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Ayd Mill Road
Posted: October 28th, 2012, 9:47 am
by stp1980
Article in the trib today rehashing this old controversy in st. Paul. Mainly centering around the replacement of the Hamline Ave. Bridge. I have always thought that this could be made into an attractive parkway and still connect 94 to 35e. The challenge lies on the connection to 94 and where the space for that would go. Ideally and if money was no object they should connect it bury it in a series of shallow tunnels ala 35 in Duluth and put green space over the top of it.
Re: ye-olde Ayd Mill
Posted: October 28th, 2012, 5:29 pm
by Didier
Isn't it kind of inexplicable there's no connection from I-94 eastbound to 35E southbound to begin with?
Re: ye-olde Ayd Mill
Posted: October 28th, 2012, 7:14 pm
by MSPtoMKE
I suppose, but it isn't the only place it happens. Since they come together at such an acute angle, I don't think there is too much traffic between the two. The other obvious example is between SB I-35W and EB I-94, and vice-versa, although according to the plans in the thread about the Downtown Minneapolis Freeway Study, they may be added there at some point.
It seems to me the suggestion to take Ayd Mill Rd. to Hamline, then the Frontage Rd to I-94 seems to work OK, if not ideally. I doubt any grade seperated route would ever be built, so a dedicated at grade connection to the Frontage Rd (which has been studied, I believe) doesn't seem worthwhile.
Re: ye-olde Ayd Mill
Posted: October 28th, 2012, 9:22 pm
by mulad
I was idly looking through the
datafinder.org catalog the other day and came across the "Planned Functional Class Roads" data set, which implied that it would go about where Albert Street (between Hamline and Pascal) would be if it went through between Ayd Mill Road and I-94. An old rail spur there has been getting dismantled in the last couple of years. They'd still have to figure out how to go over/under the Canadian Pacific mainline, which I suspect will probably expand back to 2 tracks in the next decade or so.
Looked like it would just connect to the frontage roads and wouldn't have ramps directly to the Interstate.
Re: ye-olde Ayd Mill
Posted: October 28th, 2012, 11:41 pm
by MSPtoMKE
This thread should probably be move to the Transportation Forum.
Good thing I am kind of a digital pack rat as far as saving files I come across on the internet. This is from sometime prior to 2005. A lot of this has already happened. Looks like it bridges over the tracks, and probably Selby, but then is at grade.
Re: ye-olde Ayd Mill
Posted: October 29th, 2012, 12:41 pm
by woofner
Anyone have any record of projected daily traffic after the connection? Right now it doesn't really justify four lanes, much less the full divided arrangement.
Re: ye-olde Ayd Mill
Posted: November 1st, 2012, 11:52 pm
by Nathaniel
Daily Traffic on Ayd Mill Road is pretty low, all things considered.
I guess the argument someone would make is that it'd decrease traffic on 35E and in the neighborhood. Frankly, as someone who lives in the neighborhood, traffic really isn't all that bad. This appears to be another battle we're trying to wage in the War on Congestion:
http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2012 ... stion.html
Re: ye-olde Ayd Mill
Posted: November 2nd, 2012, 7:02 am
by mattaudio
Honestly if it's there, we might as well use it since it's in a railroad trench. I drive much less on city roads since it was opened. As is, I hope the city has a vision for what this would look like after major maintenance/replacement comes due... the traffic counts don't justify major work to keep up this road.
That said, I thought residents could have used this as a bargaining chip for road diets on Snelling or Lexington...
Re: ye-olde Ayd Mill
Posted: November 29th, 2012, 8:54 pm
by spectre000
St. Paul plans to construct a new bridge on Hamline Ave over Ayd Mill Rd next year. Plans are to start in April and be done by October. The final design should be presented by January.
http://www.stpaul.gov/index.aspx?NID=4833
Re: ye-olde Ayd Mill
Posted: November 29th, 2012, 11:42 pm
by VAStationDude
All road users would really benefit from a 4 to 3 lane conversion on Hamline. The pedestrian environment is horrible despite tremendous pedestrians draws - the college, shopping and transit. Turn lanes are of course absent resulting in sudden high speed lane shifts and stoped traffic in driving lanes.
