urbanMSP

Yeah, trackage rights are a huge gray area. I had kind of assumed that the $107.5 million that went to BNSF up front had trackage rights attached -- perhaps some of that money is being doled out on a yearly basis? Certainly a bit of that yearly contract money is going into paying the train crews (wh...

That's pretty close. There's rail running between the junction with the Hiawatha Line down to the West Bank station, though I don't think there's any actually next to the platform yet. The junction/interlocking with Hiawatha is also a work in progress -- they've got the switch for the eastbound CCLR...

Yeah, platform expansion caused some weirdness, though the Metrodome platform was full-length from the start, if my memory serves...

Did a little scouting of the line today. The Hamline intersection has rails embedded and is open to north-south traffic. I think rails had also been installed at Victoria (though not anywhere on either side there). Pavement is finished and striped on the south side of University from Mackubin to Mar...

If I quote Matt, maybe it won't seem like I'm talking to myself... My hypothetical for Northstar? Repurpose it as regional rail. Departures from STC and Mpls every two hours. Maybe leaving STC at 5 AM, 6, 6:30, 7, 7:30, 8, 10, Noon, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 Leaving Mpls at 5, 7, 9, 11, 1, 3, 4, 4:30, 5, 5:30,...

There's a hotel planned on the block just west of the old Abbott Hospital, isn't there?

Thanks for thinking so highly of "my" idea -- it was actually mattaudio who suggested it. This isn't a topic that's really been on my mind, though I think adding a center platform is probably the right thing to do. The big question is, who would pay for it? Perhaps there will be enough con...

University Avenue had a 3- to 2-lane conversion about a decade ago and did just fine. I think 1st Ave NE could probably drop a lane with relatively little ill effect, and a bike lane is a good idea. Hennepin Avenue going the other direction feels a bit more restricted, but I suspect a bike lane coul...

I think they only retained the parking ramp where the cars were stored. The dealership's front office/sales area had been demolished when Google aerials were taken in April. If you're seeing something other than the ramp, it must be new.

Sounds good. I'd tweak that idea a bit by replacing some of the LRT proposals with relatively short-distance yet high-frequency, electrified commuter rail. Routes like Southwest and Bottineau are already going in freight corridors for the most part, so why couldn't we have just tried to make the exi...

Bleh. Well, from the perspective of architecture, I wouldn't mind if Territorial and Frontier went away, or maybe even Centennial. I'd get fairly pissed if they tore down Pioneer, though. I like the superblock as a place, however -- I'm not one for sports, but there were always people shooting hoops...

Finance & Commerce covers the topic: http://finance-commerce.com/2012/07/city-of-minneapolis-tackles-riddle-of-reopening-nicollet/ There's mention of the "complicated" land ownership situation, which doesn't strike me as all that complicated. There are two parcels, each owned by differ...

The Strib has an article talking about an idea to save a training center at the Ford plant in Saint Paul. Anyone know which building it is? (I'm assuming it's the shiny new bit that looks like offices which you can see from Ford Parkway...) The building went up in 1999, making it very modern compare...

Just happened across this page on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's website about the Superior Plating building at University and 1st Ave NE. http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/waste/waste-and-cleanup/cleanup-programs-and-topics/topics/remediation-sites/copy-of-twin-cities-army-ammunition-p...

I think most of the electronic signs have been flipped forward to face traffic now. I saw a test pattern on one about a week ago.

Hmm, I don't think I've heard anything specifically about this church (Stadium Village Church, formerly Bethany Presbyterian) -- there are a lot of them near campus, particularly near Dinkytown, so it's hard to keep track. I just remember having ire for this one back when I was a freshman at the U, ...

Anyone know what's going on at this block on the northeast corner of Fulton and Oak Streets by the UMN's Superblock? Looks like about half the block has been cleared over the past several years. The vertical aerials seem to show one less property than the 45-degree shots from the previous year. Rona...

Looking at Google's aerials, it looks like this adjacent building has been torn down, I'm guessing as part of this project. No love lost for that little single-story structure, but I wonder if it'll turn into anything other than a parking lot...

The prices are going to be lowered by $1 starting August 1st, and the reduction will run until April, according to the Strib article from the other day. http://www.startribune.com/local/north/161518155.html Anyway, with Northstar on my mind, I began wondering about the planned layout of the Foley Bo...

They've excavated for the second phase of this project -- looking at Google's vertical aerials, I was reminded that cars and buses were temporarily routed on what was an empty patch of grass as the first phase of construction happened. Part of the building is built as a bridge over the regular entra...