The Bridges - (950 University Avenue SE)

[mulad]

The Melrose or University Commons or whatever is about 1400 feet from I-94, while The Bridges will probably be about 150 feet away from I-35W. I believe noise (in terms of pure acoustic pressure) drops off with the square of distance, though I'm not sure how to quantify that for human perception (I think a sound needs to be at least 5-6 dB different to be perceived as "twice as loud" even though that's really closer to 4x as noisy).

Suffice to say that The Bridges site will be subjected to a lot of noise. I'm sure it's not insurmountable, but you'd basically need to seal up all of the windows all the time and have a good HVAC system (with good air filtration, too -- air quality sucks right next to a freeway).

[RailBaronYarr]

The Melrose or University Commons or whatever is about 1400 feet from I-94, while The Bridges will probably be about 150 feet away from I-35W. I believe noise (in terms of pure acoustic pressure) drops off with the square of distance, though I'm not sure how to quantify that for human perception (I think a sound needs to be at least 5-6 dB different to be perceived as "twice as loud" even though that's really closer to 4x as noisy).

Suffice to say that The Bridges site will be subjected to a lot of noise. I'm sure it's not insurmountable, but you'd basically need to seal up all of the windows all the time and have a good HVAC system (with good air filtration, too -- air quality sucks right next to a freeway).

Well I was talking about 2 separate places, there was the closer one: http://goo.gl/maps/LKiWb that's 500 ft. But I also referenced the apartment behind Marcy Park: http://goo.gl/maps/ZDKnp, which is 150 feet as well. I lived there for 1.5 years (my younger brother did as well, and now my youngest sister lives there, so I've spent a decent amount of time there). Conversation, TV watching, sleeping, etc was never a problem. The train tracks woke me up the first few early morningg with the window open but I got used to that, as well.

I don't doubt the air quality argument. I will say my apartment by 35 had a good number of trees lining the building, providing shade and a natural filter. One of the benefits of relatively low-rise development!

[FISHMANPET]

I've lived here:
http://goo.gl/maps/64Sld

For a year I shared a bedroom that faced the freeway, about in the middle of the building, on the third floor. My roommate was closer to the window. He's a notoriously light sleeper and had to have a fan on to distract him.

Then for a couple of years I had my own room in basically the same place but on the second floor, with the bed against the exterior wall and I had no problems sleeping.

I'm pretty sure if I'd tried I could have thrown a baseball well into the eastbound lanes, and I'm a pretty bad throw. So I think I win the game of "living closest to the freeway."

Now I live in a unit that faces the courtyard, and it's much quieter. But less exciting then when I faced the parking lot on the west side. A couple of times we'd hear someone getting toed, then later be woken up by the screams of revelers discovering their car was gone.

[contrast]

I hadn't noticed the high voltage lines directly to the south. Oh well, what's one more cancer causer when you are already breathing the freeway fumes. I still like it though and I'd still choose the west or south view over the others.

[twincitizen]

Lots of renders/floor plans/context here: http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups ... 104361.pdf

[mister.shoes]

This might be a ridiculous question, but why couldn't the parking for this be below the grade of 10th Ave with access (auto and ped) off 2nd Street—or both 2nd and 10th? I understand that the land between 2nd and the River is industrial, but it won't necessarily always be so. And that would also free up the first floor of this project to have retail allowances if so desired.

Could the thinking be that 2 stories of above-ground parking will push the residents up above 35W instead of staring directly at the traffic?

[MNdible]

I was thinking the same thing. Trying to make a left turn out of this garage could be difficult at best, and the alternative is to have to go across the bridge. I'd think that access off of 2nd Street would make a lot more sense; certainly there's a cost to doing semi-below grade parking.

[RailBaronYarr]

I don't particularly care so much about people with cars needing to either wait a bit to turn left or choose to turn right and head over the bridge (they could then turn around or hop on the freeway at Seven Corners if that was their intent). Car convenience shouldn't matter much for a site like this - the people living here should be able to go to 90% of their daily activities by foot or bike.

That said.. you would think it would be worth the money to build down for the garage as suggested, and get some ground level retail/restaurant space in. However, I think it's real easy to just suggest adding retail to every building in the area, but I wonder if all these projects may hit saturation point. One thing going for this location is the access to the western Dinkytown residents and those in MH across the freeway... Is there any chance of getting some ground-level office space in some buildings to help fill the void of the UTEC site? Would be nice if a building partnered with the U for some co-op work space for startups for current students and recent grads (many of whom work in the area). Just an idea if retail saturates quicker than buildings can go up or people want to move to the area...

