Search found 1533 matches

by talindsay
May 4th, 2020, 8:07 am
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: Future of the forum
Replies: 66
Views: 44935

Re: Future of the forum

I'd be happy to throw in $20 a year to help keep the whole thing simple, independent, and ad free. Sounds like we just need a volunteer administrator and a few people to throw in a little cash and maybe some beer for the person who volunteers to run it.
by talindsay
April 29th, 2020, 1:31 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Bicycle Infrastructure
Replies: 1800
Views: 1034947

Re: Bicycle Infrastructure

I do wonder why they didn't consider an underpass, which could be done with far less total gradient.
by talindsay
April 29th, 2020, 1:30 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Street, Road and Highway Projects
Replies: 1388
Views: 604111

Re: Street, Road and Highway Projects

Forcing pedestrians and bikers to coexist in +13 feet of width is a bad idea. It isn't ideal, but it works well enough on Franklin. I think the key thing they got right on Franklin is to have bicycle traffic signed one way on each side, with a design that fairly successfully reinforces that. In a n...
by talindsay
April 29th, 2020, 9:04 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Cable Median Barriers on at-grade highways
Replies: 11
Views: 3344

Re: Proposed Cable Median Barriers on at-grade highways

Whatever one's personal opinion about motorcycles may be, they are explicitly legal, licensed vehicles for interstate travel. As such, freeways designed for legal, licensed vehicles should be designed to be as safe as possible for vehicles so licensed.
by talindsay
April 27th, 2020, 1:49 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Cable Median Barriers on at-grade highways
Replies: 11
Views: 3344

Re: Proposed Cable Median Barriers on at-grade highways

Cable median barriers are crazy dangerous for motorcyclists. While a motorcyclist in a crash will hit against a guard rail, they can get decapitated by cable median barriers. I was under the impression that they were generally discouraged for this reason. I think the solution to that is simple. Don...
by talindsay
April 26th, 2020, 12:19 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Cable Median Barriers on at-grade highways
Replies: 11
Views: 3344

Re: Proposed Cable Median Barriers on at-grade highways

Cable median barriers are crazy dangerous for motorcyclists. While a motorcyclist in a crash will hit against a guard rail, they can get decapitated by cable median barriers. I was under the impression that they were generally discouraged for this reason.
by talindsay
April 26th, 2020, 8:08 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: B Line Lake St Rapid Bus, Midtown Rail Transit
Replies: 720
Views: 217056

Re: B Line Lake St Rapid Bus, Midtown Rail Transit

I mean, it's kind of absurd to contrast the Greenway with the Hiawatha Trail and come to the conclusion that it's the grass that makes the Greenway more popular. It may be a factor, but let me list a few other possible factors: * The Greenway is wider than Hiawatha * The Greenway has a consistent as...
by talindsay
April 24th, 2020, 8:30 am
Forum: Minneapolis - General Topics and Citywide Issues
Topic: Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
Replies: 681
Views: 310299

Re: Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

Why is West River Parkway open to vehicles at all? It doesn't provide access to anything that other roads don't. Just close it all.
In principle I agree with you, but there are several houses with driveways directly on the parkway.
by talindsay
April 24th, 2020, 8:27 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: B Line Lake St Rapid Bus, Midtown Rail Transit
Replies: 720
Views: 217056

Re: B Line Lake St Rapid Bus, Midtown Rail Transit

Yes, and there's plenty of study demonstrating that there's enough space for that too. The MGC seems to let themselves get sidetracked by the most mundane details of the Greenway as-is: I know there's been opposition to removing the sloping sides and replacing them with retaining walls to better acc...
by talindsay
April 23rd, 2020, 8:16 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: B Line Lake St Rapid Bus, Midtown Rail Transit
Replies: 720
Views: 217056

