Interstate 35E

[eluko]

There's quite a lot of open space between L'Orient and the west side of the highway through there. I could see it looking like that in the suburbs but for the city it seems a little wasteful to give up that much land.

[hoffm83n]

Looks pretty good. The small extension of the gateway corridor goes a long way.

[RailBaronYarr]

Does anybody find it odd that adding a lane to be MNPass seems to defy the overall goal of congestion pricing? They keep capacity for every normal driver exactly the same as it is today, minus buses, carpoolers, and potential MNPass payers. This frees up freeway space in the other lanes, perhaps not as much as simply adding a fourth lane would, but nonetheless. Why not just convert the left-most lane to MNPass to start charging congestion rates to the existing traffic instead of inducing some more demand for another 10 years with the added "half-lane" capacity?

[bptenor]

That open space may be part of the Trout Brook Nature Preserve ("Trillium") that's been planned for a while, and will be constructed along with this 35E project. The trout brook is being brought back above ground, and it folds in nicely with the extension of the Gateway Trail.

[Mdcastle]

Early in the days of creating HOV lanes they tried taking a general purpose lane. Normally what happened is that single car drivers were so angry that they had to back down and give them the lane back, so it's rare to convert a lane rather than building a new one now. IMHO Congestion pricing is to get everyone their faster whether you want to pay to get there a lot faster or not and get their a little faster, not to repress demand.

[mulad]

There's an open house tomorrow for the Cayuga project and MnPASS lanes on I-35E.

Oct. 10, 2013
4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
St. Jerome’s Catholic Church
380 East Roselawn Ave.
Maplewood, MN

[mulad]

I-35E will close between I-94 in St. Paul and MN-36 in Little Canada this weekend as the Wheelock Parkway and Arlington Avenue bridges are removed, followed by nightly left-lane closures as they do work for the replacement structures, which are planned to be ready in May. All part of the MnPASS expansion project, though blended somewhat with the Cayuga interchange project.

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/news/14/02/21i35e.html
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/news/14/03/7i35e.html

[streets.mn]

(Andy Singer wrote a hell of a takedown of the 35E-Cayuga MNPASS project)

The I-35E Freeway Apocalypse https://streets.mn/2014/05/12/the-i-35e- ... pocalypse/

[Minneboy]

When they initially agreed to make the speed limit 45mph they should have put a moratorium on how long it would remain that way before it was upped. I think 20 years could have been enough time.

[mattaudio]

I doubt the legal settlement would have been accepted with such a provision.

[at40man]

(Andy Singer wrote a hell of a takedown of the 35E-Cayuga MNPASS project)

The I-35E Freeway Apocalypse https://streets.mn/2014/05/12/the-i-35e- ... pocalypse/

I *STILL* don't understand why they aren't replacing the Gateway Bridge.

[Mdcastle]

Where's the Gateway Trail going, Arlington? Someone probably looked at the map and said "look at all the money we can save by moving the bicycle trail a block. And noone objected, unlike the project next city over. Yes, I wish they'd build the bridge, but I'd also wish they would build another general purpose lane to wind up with a profile similar to I-35W.

As far as the speed limit, yeah, we're stuck with it, just like Kansas City is stuck with stoplights on US 71. But it was what it took to get them built. Maybe they could have had a 50 year limit (after whoever is in the neighborhood the time is probably moved on or dead), or when they highway needs rebuilding.

[David Greene]

What the hell is wrong with a short 45 mph segment? Honestly, the amount of angst and political capital we devote to speeding cars is outrageous. I'll take a 45 mph landscaped freeway any day.

[at40man]

What the hell is wrong with a short 45 mph segment? Honestly, the amount of angst and political capital we devote to speeding cars is outrageous. I'll take a 45 mph landscaped freeway any day.

I'll hazard a few educated guesses:

-The limit's lack of adherence to minimum federal interstate highway speed standards.
-The limit's lack of adherence to the engineering design speed of the road (it was designed for 60 MPH limit, not 45).
-Lack of "traffic calming" measures to force people to drive a slower speed on a road where all visual cues (other than the speed limit signs) currently indicate typical urban freeway speeds are safe along this stretch.

Very rarely do I see anyone driving 45 MPH on this stretch. What is the point of a law that most people break and is rarely enforced?

[mattaudio]

In general, there are two things I see wrong with it:
-As at40man noted, the design speed is 60+ MPH. So this just tells people that speed limits don't matter. The proposed legislation this session, to make tickets on this stretch not meaningful, would have compounded this problem.
-Second, we need to let our roads be roads and let our streets be streets. This is basically a self-imposed stroad (the 45 MPH world) but with full grade separation.

I'd like to see the DOT propose a "new way" that I've pushed elsewhere on here... improved roads in exchange for improved streets. Work on a new consent decree where MnDOT will traffic calm streets in their purview, such as West 7th or Snelling, in exchange for letting a road be a road.

[pannierpacker]

What the hell is wrong with a short 45 mph segment? Honestly, the amount of angst and political capital we devote to speeding cars is outrageous. I'll take a 45 mph landscaped freeway any day.

I'm with you on this. If I'm driving through a busy area, I'd prefer a slower speed, one where I can have a relaxed conversation in the car with friends without being nervous about someone in a rush riding on my bumper.

[Mdcastle]

I'd be fine as a compromise where Mn/DOT takes over Ayd Mill and Shepard Road, and orients them for through traffic, and St. Paul can have Snelling and 7th and build bicycle trails or trains or ice cream stands or whatever, but there's that state law against moving MN 51 south of I-94. As for wanting to drive slow, there's all kinds of non-freeway roads for that.

[David Greene]

You do realize that 45mph section exists for the homeowners along the freeway, right? They quite rightly demanded less noise and fewer speeding vehicles. The truck ban is absolutely the right thing to do for urban freeways, at least for through traffic. The cars only have to "deal with" this for a minute. The homeowners have to deal with it as long as they live there and especially when selling.

[Snelbian]

I'd be fine as a compromise where Mn/DOT takes over Ayd Mill and Shepard Road, and orients them for through traffic, and St. Paul can have Snelling and 7th and build bicycle trails or trains or ice cream stands or whatever, but there's that state law against moving MN 51 south of I-94. As for wanting to drive slow, there's all kinds of non-freeway roads for that.

Ayd Mill is bad enough already.

[at40man]

I'm curious what the average speed is along this stretch. I bet it's over 45 MPH... heck, I drove it this weekend at 55 MPH and still had all kinds of people passing me. I didn't pass anyone or observe anyone going slower than me.

In this case the problem is with the law, not the people breaking the law.