[mulad]

Hmm. 10th Ave tends to get backed up just enough that I don't think left turns would work very well at that spot. 2nd Street typically has much less traffic. I also think putting the garage entrance on 2nd would encourage people to walk/bike more since it adds a minute or two to driving time (at least if you're trying to get to/from the interstate).

[lordmoke]

This is on the MPC agenda for March 4th. Looks like everything will be approved!

Here's a link to the site plans they posted, but it doesn't look like there's anything new here:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/www/gro ... 104813.pdf

[min-chi-cbus]

This is on the MPC agenda for March 4th. Looks like everything will be approved!

Here's a link to the site plans they posted, but it doesn't look like there's anything new here:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/www/gro ... 104813.pdf

Cool, good news! This is neat infill, and University Ave from downtown to the U of M (and probably all the way to downtown St. Paul) is going to look SO different in just a few years from when I last saw it (2-3 years ago)!!

[stock345]

It's crazy different already.

[Didier]

This will be a good project, no doubt, but I don't know if it will have a transformational feel for the area. When it's done the University Avenue bridge over 35W will have little local-oriented retail nodes on each side, which is good.

The one area that feels totally different today than it did even two years ago is Stadium Village on Washington Avenue. There is another apartment going up right now, and the new one on the Arby's/plasma site will do even more.

Obviously Fifth Street between 13th and 14th Avenues will soon look quite different, too.

[RailBaronYarr]

How cool would it be if 2 things happened:

1) Change University and 4th to both mutli-way streets - reducing (car) speed throughout the whole area.

2) Make a small land-bridge between University and 4th crossing 35W and give air rights to developers. This would be a quick/easy/relatively cheap land bridge to put in compared to all the ones thrown out there (Levinson has shown many of his class' projects) and could make a HUGE connection between Dinkytown and Marcy Holmes (west of the freeway). A streetcar/aBRT to St Anthony (and beyond to downtown and up University) would be icing on the cake.

I'm really excited to continue to see all the areas around campus change in the next 2-3 years. Hopefully some really cool things go in along 4th between the arenas and 15th. Would really complete the area and tie-in the medical discovery district tot he rest of campus without feeling like you're crossing a void to get there.

Back to the topic at hand...

[go4guy]

I think it would look great, but having those two streets 2-ways would be horrible for traffic. Traffic on those roads is a nightmare the way it is if any event is going on at the U.

[fehler]

I still would like to see a better connection from this to 2nd Ave. even if it was just a sidewalk extension/stairwell. The tiered plantings are better than a single, large retaining wall, though.

[RailBaronYarr]

I think it would look great, but having those two streets 2-ways would be horrible for traffic. Traffic on those roads is a nightmare the way it is if any event is going on at the U.

I disagree.. It's bad where people are exiting ramps/lots, but over by the freeway it's actually not so bad. Just attended the UMN Indiana game, left after briefly storming the court and drove from my street parking space to 4th and on to 35W South. The heavy traffic was where we were walking (by the 4th St ramp, the lights through Dinkytown). Wouldn't having another option to exist campus make things spread out a little? You could even make the center turn lane a temporary second lane toward the freeway to add capacity. Furthermore, if we incrementally reduce lane capacity (3 one-way lanes vs 2 lanes on 2 bi-directional streets), while simultaneously increasing transit options (CC LRT, Univ/4th Streetcar or aBRT, etc) and increase population in the area that can access it (all the projects discussed on this website), won't it matter very little? Finally, why do we design (or continue to allow them to be designed) for the few large-capacity times? 7 home football games, 10 home Big Ten Bball games (where it actually fills up in the Barn), and 15 home hockey games?

Also, I agree on how this building should address 2nd. Wonder what it would take for the developer to consider this?

[MotorCity2TwinCities]

Looks like construction is slated to begin soon. I think this is a great project. http://www.thelinemedia.com/devnews/the ... 31313.aspx

[robotlollipop]

Not like it matters but i'm pretty sure it used to be a gas station in that location and I don't think I would consider a little over 3 years ago as "long ago". Anyway, it's awesome that they are beginning construction soon.

[Tom H.]

Yes, you're right - I filled up at that gas station when I visited the U for my grad school interview 4 years ago.