urbanMSP

The article goes on to state that United Properties is involved and the project would likely be a 4-story structure (not incl. parking levels) with Metro Transit PD on the first floor and private office space on floors 2-4. It would break ground immediately after the final out of the All-Star Game

MTPD HQ would relocate here rather than this being an additional facility. I'd like to see enough parking built here to store MTPD vehicles, as well as all of the additional MT support vehicles that generally live at Heywood (staff support cars, schedule delivery vehicles, and basically everything that doesn't fit in the bus garage). Perhaps Metro Transit might then be able to surrender their lower lot along 5th St to development.

In a perfect world, we'd be looking 20-30 years out when Metro Transit will have outgrown their current building and plan this facility accordingly for that growth. Obviously, getting the private sector involved with the current, actual project seems like a huge win. It's the type of public-private partnership that is often dreamed of and rarely materializes. However, when you look at this in the long run, and factor in that Metro Transit employees are scattered all over the damn place and Heywood office building needs rehab/expansion, it would be more prudent to plan for their eventual expansion.

Sidebar, it also would be great if Metro Transit's (non-bus-or-lrv-operator) employees had to pay for market rate parking, rather than driving to work and parking for free, slapping taxpayers in the face (because they all have free unlimited transit passes).

Thanks Twins for the additional detail.

I am disappointed that there is not bus transfer center. Everyone has to walk farther to catch a bus.

This, and that is pretty much completely isolated from everything except trains and target field, is my beef with this project. I work around the stadium during games and I'm frequently asked where to catch so and so bus. It's very confusing to take a bus to TF because some stop in the Ramp B station and some stop on 394 (accessed via 3rd ave north) Maybe I'm mistaken and they are routing buses from under the Ramp B to 5th and have a bus platform at the Interchange, but I don't see it. What is a the point of having a mutimodal station and neglect one of the modals? It's like they are treating bus ride as 2nd class citzens

Just last night someone asked where to catch the South West Transit bus to Edina (I know this will eventually be eliminated for the Green Line extension). Nobody really knew besides along side 3rd ave north there are bus stops from 394. Why isn't there plans to consolidate bus platforms and make riding the bus to the Twins Stadium (it's supposed to be a transit hub) much simpler and easier?

i thought there was already a bus station in the 4th st ramp. i know people who take southwest bus from chanhassen and it drops off and picks up there. (for twins games)

The A and B ramps have transit service at least. I forget whether the C ramp has any.

While a direct bus connection would be nice for the Interchange, the distance needed to access existing buses isn't all that large -- comparable to some "big city" railroad stations. I never would have found the subway station near Philadelphia's 30th Street station.

The pedestrian links should be improved, with better information kiosks and signage, and probably a brightening of the bus stations. If someone has a good plan for where to put buses instead, I'm open to suggestions, but I'm not sure there would be a whole lot of benefit to be found by getting them one block closer.

i thought there was already a bus station in the 4th st ramp. i know people who take southwest bus from chanhassen and it drops off and picks up there. (for twins games)

Yep, and that's what I said to the people that were lost. Of course there is B ramp too, which has most of the local routes (except the 22 which picks up on 7th) plus the 94. Yeah least we could do is put up signage and wayfinding like mulad suggested. But it kinda pisses me off that we are building this spiffy new "transit" hub and not including bus riders. Instead it's - "I think you catch your bus here, but it might be over there"-type of deal.

I concur with mulad that a lot could be done to make Interchange to Target Field Station to Ramp B a much more seamless transition.

At the very least there should be signage on the wall of Ramp B with a big ol "Circle-T" logo. There should be signage along the way or banners etc to rebrand the area as a single place, along with colored concrete with arrows or something.

<<<BUSES<<<
>>>TRAINS>>>

Just last night someone asked where to catch the South West Transit bus to Edina (I know this will eventually be eliminated for the Green Line extension).

