urbanMSP

wtf do you think they're getting at here-
"Increasing the functionality of University Ave. and SE 4th St. from Central Ave. to I-35W"

wtf do you think they're getting at here-
"Increasing the functionality of University Ave. and SE 4th St. from Central Ave. to I-35W"

That line made me nervous - is that a euphemism for personal vehicle flow/capacity?


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Isn't the county leading a redesign project for University & SE 4th St? Hopefully it means making the interchange at 35W safer.

The county is rebuilding University and 4th from 35W to Oak next summer. Here's the layout. University is only a state highway north/west of Central, so I guess it's the city's responsibility between Central and 35W? Though, I think bridges over interstates are the state's responsibility no matter who owns the street.

The 2 way layout on University

I have emails from 8 years ago discussing these changes. It will be 9 years by the time it will be built. Crazy.

The 77th St underpass in Richfield underneath Hwy 77 appears open.

2022 Corridors of Commerce projects announced.

https://www.roadsbridges.com/funding/ne ... e-projects

The projects receiving funding in 2023 include:

TH 13, Savage/Burnsville – Grade separations from Quentin to Nicollet Aves: $96,000,000
I-94, Albertville to Monticello – Lane expansion: $78,000,000
TH 14/CSAH 44, Byron – Construct a grade separation: $60,000,000
TH 371/TH 210, Baxter – Construct a grade separation: $58,000,000
TH 23/MN 9, New London – Construct a grade separation: $33,000,000
TH 65, Blaine – Grade separations from 103rd to 117th Aves: $30,000,000
TH 53, Eveleth to Virginia – Roadway improvements: $18,000,000
TH 10, Coon Rapids – Lane expansion from CSAH 78 to CSAH 9: $8,000,000

The CSAH 44 project is really closer to Rochester, and Google Maps has it labled is 104 in error. The TH 53 project is building a roundbout at Progress Drive and a new backage road on the east side in Eveleth, where they're building a new consolidated high school deep in the woods to replace aging facilities in the downtown areas. RCUT intersections seem to be more popular with engineers and bean counters than the people that actually have to drive them, and the area residents previously got a state law passed to prohibit MnDOT from building an RCUT at 23 and 9.

RCUT intersections seem to be more popular with engineers and bean counters than the people that actually have to drive them, and the area residents previously got a state law passed to prohibit MnDOT from building an RCUT at 23 and 9.

In this case, when you say "engineers and bean counters", what you meant to say was "people that are trying to avoid deadly collisions from dangerous crossings of high speed roads".

Officials recommend complete rebuild of bridge linking Duluth to Wisconsin

Funny, they only seem to put the price tag ($1.8bn) in the headline when the article is about transit projects.

I have always thought someone should take a similar dollar value worth of MnDot projects and compare cost and time overruns on those with transit projects. Just off the top of my head you have the Third Ave bridge and the 35w Storm water tanks that are 1 year plus over schedule and who knows how much over budget.

'Future of transportation': Celebration marks the start of $195M rebuild of Hwy. 65 in Blaine

I think this quote may be a bit of an exaggeration for what will effectively be a freeway with sidewalks and a bike trail.

"This is a big deal," said Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis. "Blaine will be the multi-modal capital of the metro. This is the future of transportation."

Looking forward to when people complain there aren't three or more lanes in each direction on this overhyped freeway.

The article also mentions "improved transit facilities", but doesn't go into detail about that. I'm guessing maybe a bus shelter or two will be thrown in somewhere.

My take on it is that the car-haters have been doing so much shaming lately that we can't just be honest about the fact that it's simply a badly needed new freeway.

I'd argue that the freeway capacity is only "badly needed" because of the vast amounts of poorly-planned, car-centric sprawl that extends for miles up towards Bethel / St Francis. As a counterexample, Highway 3 in Dakota County fills the same road hierarchy "niche" that Highway 65 does in Anoka County. The difference, of course, is that Dakota County has remained actually rural between the metro and Northfield, whereas Anoka County was allowed to sprawl into an exurban mess.

I don't think it's unfair to criticize this project as a $195M handout to exurbanites who want to live the "rural life" but still have a 10 minute drive to Chipotle.

As a car hater I think this is a huge improvement over the existing stroad and should reduce crashes thereby saving lives and preventing injury. It’s still obviously car centric but is about the best one can hope for in Blaine. I would be pissed about this in Minneapolis or Saint Paul but no complaints from me here


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I agree with what Tom H said. There's a difference between "badly needed" road improvements and road projects that just help continue auto-centric sprawl that will sooner or later lead to more traffic and the same problems as before. Redesigning the at-grade intersections is a cheaper option to improve safety.

"expressway between 97th and 119th avenues." What's going on with 93rd? Feels like a lot of business there for MnDOT to route traffic to via frontage road.

As near as I can tell, they're not touching 93rd at all, which seems strange.

https://www.blainemn.gov/3629/Thrive-on-65

It appears that they're able to execute most of the project with minimal property takings, so maybe the relative density of development at that location makes improvements at 93rd too expensive?

93rd will be part of a reconstruction that will include converting the interchange at CR 10 to a diamond. 87th will get an underpass and 85th/89th will get right-in/out only turns. 93rd will more or less be a diamond interchange.

This project will allow the addition of multi-use paths from 81st to 93rd.

93rd will be part of a reconstruction that will include converting the interchange at CR 10 to a diamond. 87th will get an underpass and 85th/89th will get right-in/out only turns. 93rd will more or less be a diamond interchange.

This project will allow the addition of multi-use paths from 81st to 93rd.

Do you have a source for information on this project? Google was not helpful.