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Author Archive | Monte Castleman

Road Trip Fail.

A History of Minnesota’s Highways: Part Three

By on April 13, 2018 in Development, Infrastructure, Maps, Transportation

The Construction Programs of the 1920s Previously, Part 1 of this series discussed some early roads in Minnesota’s pioneer era and the privately maintained auto trails in the early motoring era. Part 2 discussed the generation-long ramp-up of state involvement in highway construction, culminating with the inauguration of a system both owned and maintained by […]

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The Trunk Highway System layout in Minneapolis and St. Paul, 1920s

A History of Minnesota’s Highways Part Two

By on March 9, 2018 in History, Maps, Roads

Previously this series covered federal and private involvement in Minnesota’s highways from the pioneer days into the 1920s. Now it’s time to cover the involvement of the state. As early as 1890 there was state involvement in highways, with the state contributing funds towards the Old Cedar and Bloomington Ferry Bridges. A 1898 constitutional amendment allowed […]

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A History of Minnesota’s Highways Part One

By on February 9, 2018 in History, Roads, Transportation

This is the first part of a new series on the history of Minnesota’s highway system. This is not intended to be exhaustive or strictly chronological. Rather the idea is to present certain milestones and points where source material is available and that I think readers will find informative or interesting. There’s also a few […]

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Hospitals Race to the Cornfields

By on January 10, 2018 in Health, Neighborhoods

Previously on this site there was a post on the phenomenon on schools relocating from urban neighborhoods to areas with more space on the fringes of town. Schools have their issues, like parking spaces in the case of high schools for students arriving by car, and space for athletic fields, but the fundamental model of […]

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The Great Bicycle Helmet Controversy

By on December 12, 2017 in Bicycling, Safety

A month ago we took a look at the history of bicycle helmets and data on their usage at various locations in Minnesota. But should a bicycle helmet by mandatory, or even worn in the first place? Everyone points to the original study saying they reduce head injuries by 85% or tells anecdotes about how […]

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A History of Bicycle Helmets and a Study of Bicycle Helmet use in Minnesota

By on November 8, 2017 in Bicycling

A History of Bicycle Helmets Advocacy for wearing bicycle  helmets is almost as old as bicycles themselves. In the 1880s bicycle clubs began to advocate for the use of helmets. Eventually racers began to use helmets, first leather pith-type helmets, then leather ring-type “hairnet” helmets, but helmets were unknown in non-race bicycling. First modern helmets […]

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The Causes of Crashes

By on October 4, 2017 in Safety, Suburbia, Walking

There’s been much discussion about car vs. pedestrian crashes in the Twin Cities and closer-in suburbs. Here is a discussion about one in an exurb and one in a small town. When a crash happens, eventually the investigating agency winds up saying someone french-fried when they should have pizza-ed, assigns blame, the insurance companies and lawyers […]

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The I-35W Bridge Collapse 10 Years Later

By on September 7, 2017 in Health, Infrastructure

August 1st, 2007 was Minnesota’s day of infamy, when one of the most heavily used bridges in the state collapsed into the Mississippi River. Looking back 10 years and a month later, it’s time to reflect on some of the changes since then. It Ended the “Funny Money” Era at MnDOT The 1990s were a […]

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The Stillwater Bridge Story, Part Five

By on August 7, 2017 in Bridges, Transportation

To Build a Bridge Several years ago, I wrote a four part series about the story of the Stillwater Bridge across the St. Croix River. Part 1 covered the  project from 1950s promises to build a high bridge and get traffic well away from downtown up to the point the original iteration of the 1980s proposal was […]

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The LED Streetlights Are Here

By on July 12, 2017 in Street Furniture, Streets, Trends

The Dawn of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) Previously I covered the cobrahead streetlights of the Twin Cities. Well, they’re almost gone. The thousands of high pressure sodium MnDOT lights on the freeways have been converted to LED (light emitting diodes) and the 90,000 Xcel energy lights are in the process of being converted. So it’s […]

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