And I respond:And it displays in a spectacular fashion MnDOT's inability to think outside of the box and their seemingly congential fear of building a tunnel or double-decked arrangement of lanes -- something highway builders do everywhere else in the world.
Those other places in the world that use double-decked arrangements of lanes are in places that avoid 2 words 5 months of the year- 'black ice'-
Think of the trouble we currently have when black ice makes our current bridge decks slippery- now extend those bridge decks for 1-2 miles. I have seen more than my share of vehicles tetter-toddering on the guard rails on the I-94 bridge over the Mississippi by the U 0f M exit with occupants in them waiting to fall into the river below. A rush hour pile up on the design that Chris is proposing would take until a spring thaw to clear. Even when the roads are dry, an accident in the morning or evening driving into the sun would gridlock such a structure. And that means that drivers are going to exit at 46th, Diamond Lake Road, Lyndale, Penn, Xerxes or France and take the scenic route through Minneapolis and Richfield residential neighborhoods. NOT! And I am hoping that someone will not bring up the possibility of 'heating' those elevated road surfaces- talk to the owners of Bobby and Steve's in Minneapolis, Bloomington and Columbia Heights about the cost of heating their driveways.
I am still baffled why some form of light rail/commuter rail/express bus lanes wasn't built into the current design so the people from Burnsville can leave their cars in their own county to get to work in Minneapolis.
Ron Lischeid
Work downtown, sleep in Stadium Village and office in Windom
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