Crosstown Commons

[mattaudio]

The project was wrapped up in the Minnescraper era, so there's not a thread for 35W and the Crosstown Commons that seems to fit.


http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projec ... 62gateway/
...which contains a MnDOT Standard broken link to...
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projec ... tings.html

$500,000

[mattaudio]

I would have rather seen the $500,000 go to actual remediation of the scars of an urban freeway.... Wider sidewalks on the 46th St bridge/BRT station. Wider bridge decks at 46th/50th/Diamond Lake to allow for vegetated screening from the bridge. Maybe non-vehicular bridges at 44th or 48th Street.

[MNdible]

Windom is rebranding themselves as the “Garden Neighborhood Gateway”.

That's really going to set the world on fire.

[twincitizen]

I'm involved with this project now at work. Not sure what's in store for bridges/gateways on this side of town.

Add to mattaudio's list of shortcomings: lack of bicycle infrastructure on the Portland Avenue bridge over 62. It's a major bicycle route with no room for on-street bike lanes. The new bridge is a pretty narrow 4 lanes with the typical uber-tall concrete walkways. Or should I just be grateful it has sidewalks on both sides of the bridge? A 4-3 conversion is planned for Portland from 62 to 68th, but somehow I doubt the bridge and immediate approach from the south will go down to 3 lanes. It's already 4-3 converted south of 68th, and mostly 2 lanes in Minneapolis, south of 46th.

The big focus for my group is probably the Lyndale and Nicollet overpasses. I'll take suggestions here

[Tyler]

Not sure if "Welcome to Douchetown" sends the right message.

[twincitizen]

Aaaand I immediately know what you're referring to from the images in the meeting minutes. Well played.

[mattaudio]

Well, there are so many options considering we've already built a hulking overpass for 12+ freeway lanes over a narrow corridor where tiny sidewalks are squished between concrete walls and traffic lanes. http://goo.gl/maps/rf9nC

Here are my ideas:

- 4 to 3 road diet on Nicollet and Portland with bike lanes.
- Improved side lighting for the sidewalks in the Nicollet and Lyndale underpasses. These underpasses are very dark even during the day.
- Sound treatment under these bridges as well, since being inside a box with four concrete surfaces and traffic at 35 MPH gets very noisy and unpleasant for walkers/bikers. I think I've seen tunnels with rock wool installed between the bridge girders.
- Noise wall along the sides of the freeway for these overpasses. This would be a HUGE livability benefit for the streets below. Anyone who has been on the Minnehaha Creek trail at 35W knows how successful those clear noise walls are at keeping the space below much quieter. The south side of the Lyndale bridge has a concrete wall. North side does not, and I bet that's because Peter's Billiard's threw a fit that they would become invisible. Clear noise walls on the north side would work. At Nicollet, concrete noise walls would be fine.
- At Portland and Penn, as bridges are rebuilt (these were not fully rebuilt with the project) widen the bridge decking so a vegetation screen can be installed next to the street on top of the bridge.

Any of these ideas would be way better than some expensive useless signage.

[ztr421]

I got a chuckle out of the classic typo in the April 25 minutes... don't forget the "l" in "public"!