urbanMSP

The pedestrian/bike bridge squished between Kolthoff, STSS, and Washington Ave is complete. And also the bike path has reopened behind Vincent hall, so now I can easily bike to Church St. Just wish they'd finish up the Amundson construction so I can sneak between Lind and Keller to get to my office.

this 25 story student housing tower is listed as "on the boards" on the humphrey's and partners website. somewhere on washington ave. is this a Doran project? washington ave s.
http://www.humphreys.com/portfolio/wash ... ave-tower/

7West was just built on that lot about a year ago. Looks like they need to update their website.

this 25 story student housing tower is listed as "on the boards" on the humphrey's and partners website. somewhere on washington ave. is this a Doran project? washington ave s.
http://www.humphreys.com/portfolio/wash ... ave-tower/

That is an old proposal. There is already a different apartment building that was built on the site.

ah ok cool.

I'm sure this has been talked about before, so excuse me if is has, but have there ever been plans to cap over Washington in front of Coffman to connect it to the rest of the Northrop Mall area? It seems like a missed opportunity.

Well, Cass Gilbert proposed it in 1910.

Not so much a missed opportunity but a created deficit I think. The trench itself relatively new (the last 10-20 years?). Now that it's just trains and buses traffic isn't that heavy, and there isn't as much need for the traffic to be segregated. The U has made a bit of a move in this direction, by removing the elevated walkway next to Kolthoff and putting in a grade level sidewalk (though it doesn't go anywhere, you go down some stairs, walk at grade, then go up some stairs, but there is an entrance to Kolthoff on that level as well). But with the train there we're a little stuck with it. Any cap would have to go nearly as high as the peak of the bridges. And most importantly of all, and sadly, there's no really good reason for the U to pursue it. The campus is plenty beautiful even with it, and the U isn't going to seriously lobby for any money for it when they could instead lobby for money for building renovations that more directly impact their core mission.

Hmm, they did redo the trench about a decade ago to put in the brick retaining walls and stairways and replace the old black/brown pedestrian bridges with the new ones wrapped in stainless steel to match the Weisman Art Museum. The trench itself has been around for a very long time, though -- here's a page showing a streetcar running under the old bridges, and showing some of how the ground used to slope down to street level. When I was a student at the U, the groundskeeping staff did a nice job of laying out flowers along those slopes, which were much more attractive than the brick walls.

Yes, in order to cap over the top of this, you'd have to depress the grade of Washington through here by quite a bit, and this would push the point where it returns to the standard grade level quite a bit further east.

Thanks for the replies. It is kind of what I figured. With the train running at grade, we seem to be stuck with it for a while. I don't necessarily mind having to walk across those bridges because it lends to a beautiful view, but having the grass continue all the way across the mall would be nice.

Using money to rehab facilities or create new spaces is fine by me, too. Walking through some of Moos Tower and related areas recently showed that to me.

Could not find a thread for this here, and did not want to duplicate, but today on my way to see how the Huron and Essex Hotel was progressing, I came across the new Medical and Surgical Center build that is filling the block inside Fulton, Erie, Ontario, and Essex. For such a large complex I'm stunned it has not been brought to our attention. It is a minimum of 6 stories tall and fills the block up. Filling up the old 37 parking lot for those alumni that would recognize that.

I could not understand how the Essex Hotel's location would have made it. But with a huge medical center like that which I'm sure would do a lot of out patient surgery's and exams where people might have to stay over time for early appointments or next day follow ups, there would be great business with them half a block away.

No movement on the Essex other than the houses they plan to tear down look pretty empty.

We actually do have a thread for that new ambulatory care center: https://forum.streets.mn/viewtopic.php?t=1639




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Here's the thread.

EDIT: Way to be on the ball, team!

Could not find a thread for this here, and did not want to duplicate, but today on my way to see how the Huron and Essex Hotel was progressing, I came across the new Medical and Surgical Center build that is filling the block inside Fulton, Erie, Ontario, and Essex. For such a large complex I'm stunned it has not been brought to our attention. It is a minimum of 6 stories tall and fills the block up. Filling up the old 37 parking lot for those alumni that would recognize that.

I could not understand how the Essex Hotel's location would have made it. But with a huge medical center like that which I'm sure would do a lot of out patient surgery's and exams where people might have to stay over time for early appointments or next day follow ups, there would be great business with them half a block away.

No movement on the Essex other than the houses they plan to tear down look pretty empty.

Isn't that this thread: https://forum.streets.mn/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1639

That looks like it, never saw a word about Ambulatory Care on the sign. But I do now remember the price tag for a skyway to the Oak Street Ramp was pretty crazy from that thread. Kind of off the beaten path, unless Fulton is now considered a well use path.

Huzzah! This can't come soon enough: http://www.mndaily.com/news/campus/2014 ... law-school

Its good to see this Kyle Kroll looney do some good instead of waste everyone's time because he didnt get student hockey tickets.

Glad to see this get done. Lived in 7 corners about 12 years ago, and we always had to lift our bikes up those stairs by Willey to get to the bridge.

I've actually Googled what kind of torch one would need to cut the existing railing thing between the sets of steps. There's a ramp there now, it's just uber steep and allowing cyclists to use it would probably result in some severe injuries to pedestrians.

Finally. I've always been confused by this. Especially since there is a painted bike line which leads directly to this set of stairs with no ramp.