Here’s the past week on streets.mn in one fell swoop:
Ideas department: Suggest a Story: Rather than summarize, here’s the post in its entirety: “If you have an interesting story, but you can’t write about it, or you think someone at streets.mn should consider it, add it to this list: Suggest a Story. We make no commitments, but appreciate the ideas.” How about events like project open houses, open streets events or conferences? Let us know about those, too.
SWLRT: Southwest Light Rail Transit and what will/could be built around the stations got a lot of attention this week, all of it critical, with SWLRT Belt Line Station and the Cost of Auto-Orientation, SWLRT: Mixing it up more than Bundt Cake?, and SWLRT West Lake Station: Avoiding Future Regrets.
Other transit stories: Why I Agree with Saint Paul on the B-Line defends the decision by St. Paul and Ramsay County to delay opening of the B-Line, Let’s Fix What We Can on the Red Line suggests some simple improvements to the Red Line. Adventures on Transit in the Suburbs takes the bus to Roseville with much detail about the trip. Also take a look at the transit related video Tilly the Trolley and Billy the Bus.
Hennepin-Lyndale bottleneck/commons: A Hennepin/Lyndale Reconstruction Project Public Open House will be held Monday, (tomorrow) August 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the Skyline Room, Walker Art Center. Some background reading could include a forecast of What to Expect at Monday’s Bottleneck Meeting as well as a look back at The Evolution of the Hennepin-Lyndale Commons. Some earlier posts are here.
Bicycles, pedestrians and thinking about streets differently: Suburban Sidewalk Retrofits helps prioritize where retrofits are most needed. Ben Hamilton-Baillie, Shared Space and Lying Down in the Street recaps conversation and the backstory from Mr. Hamilton-Baillie, the UK transportation planner and champion of shared space much celebrated in urbanist circles. Conflict, Fear, and Not Sharing takes on the recent spate of bike v. car statements made by prominent news types. Biking Northeast I: 5th Street takes a ride there and offers suggestions for improving this bike boulevard.
Particular places, Twin Cities edition: Embracing Change at the Saint Paul Farmers Market, but building more parking is not the answer (the many comments further analyze the vitality of the market and the ease of access/vehicle storage). Wheelock and Minnehaha Parkways – Similarities and Differences gives a fine-grained comparison of the two parkways (and generates some good comments about what features are most salient to the look and feel of each corridor).
Land use and water infrastructure: Questions About the Northeast Metro Water Supply Plan poses some questions which were not asked by the Metro Council in their recent report about the Northeast. Also see Water supply: testing the limits of the region’s aquifers for a related video from the Metropolitan Council about water resources.
Video: Duluth Quadcopter Experience shows Duluth by drone to provide perspective not otherwise available. Tilly the Trolley and Billy the Bus is a World War II era piece encouraging transit to help the war effort with anthropomorphized vehicles. Water supply: testing the limits of the region’s aquifers is a short video piece from the Metropolitan Council about water resources (see the related story).
Visual: Sunday Sketch – Sketching the TPT Parking Ramp & Visualizing Something Else imagines agriculture, recreation, and all the urban activity streets.mn readers would love to see in St. Paul’s Lowertown. Friday Photo: Avoiding Future Egrets is not about avoiding egrets, but flooding. Victoria Not-So-Secret is not about lingerie, but takes us on a bike tour instead. A Spotter’s Guide to Traffic Signals: Part 2 really is about traffic signals and provides more help for urban dwellers to become thoughtful observers of their environment (Part 1 is here) and/or illuminate something we take for granted. There is only one Chart of the Day this week: Picnics Over Time have declined (but perhaps a chart about the increase of food trucks might offer some explanation for this falloff and hope for outdoor eating).
It’s summer vacation time, but you can still read streets.mn almost anywhere. Streets.mn takes no responsibility for your electronic device, however, so think carefully before reading while kayaking. Have a great week on the streets!