Re: ye-olde Ayd Mill
Posted: November 30th, 2012, 12:11 pm
by Wedgeguy
All road users would really benefit from a 4 to 3 lane conversion on Hamline. The pedestrian environment is horrible despite tremendous pedestrians draws - the college, shopping and transit. Turn lanes are of course absent resulting in sudden high speed lane shifts and stoped traffic in driving lanes.
I'm all with you on that point. There really is no need for four lanes of traffic. Turn lanes would be the smartest use of the lanes.
Re: ye-olde Ayd Mill
Posted: November 30th, 2012, 9:52 pm
by Eóin
I'm glad a bicycle lane will be added but the whole rest of that stretch of Hamline from Summit Avenue to University is just awful to cycle on. I can't imagine many cyclists trying to use that route unless absolutely unnecessary until Hamline is converted to only three lanes.
Ayd Mill Road
Posted: January 15th, 2014, 1:38 pm
by mattaudio
Seems like this road and associated issues merits a thread of its own.
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/blog/grace ... ty-streets
Re: Ayd Mill Road
Posted: January 15th, 2014, 1:46 pm
by Snelbian
Ugh. Ms. Kelly has been busy completely misrepresenting meetings and neighborhood sentiment for days now. I didn't realize she was a blogger to boot.
Re: Ayd Mill Road
Posted: January 15th, 2014, 2:00 pm
by nate
1.Sync the lights up counter commute so neighborhoods have an easy time going to the suburbs in the morning and coming back in the evening. Meanwhile suburbanites can stop for nearly every light on Lexington, Snelling and Ayd Mill.
2.Dedicate an officer to rotating through suburban commute routes for speeding tickets and traffic violations.
3.Stop all left turns from Snelling north going to Selby west.
4.Make the red-light wait-times on suburban commuters long and give neighborhoods the extra time. By the way that is just the opposite of what we have now.
5.Separately name the four different parts of Ayd Mill Road into a) Coleman Road, b) Stark Road, c) Thao Road and d) Thune Road so that anyone who sees the directions on Google will not use it as a short cut.
6.Inform Google that Ayd Mill does not connect with 35E, and get the connection off the maps. It was only a temporary test.
7.Schedule lots of maintenance on Ayd Mill road sequentially especially at commute times.
8.Remove all signs to Ayd Mill on and from the freeway.
9.Put “bumpy road may cause tire damage” signs on the southern entrance of Ayd Mill. Make Ayd Mill a road surface testing area. If that doesn’t work put up a “Urban Highway Robbers” sign.
10.Put a single toll booth between 35 and Ayd Mill with a fast lane that locals have an electronic pass to use.
I'm guessing that "install moat stocked with mythical sea-beasts trained to eat the fingers and toes of commuters" would have made an 11-point list:D
Re: Ayd Mill Road
Posted: January 15th, 2014, 2:22 pm
by mattaudio
Yeah it did seem a little out of touch. And that's coming from me, a deputy No Net New Roads pusher.
I still posit that my "capacity trade" plan would be a good option. Strengthen connection from Ayd Mill to 94 in exchange for significant traffic calming and streetscaping on Snelling and Selby. Move the traffic to the roads (but without a capacity bump) and move the people back onto our streets.
Re: Ayd Mill Road
Posted: January 15th, 2014, 2:33 pm
by Tcmetro
I don't know why we wouldn't want to promote usage of Ayd Mill Road. It's a great reliever of traffic from the surface streets. The proposed extension up to 94 would be beneficial in taking traffic off Snelling south of I-94 and would make the Selby/Snelling node far more inviting to pedestrians.
Re: Ayd Mill Road
Posted: January 15th, 2014, 2:37 pm
by Mdcastle
Generally I think a capacity trade would be a good idea, but it's actually a state law that Snelling had to be the Mn/DOT highway in the area, not Ayd Mill. I use Ayd Mill regularly because I often drive from Bloomington to the Midway area, and I don't like how you have to come to a complete stop on the mainline, and then again before turning onto Shelby (and it's difficult to see Selby traffic coming over the bridge.)
Re: Ayd Mill Road
Posted: January 15th, 2014, 8:42 pm
by mattaudio
I think the point of that was to divert northbound traffic onto Hamline.
Re: Ayd Mill Road
Posted: June 17th, 2014, 11:50 am
by mattaudio