Re: B Line Lake St Rapid Bus, Midtown Rail Transit

I mean, to be fair to them, those decisions were made more than twenty years ago, when the Greenway itself was a wild place with no legal use to speak of (and a track spur still present, though unused, to my understanding), and there was no passenger rail operating in the Twin Cities. I suspect that...
by talindsay
April 23rd, 2020, 4:20 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Nicollet-Central Streetcar
Replies: 887
Views: 136238

Re: Nicollet-Central Streetcar

Looks like the link to their old streetcar "study" is still there, it was done in 2001. It's a PDF so watch out: 2001 MGC Streetcar study EDIT: Boo, looks like the link is bad. Wayback Machine to the rescue! Archive.org copy of 2001 MGC Streetcar study And if you really want to nerd out, t...
by talindsay
April 23rd, 2020, 2:24 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Nicollet-Central Streetcar
Replies: 887
Views: 136238

Re: Nicollet-Central Streetcar

I will grant you that I have no idea why the Midtown study decided to call their proposed LRT line a streetcar, except possibly to signal that it was not intended to be a useful transit project. This has a lot to do with the specific history of Hennepin County Railroad Authority, Midtown Greenway C...
by talindsay
April 21st, 2020, 10:53 am
Forum: Minneapolis - General Topics and Citywide Issues
Topic: Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
Replies: 681
Views: 310299

Re: Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

Anecdotally, at least around the lakes, the real problem seems to be the runners, who are all over the blessed place and too close to everybody. Frankly, as a runner this is tough. We're out there 365 days a year and have our set routes, and every year about this time we have to deal with an influx...
by talindsay
April 21st, 2020, 10:45 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: E Line Arterial BRT
Replies: 148
Views: 71326

Re: E Line Arterial BRT

The fact that we waste money on unnecessary highway infrastructure isn't in itself an argument in favor of wasting money on unnecessary transit infrastructure. Both should be designed to shape and concentrate use into nodes that make for efficient movement. Before the modernist planning era gave us ...
by talindsay
April 20th, 2020, 7:56 am
Forum: Minneapolis - General Topics and Citywide Issues
Topic: Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
Replies: 681
Views: 310299

Re: Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

So W River Parkway has a traffic lane closed to cars so people can socially distance while using the parkway. As a runner I *love* running in the street but recognize that it's better to have the bikes there, but was surprised to see the Park Board has signs up saying that the sidewalk and the stree...
by talindsay
April 20th, 2020, 7:42 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: E Line Arterial BRT
Replies: 148
Views: 71326

Re: E Line Arterial BRT

Grids are inherently inefficient. You want a hub and spoke system. What we're missing is a couple radial lines to allow moving from one spoke to another spoke without going all the way in to the hub.
by talindsay
April 15th, 2020, 12:53 pm
Forum: Updates - Announcements - Problems - Suggestions
Topic: Forum Integration Committee
Replies: 12
Views: 10596

Re: Forum Integration Committee

I was on Minnescraper back when that was a thing, and on UrbanMSP from its start. I don't want or need anybody's integration, board of directors, mission statement, etc. Frankly I don't read streets.mn on a regular basis. A "comment policy" sounds like a recipe for forums to become the Sta...
by talindsay
March 19th, 2020, 12:46 pm
Forum: Minneapolis - General Topics and Citywide Issues
Topic: MPS Comprehensive District Design
Replies: 39
Views: 42647

Re: MPS Comprehensive District Design

Yes, that's a really key point - a lot of liberal wealthy people are "public school" philosophically, but that doesn't mean they'll take big risks about the quality of their kids' schools. They'll stay in the public schools as long as they're allowed to select a school they think is good e...
by talindsay
March 16th, 2020, 11:17 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Work from home and road congestion
Replies: 28
Views: 8334

Re: Work from home and road congestion

Remember that working from home means more energy use, not less, because an office is easier to heat/cool than a hundred private residences. Some British researchers found that even with saved energy from transportation, telecommuting uses more energy than offices during the winter in Britain. Telec...
by talindsay
March 13th, 2020, 3:03 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)
Replies: 2909
Views: 702123

Re: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)

We'll see how that holds up when the rideshare companies have to stop bleeding money.