Orange Line / 35W@94: Downtown to Crosstown Project

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby twincitizen » August 29th, 2014, 8:09 am

I believe it was Iggy Azalea who famously said, "First things first, I'm a realist"

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby mulad » August 29th, 2014, 9:33 am

[The best part of that song is Charli XCX.]

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby Mdcastle » August 31st, 2014, 9:10 pm

I don't see why there would be very much traffic from I-35W trough the tunnel to I-394 west- the only people that would to that would be people in south Minneapolis going to the western suburbs. If you live near 62 or anywhere south, then 62 to 100 (or 169 of 494) make more sense for going to the western suburbs and that's the route I always take. When I go through the tunnel it's to either north Minneapolis or the northern suburbs where 100 would be way out of my way.

The other three movements- I-35W to I-94 north, I-94 to I-94, and I-94 to I-394, are probably a lot higher in volume and these are the ones better served by a multi-lane left entrance.

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby TommyT » September 8th, 2014, 9:19 am

Not sure where to post this, but a truck somehow ran into the 35W bridge over Lake St. this morning. A friend of mine posted these pictures to facebook and I stole them.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127628835 ... 992979808/

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby MNdible » September 8th, 2014, 9:22 am

Wow -- that outer girder looks like it's toast. It's the bottom of the girders that do most of the work structurally. Just from the pictures, it looks like that will need to be completely replaced, which probably means some major emergency construction work.

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby BoredAgain » September 8th, 2014, 2:59 pm

I don't see why there would be very much traffic from I-35W trough the tunnel to I-394 west- the only people that would to that would be people in south Minneapolis going to the western suburbs. If you live near 62 or anywhere south, then 62 to 100 (or 169 of 494) make more sense for going to the western suburbs and that's the route I always take. When I go through the tunnel it's to either north Minneapolis or the northern suburbs where 100 would be way out of my way.

The other three movements- I-35W to I-94 north, I-94 to I-94, and I-94 to I-394, are probably a lot higher in volume and these are the ones better served by a multi-lane left entrance.
I happen to be one of those people who lives in south Minneapolis and commutes to the western Suburbs along this very route every day. I agree with everything you just wrote, with these two additions.

1. I think this change will actually be an improvement for those of us westbound on 394. Making that will still require a single lane movement (left to right instead of right to left), but it keeps us out of the Hennepin/Lyndale exit mess.
2. The people hurt are the ones coming from 35W and trying to exit at Hennepin/Lyndale. With this change, they are supposed to weave across three lanes to reach the exit. This would be a nightmare if the corridor is at all congested. Exiting into downtown or at Lake Street instead don't seem like great alternatives.

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby twincitizen » September 8th, 2014, 3:35 pm

If one's destination is south of 31st, I hope people are taking the relatively uncongested 35th/36th St exit. Hell, I live on 28th and I take the 35th/36th exit because westbound Lake St is so backed up at rush hour. Not to mention the freeway is so congested in the right lane, it's much less stressful to get off at 36th (if not 46th) and take local streets to your final destination. Visitors from outside the city are less likely to use that option.

If one's destination is further north towards 24th or Franklin, I still think exiting at 31st/Lake and cruising up 1st Ave S is pretty efficient.

Once that direct exit to 28th St opens up (and assuming 28th remains a one-way), I think a lot of motorists headed to Whittier/Wedge will use that 28th St exit (eastbound), make a quick left at 5th Ave S, and left again at 26th (or Franklin I suppose) to head back westbound. A couple of left turns added to the trip, but avoids Lake Street entirely. I could see northbound 5th Ave S getting extremely backed up at 26th St, so they'll probably have to adjust the light timing to give extra time to 5th. I suspect the light today gives heavy preference to traffic on 26th.

