I walk around the Minneapolis Marcy-Holmes neighborhood often. I didn’t realize that they have a few, new neighborhood improvements planned and I became really curious. One is the new (finally) 5th St SE pedestrian and bicycle bridge plan that crosses over I-35W per this tweet and thread.
Rendered 5th St SE Bridge
Many people cross this narrow bridge every day which is not currently ADA accessible. With newer student housing on the east side as well as the residential west side can make is much easier for increasing pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The above rendition of the entrance and exit ramps reminds me a just a bit of the Martin Olav Sabo bridge. A few current views of the 5th St SE bridge:
Narrow spiral to walk your bike
Narrow bridge over I35W
Bicycle-friendly routes from bridge
Another change is (physically) closer to my home across the bridge. The Holmes Park playground will be closing for for a year for the construction of the Marcy Open School. Info can be found per this tweet, MPRB link, and photo taken this week:
Holmes Park and playground
I’m a little torn on this. It’s great that they’re making an open school there, but there are no kid-friendly playground parks in the immediate area.
A hopeful intersection improvement for Marcy-Holmes and St. Anthony – The intersection of 7th St, 1st Ave NE and Central Ave just sucks and is just a death trap for pedestrians. Ever been to the Bad Waitress NE? It’s awesome! Ever cross Central Ave. to get there? Not so awesome.
Pedestrian death trap
This is at the noon hour or so which is usually fine. It’s a pedestrian nightmare during rush hours. We know that Councilmember Steve Fletcher has it on a short list they gave public works for intersections to prioritize. I look forward to see new outcomes. Maybe I’m just selfish and want a big grilled cheese from the Bad Waitress without worrying about getting run over by drivers racing to get back to their cul-de-sacs after work.
Or, maybe I’m just a fan of Marcy Holmes in general. The community is really proactive and I’m all for making it safer!