urbanMSP

I learned that it's a tossup whether you get any kind of action, or even a reply, from emailing the main Mn/DOT address about stuff. Once they forwarded it to the metro electrical maintenance engineer, who suggested I email her directly with issues in the future. (I don't know if it's proper to list...

The real reason is that Mn/DOT didn't think it was worthwhile to maintain lighting on the new reflective signs- many other states are phasing out sign lighting too. The white mercury vapor lights were inefficient and ballasts are now illegal to manufacture, while the newer metal halide lights were h...

In the "Oops" department, The Mn/DOT bridge office is worried that the foundations for the 100 and 120 foot tower lights aren't deep enough. (Mn/DOT has about 400 towers). So they're going to redesign them and inspect every existing tower and indicate "future action may be needed"...

I'm assuming that the new MN 41 freeway would be built before rail. There's money for ROW preservation but nothing more on the planning horizon, the MN 24 freeway is likely to happen first and even that keeps getting pushed back. I think people overestimate how much traffic Valleyfair would generate...

I would have been happy with the Braun design if it had been built in that location, but I do like the current design and think it was the right choice (assuming it's going to be a river spanning design) to split the difference visually. It's no Golden Gate Bridge, but I'd personally term it as &quo...

Browns Creek Trail bridge over Manning
IMG_5578 by North Star Highways, on Flickr
IMG_5582 by North Star Highways, on Flickr

St Paul and Minneapolis use different controller vendors and software. Might explain some of the disparities that have been reported between the two cities on the line. Oh, and mulad, thanks for your efforts in this. You should have gotten paid to do it. Sounds like Minneapolis is doing it's own th...

Can you cite the law? Often the only way to make a left turn on a green ball is to pull into the intersection and wait. But aren't all the intersections with light rail protected mode only anyway?

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3895/14602671533_123ecd5bfa.jpg IMG_5630 by North Star Highways , on Flickr4 My own picture of Pier 8 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5487/14395904490_fa80485b9e.jpg IMG_5631 by North Star Highways , on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3904/14395908720_576c3664f3....

The residents of Rochester elected officials who wanted suburban growth, so that seems to me like it's fair that they pay for it (although I wouldn't have objected to a TIF district). I imagine as fast as Rochester's growing there's going to be a lot of housing built for people that want breathing r...

I'm sure Menards would disagree on whether all the alleged problems are "hard to fix". Put a second door in where you'd have to have more space devoted to cash registers and employees to staff them in case all the foot traffic on the street wants to make an impulse purchase of plywood? Com...

Judging from the Wikipedia page a pretty insulting and condescending book, and referencing it rather than coming up with something original doesn't make the post less so. I'm not about to move to the city and I don't want not "credible human habitat" "fixed" so I'm not going to w...

Calling the suburbs "nowhere" isn't the least bit insulting, condescending, and judgmental... But leaving sarcasm behind, the backstory is that all the local hospitals tried to prevent this from being built because it's competition, but they haven't invested in psych wards themselves becau...

It's been a few months since I've been out there (I'll go once they open WI 35) and I also have a paddleboat tour booked, but yes, there was a major milestone when they placed the first crossbeam (onto pier #8, the one that they were able to get a start on early because they built a causeway from th...

At least it'll be better than my experience on the Goethals Bridge, with 10 foot lanes with no shoulders and the steel structure immediately to my right and semi-trucks to the left, that I paid something like $10.00 for the privilege of crossing. They say "pavement replacement" but not &qu...

I just hope they're not using 60 year concrete for the substandard sections. Maybe it never will be politically possible to get 10 feet closer to those cute houses, but south of there the old narrow overpasses won't last forever. I do wish they'd put I-94 back to before they restriped it after the I...

I sure hate this project. Close to 200,000 drivers a day are going to be stuck with substandard lane widths from Lake to 42nd for the next 60 years.

76th is where Best Buy headquarters is, assuming they're still around when the Orange LIne is American is where Bloomington plans to build an urbanist utopia astride on each side of two very wide and busy streets.

My recollection is there wasn't a consensus on moving the ramps to 38th street- the residents on that street didn't want it, but they didn't have a better idea what to do about the weave. I assume Mn/DOT dropped the idea at that point and is not rebuilding the existing layout because they didn't wan...

With the talk of the Green Line signals, I thought I'd mention Addler traffic signal lenses. http://www.kbrhorse.net/sigpics/adler_red_front.jpg http://www.kbrhorse.net/sigpics/adler_green_front.jpg Notice the resemblance to LRT signals. These were an option in early traffic signals as an aid to col...