Duluth Transportation Center

[mulad]

There was some news this week that the design of the new downtown transportation center in Duluth has been changed to make the planned $28.9 million project blend in a bit more with the neighboring buildings. The more modernist style of the old design has been scaled back, with smaller windows being used and more brick on the exterior.

old_duluth_transit_center.jpg

new_duluth_transit_center.jpg

The site is two blocks away (around 950 to 1000 feet) from the Duluth Union Depot. It hasn't been finalized whether the Northern Lights Express will actually stop at the old depot or if the tracks will extend straight to the new transit center (the other alternative is to build a walkway between them).



http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/new ... 09386.html
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/ ... id/242947/

[mattaudio]

Such an inviting design for street-level activity....
....
....

[MNdible]

If you're referring to the images above, that's the view on 3rd Ave W, and if you're at all familiar with this part of Duluth, you'd understand that there's just no reason for pedestrians to ever walk down there. The Michigan Street face will be the one that's important for street front and pedestrian experience, and to be completely honest, even that's a stretch -- MIchigan is in many ways a glorified alley for Superior Street. By the time people get to this building, odds are they're already in the skywalk.

[lordmoke]

Duluth will be selecting a general contractor soon for this project, according to F &C:
http://finance-commerce.com/transit/201 ... ansit-hub/

Project details:
http://www.duluthtransit.com/content/pd ... ochure.pdf

I feel like we've seen/ heard about this already, but I couldn't find a thread for it. Hooray Duluth!

[mattaudio]

It seems like we spend so much money on transit centers and parking structures. Often this is the result of leveraging some federal grant. How far would $28 million go to establish aBRT in Duluth?

In a general sense, I'm always happy to see transit investment in smaller communities. I'd rather see a strengthened backbone of transit in cities such as Duluth, Rochester, etc which will likely be connected to a regional rail network in the next two decades. Heck, why not a streetcar? If Kenosha, WI can build 2 miles of streetcar for $5 million, I bet $28 million would go a long way towards a starter line in Duluth. You could probably do a 2.5 mi starter line from Lincoln Park to Fitgers for $10 million, then maybe a 3 mi extension to UMD or a 3 mi extension to downtown West Duluth for $28 million.

[mattaudio]

Also, it seems like this project will mean buses looping off of Superior and into this terminal facility. To me this screams Gateway or Leamington or ABC Ramps on a small scale.. not something that enhances street life. It also precludes the option to interline some bus routes in the future, instead of relying on a star system with most transfers happening at this facility.

[woofner]

From my outside perspective it seems like the existing transit center works well, and while there is some sidewalk congestion on Superior the worst of it doesn't seem to be at the transit center. Moreover the transit activity on Superior seems to work well for traffic calming.

But this project does a couple cool things - one, it provides space for intercity buses so you don't have to transfer at that dinky station on the west side. Two, there is apparently some kind of decking component they are considering along with replacing that extremely long skyway over I-35. I don't know how pie in the sky that is but it would be cool if they pulled it off.

[Viktor Vaughn]

Yes, the Holiday Center transit station on Superior Street works great, but the Holiday Inn and other downtown interests want it moved somewhere else. Think of it as a 7th & Nicollet situation except the scourge is poor white kids from West Duluth.

The transit center should be moved into an out-of-the-way parking garage because nobody's going to go downtown if they have to look at poor people.

[Viktor Vaughn]

Ok, my previous post was pretty cynical, but I bet I could even get the Duluth Mayor to admit (after plying him with a pint of local brew) that moving transit customers off Superior Street was a big factor in the political push for a new transit center.

An MPR article from a decade ago describes the controversy surrounding the Holiday Center transit station. Since then, the situation has deteriorated as the hoodlums panhandle every morning as they wait for the Last Place on Earth to open to buy synthetic drugs, sometimes with toddlers in tow. If the six hundred-some comments I linked to isn’t enough, Ramos’ personal crusade against property seizure sans criminal charges continues here.

And here is Mayor Ness’ thoughtful response to the controversy.

So this new transit center ties quite directly into the heated debate about the future of downtown Duluth. I’ll wait until I see it in action before forming my opinion.

[mulad]

Contractors for the project have been selected. Duluth-based LHB Engineers and Architects will be doing design work, while Mortenson Construction will be the builder.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/ ... id/263049/

The new building will include a 150-space parking structure -- that may be a modest reduction in the parking currently on the site, which I estimate at 110-120 for the ramp and a little under 50 for the neighboring surface lot. There will be 8 bays for bus loading/unloading. They plan to include a police substation and a bike storage area.

An oddity is the inclusion of a drive-through Wells Fargo bank. The article makes it sound as though they own the current parking structure -- I'm not sure if it's presently used for public parking or not, but the new building will have at least some public parking.

The article mentions there will be some difficulty with the skywalk pedestrian connection to the Duluth convention center complex on the other side of I-35. They're still figuring out whether to build a new one right in place of the current structure, or build a new one next to it. Sounds like it needs replacement either way.

Funding breakdown for the whole project: $16 million from the feds, $6 million from the state, and $6.9 million in "local and private investment" (I wonder who the private parties are -- Jefferson Lines? Wells Fargo? Maybe it's just money from Duluth Transit Authority?). It's expected to be complete by November 2014.

[Viktor Vaughn]

Thanks for the update Mulad. This ramp is currently open for public parking and currently has a Wells Fargo drive thru bank. I think Wells Fargo does own the ramp, their Duluth headquarters is directly across Michigan on Superior Street.

[Moderato]

Sorry, but Duluth sure does build some ugly stuff. Wouldn't be complete with a very long and highly visible skywalk.

[MNdible]

Whatevs. That skyway gets used like crazy during events, and allows the convention center to take advantage of some of the downtown parking ramps.

[lordmoke]

This has broken ground:
https://twitter.com/MAMortensonCo/statu ... 8486013952

[mulad]

Somewhat related, Jefferson Lines is moving their West Duluth bus depot two blocks west to the Denfeld Center strip mall (4602 Grand Ave) on July 1st. Whole Foods has bought their old depot (4426 Grand Ave) and will build a store on that site.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/conten ... s-terminal

Sounds like they will probably keep it as a secondary stop even after the multimodal station is complete near downtown Duluth.

[mattaudio]

Just to clarify, this is Duluth's Whole Foods (a co-op) not the Whole Foods chain.

[Viktor Vaughn]

Keep in mind this is a local Whole Foods Co-op, which is not associated with the nationwide Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods corporate would not put their first Duluth store on Grand Ave.

Glad to see the co-op is opening a new location out west.

Edit: Matt beat me to it again!