot of the corridor. also... Construction Update!!! I got some pictures at the SW Station today, I'd share them on here but I don't know how... Some thoughts: - Pleasantly surprised to see a very easy pedestrian connection...

Dang, that plan looks awesome, but unfortunately not all of it will probably be implemented. I know that the last EP Quality of Life survey (from 2020, I think) had many comments relating to the lack of a walkable downtown, so there is a bit of public support for such a thing, but what would be requ...