Hopefully somebody here can explain to me some of the
basics of what the city is trying to achieve.
Do they want to install a dedicated bus lane from
Downtown to ???, 494?, south of 494?
Where is this lane supposed to go?
Currently we have 4 lanes from 46th St to 26th St.
The Crosstown expansion would extend the 4th lane
south and use it as a collection/distributor/long ramp
to channel off 62 traffic.
Is the City suggesting that we drop the 4th lane for
regular traffic? Or somehow add a 5th lane all the
way north?
Dropping a lane doesn't sound too smart, considering
that 35W is the most heavily used roadway in the
state, close to 200,000 cars per day at Lake St.
That would negate any possible benefits from the 62
expansion.
So that leaves adding a dedicated bus lane in the
existing right-of-way, correct? So, using the U of M
transitway as a model, that means 2 x 12' lanes (one
NB, one SB) plus 2 x 10' shoulders. So basically an
extra 4 more lanes getting squeezed in somewhere. I
suppose you could get by with one reversible lane, but
remember those buses don't make just one trip inbound
& outbound, they need to get back in for another
cycle.
Is the City suggesting that we destroy Stevens & 2nd
Ave and all those houses in order to add that
capacity?
Even adding a single pair of lanes north of 46th would
mean rebuilding: 46th, 42nd, 40th pedway, 38th, 36th,
35th, 31st, Lake, 28th St, 26th St, 24th St pedway,
Hwy 65 over 94, maybe the 94 flyover. So 10 bridges?
At say, $30 million a piece, that's way more then
doubled the cost of the original project. Probably
looking at a cool $500 million by the time your done.
Yeah, that's still cheaper then the Hiawatha LRT, but
considering the Feds footed the bill for most of that
- actually probably right around $500mil. I
sincerely doubt the Feds are going to be writing out a
check for something like this.
As a side note, one BIG MONSTER lurking in the closet
with 35W and Minneapolis is the Miss River Bridge by
Downtown. This bridge is way past it's life
expectancy and will need to be replaced soon.
Problem is that it is one big bridge, not 2 bridges
joined together like the 35E Lexington Bridge. This
would most likely mean a complete closure of 35W for
an extended period. Mucho bucks and mucho problems
for everybody in the region.
Am I missing something obvious here?
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