Orange Line / 35W@94: Downtown to Crosstown Project

[mister.shoes]

I would hardly call running between the extreme back side of Herbergers + the tiny wedge of land that Lucky's 13 sits on "through the Southtown parking lot."

[seanrichardryan]

"transit will ruin our parking lot"

[eazydp]

Any chance the buses like the 111 and 133 will eventually feed into the Orange Line (46th Street Station) instead of operating entirely independently. I've always thought it was strange how little the area around the 46th street station feeds into it. At the moment, I can catch the 5 to the 46 to the station, which is only slightly faster than walking due to non-timed transfers.

[Tcmetro]

The initial operating plan for the 46th St Station called for the elimination of the 146, and replacement with an improved Route 46 (operating at 7-10 min frequencies). Route 535 peak service was also to be improved to 10 min from downtown to 76th St. IIRC, the Route 146 riders were not too happy, so instead the 46 was bumped up slightly, to 15 min frequencies, the 535 stayed at 15 min frequencies, and the 146 was kept. When Orange Line service begins in 2019 I would hope that the 46/146 restructure happens.

As for the 133 and 135, I think that those buses could be truncated to Lake St Station. The 135 and the 18G could be combined into a new route and operate more frequently and connect to the Orange Line. As for the 111 and 113, I think it will be easier to keep those routes because the connections to the U are less frequent.

I wonder what will happen to the other express routes; the 156, 552, 553, 554, and 558. I think that they could also be truncated to either 46th or 66th Street Stations, but it seems that it could add a lot of time to the commute for those riders.

One thing I would really like to see is an improvement to the 578 to run every 15-30 minutes all day. The 578 could replace the 6 as the primary connection to Southdale, France Ave in Edina, and perhaps out to the Normandale Lake Office Park.

[Tcmetro]

Here's an update from the CTIB March meeting presentation (pages 58-70):
http://www.mnrides.org/sites/default/fi ... final_.pdf

- Knox Ave underpass to be bus-only

- Project budget $150 million
-- $60 million for Lake St
-- $57 million for Knox Av
-- $33 million for buses, TVMs, station and guideway improvements

- Funding breakdown
-- $74.7 million from federal gov't
-- $45.1 million from CTIB
--- $10.5 million of which will be requested as capital grants in 2015
-- $15.6 million from local gov't
-- $15.3 million from State and Met Council
--- $7 million of which from GO bonds

- Project plan update draft due end of Q1 2014
- Start NEPA for Orange Line
- Apply for Small Starts funding mid-2014

[Tcmetro]

Here's an update for the Orange Line:
http://www.metrocouncil.org/Council-Mee ... pdate.aspx

- Options for Downtown access: 2-way on 10th Street with direct access to the center lanes of 35W; 11th St exit ramp from center lane, 12th St entrance ramp to center lane. My personal preference is for 10th Street, seems to be the lowest cost.

- Burnsville options being studied. Looks like the Traveler's Trail lot could become a terminal or something. I would like to see the terminal there, as it would make a better connection for local buses. It's also within walking distance of the Heart of the City development.

[Silophant]

So, are the 4 (8?) Marq2 stops going to be upgraded to BRT-style stations like they're planning for the A-line, or are they going to remain just normal shelters (albeit with NexTrip screens) like they are now. I don't see anything in the presentation about upgrading those stations, but they will need TVMs, won't they?

[Tcmetro]

I would imagine that they would just add TVMs and Orange Line graphics to the existing shelters.

It seems that the highway BRT shelters are in general more substantial than the arterial BRT lines.

[woofner]

Awesome, I never dared to hope that Marq2 access would be in the scope of this project. It's been a while since I regularly took Marq2 buses at rush hour, but the biggest sources of delay were the 2 or 3 puny blocks between the freeway and Marq2. I hope that bus lanes will be striped on whichever street the connection ends up on. My preference would be 12th so it's easier walking distance for Stevens Square residents. The additional ridership may make up for the higher cost.

[twincitizen]

Orange Line newsletter: http://metroorangeline.createsend1.com/ ... 32AAFB68BF

[MSPtoMKE]

Orange Line Project Plan Update:
http://www.metrocouncil.org/Council-Mee ... hment.aspx

It goes over a lot of has been discussed recently, but gives a bit more detail on the pros and cons of different options. It has details about service assumptions (every 15 minutes off-peak and weekends, every 10 minutes peak), the need for a fleet 11 dedicated articulated buses, and running time estimates. The 2030 Orange Line ridership forecast is 10,100, with I-35W express routes having another 10,500 riders. There is also a concept for a new route 541 to connect at South Bloomington TC and American Boulevard, as well as restructured routes 539 and 542.

