Architecture, Development, and Infrastructure of the Twin Cities
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From my experience of driving over north about every other time I've been on Penn Ave I've seen cars trying to drive around the bus. Hopefully the dividers they put on Fremont will help this.On Penn and Plymouth traffic islands were installed to stop people from driving around the bus, which suggests that there's been some dangerous driving activity.
Heaven help me I'm arguing with people on NextDoor about this project :facepalm:Cedar has been severed for about a week now.I’ve long had a wild idea in my head in which 77 gets the flyover and 62 gets widened — but in exchange for supporting freeway capacity, Minneapolis gets a calmed and pleasant Cedar Ave. That is, the connection from 77 to Cedar is severed, the viaduct over Nokomis goes away, and the grid is re-established between the lake and the highway. Through traffic on Cedar will be routed to the Bloomington Ave bridge over 62 and the extra ramps to/from the highway at Bloomington get removed to discourage using it as a shortcut.
https://www.dot.state.mn.us/news/2022/0 ... hwy77.html
Cedar is so much better now!Heaven help me I'm arguing with people on NextDoor about this project :facepalm:Cedar has been severed for about a week now.I’ve long had a wild idea in my head in which 77 gets the flyover and 62 gets widened — but in exchange for supporting freeway capacity, Minneapolis gets a calmed and pleasant Cedar Ave. That is, the connection from 77 to Cedar is severed, the viaduct over Nokomis goes away, and the grid is re-established between the lake and the highway. Through traffic on Cedar will be routed to the Bloomington Ave bridge over 62 and the extra ramps to/from the highway at Bloomington get removed to discourage using it as a shortcut.
https://www.dot.state.mn.us/news/2022/0 ... hwy77.html
I almost commented on that post. If it is the one that claimed traffic would be backed up to 494 if a turn lane wasn't included in the rebuild. Traffic doesn't back up to 494 now so maybe it would be better to leave Cedar severed at 62 to prevent that from happening?Heaven help me I'm arguing with people on NextDoor about this project :facepalm:Cedar has been severed for about a week now.I’ve long had a wild idea in my head in which 77 gets the flyover and 62 gets widened — but in exchange for supporting freeway capacity, Minneapolis gets a calmed and pleasant Cedar Ave. That is, the connection from 77 to Cedar is severed, the viaduct over Nokomis goes away, and the grid is re-established between the lake and the highway. Through traffic on Cedar will be routed to the Bloomington Ave bridge over 62 and the extra ramps to/from the highway at Bloomington get removed to discourage using it as a shortcut.
https://www.dot.state.mn.us/news/2022/0 ... hwy77.html
For sure! I really just mean to cast doubt on the more progressive possibilities like bus lanes and bike lanes. I think MNDOT recently lost their ability (thanks to Senate Republicans) to use the trunk highway fund for anything other car infrastructure.This is not to say that Central and University are going to be rebuilt into bike-ped dreamscapes, but I do think it's worth taking the survey and making your voice heard. Significant improvements are very possible.
Im only in favor of not developing that plot of land because of my imagined future rail line that takes over the 394 trench. Runs cut/cover or elevated down 3rd avenue north and crosses the river to Northstar / Mpls-St Paul heavy rail line / Central Avenue LRT line.On August 25 the Minneapolis City Council Public Works & Infrastructure Committee endorsed a plan by MNDOT to reconstruct the I394 & Washington Avenue intersection. It includes some improvements including removal of the pork chop island, bump-outs and narrowing the crossing at a cost of up to $1.5 million. While better for pedestrians, it is disappointing that Minneapolis and MNDOT didn't consider removing the intersection altogether. https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/RCA/10022#content
There's already an entrance to 394 along 3rd Avenue N. and multiple exits off the freeway on nearby streets making this overbuilt connection redundant. Plus that huge area taken up by the freeway and surrounding fallow land could be redeveloped into much more productive housing and commercial uses that contribute tax revenue. Instead, this intersection is likely to stay in place for another 50 years.
By the way I watched the meeting on Youtube, and one of Minneapolis' traffic engineers claimed that maintaining the 394 connection there was the best thing for walkability. Only traffic engineers could spout such nonsense without understanding any of the irony of maintaining a freeway entrance into one of the City's premier neighborhoods.
Redundancy is good when it involves roads. Only when it has to do with bike lanes, trails, and transit routes is redundancy bad. (sarcasm intended)On August 25 the Minneapolis City Council Public Works & Infrastructure Committee endorsed a plan by MNDOT to reconstruct the I394 & Washington Avenue intersection. It includes some improvements including removal of the pork chop island, bump-outs and narrowing the crossing at a cost of up to $1.5 million. While better for pedestrians, it is disappointing that Minneapolis and MNDOT didn't consider removing the intersection altogether. https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/RCA/10022#content
There's already an entrance to 394 along 3rd Avenue N. and multiple exits off the freeway on nearby streets making this overbuilt connection redundant. Plus that huge area taken up by the freeway and surrounding fallow land could be redeveloped into much more productive housing and commercial uses that contribute tax revenue. Instead, this intersection is likely to stay in place for another 50 years.
By the way I watched the meeting on Youtube, and one of Minneapolis' traffic engineers claimed that maintaining the 394 connection there was the best thing for walkability. Only traffic engineers could spout such nonsense without understanding any of the irony of maintaining a freeway entrance into one of the City's premier neighborhoods.
Yesss I've had this same thought for years—also demolishing the C Ramp and utilizing the space between 2nd/3d Ave and 3rd/5th St for a shiny new Minneapolis Central station.Im only in favor of not developing that plot of land because of my imagined future rail line that takes over the 394 trench. Runs cut/cover or elevated down 3rd avenue north and crosses the river to Northstar / Mpls-St Paul heavy rail line / Central Avenue LRT line.
One can dream.
The bike lanes shown north of 28th are basically the permanent versions of the bike lines that were put in most recently. This is great because even though the two way bike lane on 1st is much better than what was there before, the road surface is just terrible. Reconstruction was badly needed. South of 28th, this should help to remove some of the traffic mixing problems, but I can almost guarantee that there will be crashes from people in cars hitting cyclists as they turn onto Cecil Newman lane just north of the greenway.Amazing plan for the 1st Avenue South street reconstruction from Lake street to Grant street.
Highlights include: 2 way cycle track included on the whole right of way. 11 foot buffer between road and bike traffic north of 94. Closing off 16th street east of 1st avenue. Curb cuts at all intersections to make crossing 1st avenue and cross-streets easier. Protected bike lanes on 26th and 28th when they approach 1st avenue.
Love to see the impacts of the Minneapolis Street Design Guide making our streets much safer! Construction is planned in 2024 and 2025.
https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/download ... t%20Layout