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Reader Survey Results: Economics of Amtrak from Minneapolis to Duluth

By on April 16, 2019 in Economics, Infrastructure, Polls, Railroads, Trains, Travel

On March 27, we posted about the numbers surrounding the proposed $600 million investment to bring Amtrak rail service along a corridor between Minneapolis and Duluth. Many of you shared your stories of rail and bus travel, and many expressed a deep appreciation for the comfort and conveniences of travel by rail. To learn more, I created a […]

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A History of Minnesota’s Interstates, Part Two

By on April 12, 2019 in Cars, Freeways, Infrastructure, Transportation

This is the second part of the history of Interstate Highways in Minnesota. Part One covered the early plans and conceptions of the interstate system, from the 1930s to the Interstate Highway Act of 1956. This concludes with the realization of the system. First, here’s some maps showing the completion of the interstates by decade. […]

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Why You Should Oppose a Gas Tax Increase

By on April 9, 2019 in Advocacy, Carfree, Cars, Economics, Freeways, Highways, Infrastructure, Politics, Public Policy, Smart Growth, Traffic, Transportation

There are many reasons to oppose Tim Walz’s proposed gas tax increase. When a DFL governor last tried to increase the gas tax in 2015, Charles Marohn of Strong Towns wrote two excellent pieces detailing all the ways that The Minnesota Department of Transportation’s road building policies are hurting Minnesota’s cities and towns, fueling suburbanization […]

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National Links: Augmented Reality Directions

By on March 29, 2019 in Infrastructure, Streets, Transportation

Every day at The Overhead Wire we collect news about cities and send the links to our email list.  At the end of the week we take some of the most popular stories and post them to Greater Greater Washington, a group blog similar to streets.mn that focuses on urban issues in the DC region. […]

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The Flooding of the Saint Paul Riverfront

By on March 26, 2019 in Bicycling, Infrastructure, Rivers

As our record-setting snows this winter melt into the rivers, we’re seeing flooding happening throughout Minnesota. As of Friday, there were bridge closures in Jordan, Chaska, and St. Peter, as well as many other road closures. In Saint Paul, the low-lying Water Street was flooded early in the season, closing on March 14th. As the […]

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Bus Stops May Be Greatest Hindrance to Winter Bus Riding

By on March 21, 2019 in Buses, Infrastructure, Sidewalks, Transit, Transportation, Walking, Winter

This February saw record-breaking snowfall in the Twin Cities area. As any Minneapolis resident could see — whether traveling by car, foot, bus or bike — our city’s infrastructure was not up to the challenge. That went double for the Metro Transit system, which needs all the support it can get these days. As a longtime reader […]

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Complete Streets: A Springtime Slideshow

By on March 14, 2019 in Accessibility, ADA, Advocacy, Announcements, Environment, Infrastructure, Land use, Streets, Transportation, Walking

Upon reading this recent post by Alicia Valenti, I decided to take a walk with my camera around my own neighborhood. Here is a “slide-show” (pun intended) of the proceedings: On my walk, I was able to talk with some others about their bipedal experiences of the day. Outside the MPD 3rd Precinct, I spoke with […]

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Map Monday: Fantasy Eastern US Rail Network

By on February 11, 2019 in Infrastructure, Maps, Railroads

Here’s a map from erstwhile rail and transit blogger, Alon Levy, with a proposed “high-speed” / low-speed rail network that would connect to Minnesota. First, the map itself: For Levy’s proposal, the Chicago-to-Minneapolis travel time would be 2 hours and 30 minutes. There would also be connection north to Duluth. Here’s what Levy writes about […]

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A Desire Path Turns into a Sidewalk!

By on January 23, 2019 in Infrastructure, Sidewalks, Walking

On the eastern edge of Saint Paul, there’s a dangerous intersection: a four lane stroad, with on-ramps/off-ramps to I-94, and (until recently) almost no pedestrian infrastructure. It is, however, a critical link for the neighborhood, so people had to make the best of it. To get to the grocery store from the south, you had to […]

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Let’s Ban Slip Lanes in Saint Paul

By on January 16, 2019 in Infrastructure, Streets

Today I took the A Line rapid-transit bus south on Snelling, meaning to get off at University and catch the Green Line train. But I wasn’t paying attention and missed the stop at University. That meant I had to ride the bus all the way down to Marshall Avenue (which is about twice as far […]

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