SWT has lots of frequency to/from EP, Chanhassen, and Chaska, but I think there's only something like ~3 trips per day each way that go through Edina (I think the only stop is at Southdale). I probably would have directed that person to the 6 or a MetroTransit express bus to Southdale. As my memory serves, I believe that the SWT route to Southdale (684, I think?) is a reverse-commute ONLY, i.e., southbound in the AM, northbound in the PM.

SWT is really only useful for people commuting from the SW suburbs to DT Mpls or U of M; the 'equity' routes that it provides have really low frequencies and (in my opinion) quite limited usefulness.

If someone has a good plan for where to put buses instead, I'm open to suggestions, but I'm not sure there would be a whole lot of benefit to be found by getting them one block closer.

The 5th St Garage isn't going anywhere, but they could have probably found about 2% of the project budget and made it much less of a bunker. But I think the real missed opportunity for bus connections was with the 7th St buses. If the Interchange planners were thinking about bus connections at all (and I will be certain they weren't until I see direct evidence otherwise), they must have assumed that people would walk 1700' to the stops on the north side of Olson, or else 1200-1500' to the stops at Twins Way (which would be nearly impossible to find for anyone new to the area). At the very least they could have moved the northbound bus stop to the corner of Twins Promenade, which would have made it visible from the rail stations and saved people some shoe leather. If the Interchange had really been about transit, they would have saved some of the park money and built a plaza between 7th & 10th where they split, so people could have crossed there to catch the southbound buses.

But we all know The Interchange is not a transit project.

But we all know The Interchange is not a transit project.

A- frickin' -men.

But we all know The Interchange is not a transit project.

A- frickin' -men.

Wish the city/county would admit that, one second thought I don't because it would be a PR nightmare. Be nice if they focused on substance rather than style though.

But we all know The Interchange is not a transit project.

A- frickin' -men.

Wish the city/county would admit that, one second thought I don't because it would be a PR nightmare. Be nice if they focused on substance rather than style though.

What does that mean? Do you think they are just trying to build a flashy gathering spot.

An 80M solution to letting people cross the tracks without getting hit by the trains and general improvements to land occupied by the garbage burner without actually addressing the burner.

The fact that it doesn't serve buses and *can't* really serve buses by definition means it's not for transit.

This is about getting high-speed rail from Chicago to Minneapolis so Minneapolis can feel better. That's it.

http://finance-commerce.com/transit/201 ... next-week/

A bunch of streets closing around The Interchange for several weeks, beginning Tuesday 9/3. Hopefully the crews working on District 600 and Junction Flats are well informed and know the detours. Same goes for Metro Transit and their bus drivers. At least the crowds at Target Field will be pretty light for the final month of the season!

EDIT: I noticed a countdown clock on http://www.theinterchange.net It's counting down to 4/1/14.

Did anyone take a picture of the model of this with the proposed building on the corner? Was that the Transit Police building or just a complete conceptualization?

The Transit Police building hasn't been designed yet, so it must have been just a placeholder.

Target Field transit station will be like NYC's Grand Central Station

"A sweeping plan to add a park, jumbo display screen, retail stores and a public plaza to the $79.3 million rail hub being built near Target Field will get the go-ahead Thursday from the Hennepin County Board.

The new hub, to be called Target Field Station, will be Minnesota’s version of New York City’s Grand Central Station when it opens next year, Twins President Dave St. Peter said Wednesday.

“All things rail lead to this station,” he said."

http://www.startribune.com/local/minnea ... 99161.html

Seems like a little stretch to say this will be like Grand Central. Having been there it's safe to say no part of this project is anything close to Grand Central. With that said trains will be coming and going, people will be reading newspapers, and commuters will be well commuting. So if those that be want to call this our Grand Central Station so be it. As long we continue to expand it with added transit and someday add HSR to Chicago and dare I say points South, North, and West. Then I will be fine maybe calling this Grand Central Station jr.

It won't be a real Grand Central Terminal unless we have all sorts of lines that terminate there for no reason whatsoever, wasting its absurd number of platforms.