I hate to say it, but 5th Ave S, north of 28th anyways, should probably see some (small) improvements to acknowledge that it has a direct connection to 35W north & 94 east. I'm thinking something like eliminating parking on one side, and adding left turn lanes at major intersections (26th, Franklin) would be sufficient to reduce delay. I wouldn't want to create a speedway, but that street is way too narrow to support parking on both sides, plus two lanes of traffic, for a street that directly connects to the highway (in the northbound direction only). I suppose you could also make it a one-way in the northbound direction, north of 24th St (keeping it to a single traffic lane, however, with left turn lanes as needed).

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby MNdible » September 8th, 2014, 5:09 pm

A bit more information about the crash at the Lake Street bridge. Looks like the best bus stop in the world will be closed for a while.

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby David Greene » September 9th, 2014, 1:54 pm

If one's destination is south of 31st, I hope people are taking the relatively uncongested 35th/36th St exit. Hell, I live on 28th and I take the 35th/36th exit because westbound Lake St is so backed up at rush hour.
121/Lyndale/46th/King's Highway FTW!

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby twincitizen » September 10th, 2014, 7:15 pm


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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby grant1simons2 » September 10th, 2014, 7:23 pm

Temp boards to catch any falling rock? I would think they'd have to shut down some lanes to fix this and until they can do so they might as well make it a bit "safer". I saw them do this on the 169 bridge too and it was fixed soon after

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby Tcmetro » September 10th, 2014, 7:26 pm

The lane closest to the edge of the bridge is the bus stop, and it will be closed until the repairs are done.

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby Tcmetro » September 16th, 2014, 9:17 am

Orange Line update, nothing really new.

http://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meeting ... pdate.aspx

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby twincitizen » September 17th, 2014, 2:53 pm

Mike Opat being a dickwad, nothing really new.

http://finance-commerce.com/2014/09/fun ... ange-line/

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby HiawathaGuy » September 17th, 2014, 3:02 pm

Mike Opat being a dickwad, nothing really new.
No doubt. How is it possible that anyone on the CTIB Board is unable to see a full regional transit system picture?!
I would maybe expect this from a City or County commissioner, but not anyone on the CTIB Board. He annoys me with that statement. His hypocrisy is astounding (since he was the one who inked the deal for the Twins ballpark).

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby Tcmetro » September 17th, 2014, 3:11 pm

Ugh. Orange Line has been on the drawing board for over a decade now (and perhaps two or three, if anyone wants to count the old LRT studies). It's a more than overdue project, provides a good bang-for-the-buck, and does a lot to connect to suburban centers.

Unfortunately there is a line of thinking within the regional planning atmosphere that anything that goes to downtown Minneapolis is solely benefiting Minneapolis. That certainly isn't wholly true, as these lines are overwhelmingly helping suburban communities continue to be attractive commuter towns. And there's plenty of stuff underway in the East Metro now.

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby Silophant » September 17th, 2014, 3:14 pm

So, Opat's equally against the Blue Line Extension that runs from his district to Downtown Minneapolis, because it'll just benefit Minneapolis, right? If he's gotta be a dick, I'd prefer him to at least be consistent.
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twincitizen
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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby twincitizen » October 28th, 2014, 3:52 pm


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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby acs » November 21st, 2014, 12:55 pm

http://www.startribune.com/local/south/283503841.html

Orange line received federal approval to begin detailed design.

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Re: Orange Line (35W BRT) & Lake St Transit Access Project

Postby twincitizen » December 4th, 2014, 2:23 pm

No real news, but here's the latest project update: http://metroorangeline.cmail1.com/t/Vie ... 32AAFB68BF

Hard to believe construction is still more than 2 years away (2017 season), and that's assuming no major delays. Environmental work will be completed throughout 2015.

Still, it's crazy to imagine that this and Southwest LRT could both be open by 2019, and the Chicago-Emerson/Fremont aBRT line could open in 2018, not to mention Nicollet Streetcar somewhere in that mix. And all of that could be done even without an increase in the transit sales tax. It'll need state bonding money, sure, and a strong partner in the federal government.


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