urbanMSP

Maybe 15 bridges rather than 50? That's an easy thing to mis-hear.

I seem to recall seeing a number of $400 million a few years back when I looked at a previous study that included HOT lanes (though I don't think it included any BRT stops). A pretty expensive bit of highway, though at least it's not Milwaukee...

Speaking is Snelling, the bridge reopens Sunday.

As I recall, the bridges as far west as Western Ave were redone as part of the Capitol Interchange project in the early '90s, so I doubt those would need to be included.

Counting each I-94 mainline bridge as two separate bridges (which is usually the case), and including both bike-ped only and railroad bridges, I count 46 bridges between Western Ave and the 5th/6th St ramps in Minneapolis. Given the likelihood of replacement as part of an I-94 reconstruction, I included Hwy 280 bridges up to/including Franklin Ave (but not including the University bridge over 280).

I thought the scope extended to the Lowry tunnel?

If so, then there would be well over 50 bridges (instead of 15) along the corridor. I just counted along the likely limits of the proposed HO/T lane, especially considering that bridges near the west end of Spaghetti Junction will be replaced as part of a separate project (including and especially the flyover from 35W towards the tunnel).

ST. PAUL MAP SHOWS HOW I-94 CUT THROUGH HEART OF CITY'S AFRICAN-AMERICAN NEIGHBORHOOD
http://www.citypages.com/news/st-paul-m ... od-6541556

So pretty much the only times I've driven in the last few weeks are 94 on Saturday afternoons. Why is traffic so horrible then? Is it just always terrible 24/7? Is this spillover from the west side road construction apocalypse? Something else?

It turns out that wretched road moves a lot of people.

In my experience, traffic is heavy (if flowing) at pretty much all waking hours.

This Saturday, going West, it was literally stop and go, while Eastbound was almost completely clear. So bizarre.

moves a lot of people

it was literally stop and go

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

ST. PAUL MAP SHOWS HOW I-94 CUT THROUGH HEART OF CITY'S AFRICAN-AMERICAN NEIGHBORHOOD
http://www.citypages.com/news/st-paul-m ... od-6541556

I'm pretty sure most of you know how to find the original source for this map, but in case you don't, it's fully available online and chock full of interesting maps. For example, "structures unfit for habitation":

East metro I-94 project gears up
The $53 million project is expected to extend the life of the freeway from St. Paul to Woodbury (Paywall)
http://finance-commerce.com/2016/02/eas ... -gears-up/

Roads are expensive.

There will be a meeting tomorrow night (Wednesday, February 17) to discuss replacing the Dale Street bridge over I-94. It will be held from 6:30 to 8 pm at the church at 285 Dale St. N.

https://twitter.com/RamseyCounty/status ... 0842988545
https://www.ramseycounty.us/residents/r ... expander-9

Put a lid on I-94?

http://www.twincities.com/2016/06/13/li ... 1465835186

I've been meaning to say for a while that we do have some freeway lids in the state, but they're way up in Duluth on the north end of I-35. They're a bit strange, though, since they seem to be structures built up above the natural ground level. I'm not totally sure about that, though.

The "corner of the lake" tunnel is really an above grade structure; the others are cut and cover tunnels that had to be blasted through (very hard) bedrock.

Kinda crazy that we were able to build freeways like I-94 without including the real-estate purchase costs or relocation/new housing for residents in the actual project's budget, and then just build a 150-280' wide open cut trench with massive flyovers every so often, right? Imagine if we had held freeways, even ones we already built, to the design standards transit is held to today - would they have ever made financial sense?

As we gear up for these urban freeway projects, another example being the 35W Lake Street Access Project... At some point we flip from merely maintaining what we have piecemeal, to rebuilding what we have. And that seems like a moral judgment and a very significant decision, that we wish to embrace the status quo that we've had for two generations to be our status quo for two future generations. We want to separate neighborhoods with bridges every half mile, with narrow sidewalks next to speeding traffic and overlooking freeway traffic. With multiple on/off ramps to cross-at-your-peril. We seem to be on auto-pilot for rebuilding this infrastructure as hostile to its neighbors as it has been for two generations, and that seems to be a wholly unacceptable decision.

Put a lid on I-94?

Can't help it but hearing Squirrel Nut Zippers song, "Put A Lid On It", in my head now...

Put a lid on I-94?

Can't help it but hearing Squirrel Nut Zippers song, "Put A Lid On It", in my head now...

Cause if you liked it then you should've put a lid on it.
If you liked it then you should've put a lid on it.
Wuh uh oh uh uh oh oh uh oh uh uh oh
Wuh uh oh uh uh oh oh uh oh uh uh oh