urbanMSP

Are there any improvements planned at that intersection? Grade separation or a pedestrian bridge or tunnel?

I've drove through that area multiple times and I agree, if you're going really fast you better hope there isn't a car stopped beyond the hill or prepare to test your brakes.

There is an upcoming resurfacing of the pavement along 7. I don’t believe there is anything else planned.

In all the public hearings around Blake Road, numerous people again and again why Blake and 7 wasn’t being grade separated. The word was it would be out of the scope of the project, doing it would be expensive, and the state transportation funding has been so tight that grade separating Blake/7 and Texas/7 (they’d be done together) is far far down the MNDOT triage list to fund. Even though MNDOT would gladly bring their expertise if Saint Louis Park and Hopkins would pay for it entirely by themselves.

My fantasy is kind of a compromise, upgrade 7 from 494 to 100 to full grade separation but only if the parallel Excelsior Blvd and Minnetonka Blvd are downgraded to 30 mph city streets suitable for apartments and retail facing with on street parking with higher frequency transit. Hennepin County would hate it.

I drive that way every day and I have the same thought going over that hill each time.

It looks like this death was due to the frustratingly long extended rush hour highway stoplight cycle on 7 at Texas pushing a teen into thinking it would be worth the risk of running across. So sad.

http://www.startribune.com/pedestrian-h ... 474245343/

I don’t have any data, but I wouldn’t be surprised that the traffic light cycle was extended for east-west traffic after the 100/7 interchange work.

Resurfacing, between Louisiana and Baker Rd., begins May 14. Runs to September.

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projec ... etonkaslp/

MNDOT is being asked to study safety and traffic flow on TH 7 from TH 100 out to Carver County.

https://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/proje ... index.html

My big hope is the study find good cause to put in grade separations at Blake/Texas and the rest of the Hopkins intersections west of 169. There was already a death of a kid crossing at Texas Ave. Then Hennepin County could stop the pressure for keeping the parallel Excelsior Blvd as a high-speed danger road.

Maybe I'm being pessimistic, but I feel like even if Highway 7 is grade-separated west of Highway 100 MnDOT and Hennepin County would still want Excelsior Boulevard to be a death road. I'm happy to be proven wrong of course. Making Highway 7 traffic flow faster while calming Excelsior Blvd and making it a walkable and bikeable corridor would be a good deal.

Is highway-removal of TH 7 within the 494/694 loop a viable option?

I admit to being in a bubble I hear suggestions to remove highways through cities quite a bit. I’m not sure enough voices are clamoring to remove 7 east of 494.

Here's something I made back in September showing the short section of Highway 7 east of Highway 100 removed:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/pV3dVZ2oGh1GfspKA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/dbhEiqr4iajkLWxe9

I'd support removing it all the way to I-494 as well. Of course, MnDOT's highway department is always in expansion mode.

Considering how recently they built the Wooddale and Louisiana exits there is zero chance that the highway is removed. We should add an exit at Blake Rd too. That intersection is extremely dangerous. But i agree that east of 100 we should turn it into a three lane road and reclaim the land.

Is highway-removal of TH 7 within the 494/694 loop a viable option?

I admit to being in a bubble I hear suggestions to remove highways through cities quite a bit. I’m not sure enough voices are clamoring to remove 7 east of 494.

Considering how recently they built the Wooddale and Louisiana exits there is zero chance that the highway is removed. We should add an exit at Blake Rd too. That intersection is extremely dangerous. But i agree that east of 100 we should turn it into a three lane road and reclaim the land.

Full agree. Though I don't love the idea of further freeway expansion, it would be a worthwhile trade to make Highway 7 a freeway from 100 to Excelsior (maybe with a freeway cap in Hopkins) in exchange for a turnback inside of Highway 100. No reason for that highway to Uptown.

Here’s one I did almost 8(!) years ago. I haven’t looked closely to see if any recent construction (buildings) would necessitate changes to various hypothetical streets, but the highway removal idea seems semi-valid still.
Full resolution: https://vault25.com/misc/urbanmsp/100and7-redone.jpg

To be fair, that mostly shows the removal of County 25. TH 7 (and the study zone referred to above) starts at 100 and goes west.

Very true, which means we* should* theoretically* have an easier time getting rid of a county highway than a state one.