All in all, this project seems much more promising than the Red Line.

[Mdcastle]

Good to know their not wrecking American for car traffic. In my dream world they would either sink American down or bridge it over a pedestrian walkway, and possibly the transitway too.

On 98th, I noticed that they mention not building too much because of "possible future interchange reconfiguration". I don't know if that might mean the southeast loop is still unofficially on the table, or that they might build an inline station in the future, or both. As I mentioned before my fantasy is replacing Clover Center and Freeway Ford with high density housing / structured parking / transit station, with an inline BRT station north of 98th, and probably loosing the 94th Street ramps. I guess I could live with the loss of the free rights in the area in favor of cycletracks on Lyndale if all the right turn lanes had green overlap arrows, and in turn they fix the left turn problems from Lyndale. Lyndale only really needs to be as wide as it is right by 98th street (because of all the car traffic on 98th), so looking at traffic volumes it would work fine with 3 lanes and cycletracks elsewhere, leading to the new crossing when they rebuild the I-35W bridge, hopefully with more traffic lanes or at least real shoulders.

I'd also like the signal removed at the middle shopping center entrance, and converted to a 3/4 intersection, but with no right turns from 98th into the center, where there's no turn lane and no room for one. There's another signalized entrance to the same shopping center a block away, and I'd like flashing yellow arrows at all the signals.

[froggie]

Though not directly related to the Orange Line, I posted a Flickr set this morning with several photos documenting the HO/T lanes and Priced Dynamic Shoulder Lane (PDSL) along the I-35W South corridor:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajfroggie ... 122507621/

[twincitizen]

Minor project update: http://metroorangeline.cmail3.com/t/Vie ... 32AAFB68BF

494/35W Interchange Layout Study Open House
Monday, April 28, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
St. Richard’s Catholic Church
Community Room
7540 Penn Avenue South, Richfield

66th Street Reconstruction Open House
Thursday, May 1, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Wood Lake Nature Center
6710 Lakeshore Drive, Richfield

[twincitizen]

Project update: http://metroorangeline.cmail1.com/t/Vie ... 32AAFB68BF

It seems this project is moving along so quickly in the planning sense, but it is completely dependent on two major road projects to become a reality. Construction won't even begin until 2017!! Not sure if that's for 35-Lake, 494-35W, or both. I'm also not sure if it makes sense to do both of those things at the same time, but I'm leaning towards that it kinda does.

Orange Line Tweet Chat (online event) - May 20, 2014, 12:00-1:00 p.m.
http://www.metrotransit.org/Data/Sites/ ... t-info.pdf

[Tcmetro]

I believe that the tentative plan is for major works at both Lake St and 494 at the same time, wrapping up in 2019. The Minnesota River bridge is due for reconstruction in 2020, so I wonder how that is going to play out.

[IllogicalJake]

Newb question here, as I still try to figure out the area – When driving on 35W I notice a dedicated lane down the middle with what appear to be shelters. Is that a part of this project or something completely different? I assumed it was the start of the Orange Line until I realized construction hasn't actually started on this line yet.

Or am I just really mixed up?

[lordmoke]

It is going to be part of the Orange Line once the rest of it is done- for now it's just a really fancy bus stop. This thing is kind of getting piecemealed together whenever another project happens on the route. The 46th St bridge got rebuilt, they added the station. 2nd and Marquette got rebuilt downtown, they added the stations. Etc.

[IllogicalJake]

It is going to be part of the Orange Line once the rest of it is done- for now it's just a really fancy bus stop. This thing is kind of getting piecemealed together whenever another project happens on the route. The 46th St bridge got rebuilt, they added the station. 2nd and Marquette got rebuilt downtown, they added the stations. Etc.

Makes sense. Thanks.

[twincitizen]

For the first time in over 19 months, there will be a public open house for the 35-Lake portion of the overall project.
http://www.35lake.com/

PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE
Thursday, June 19, 2014
5:30 pm to 7:30pm
Whittier Recreation Center
425 - 26th Street West
Minneapolis, MN 55408