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Minnesota Notes

Started by Mdcastle, April 18, 2012, 07:54:36 PM

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texaskdog

Quote from: DandyDan on September 30, 2018, 04:17:15 AM
Quote from: WhitePoleRD on September 29, 2018, 06:29:55 PM
I have a question about US 69 (and to a lesser extent US 65)-

I know that 35 is only a few miles away but I wonder why 69 was never extended along MN 13. To me it only makes sense. The end of 69 kinda just hangs in Albert Lea.

My personal speculation is that Albert Lea wanted one highway number from I-90 to downtown and since MN 13 goes north of I-90 (all the way to St. Paul), MN 13 won out. You could extend US 69 to I-90, but then you would have to waste a number on the short connector between 69 and 65. If 69 goes downtown, you make people take 2 highways to get to downtown Albert Lea from I-90. One other thing to keep in mind is that you can't go straight north from downtown Albert Lea to I-90 because there is a lake there.

Or 65 could end at South Albert Lea and 13 could be extended to that point, with 69 coming out at North Albert Lea.  A BL35 would take care of any confusion.


TheHighwayMan3561

There already is a BL35. It follows US 65 between the two 35 junctions.
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

kphoger

Quote from: DandyDan on September 30, 2018, 04:17:15 AM
that Albert Lea wanted one highway number from I-90 to downtown

If I have my history right, I-90 in Minnesota was completed in the same year that US-16 was truncated.  This means that, when US-16 in Albert Lea became MN-13, I-90 was still pretty much a brand-new highway.  In that case, I'd say your speculation makes a lot of sense.


Quote from: texaskdog on November 19, 2018, 02:32:06 PM
65 could end at South Albert Lea and 13 could be extended to that point, with 69 coming out at North Albert Lea.  A BL35 would take care of any confusion.

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on November 19, 2018, 03:10:17 PM
There already is a BL35. It follows US 65 between the two 35 junctions.

Not to mention that–if I'm understanding things correctly–US-69 would no longer reach Albert Lea, and traffic heading there would have to switch route numbers at I-35 for seemingly no reason.  US-69
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
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Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

TheHighwayMan3561

$20 million federal grant for the Can of Worms project in Duluth awarded today. Good deal.
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

froggie

Still a lot to go to fully fund it.

Mdcastle

Within the next week or two I'm going to begin deleting photos from my Flickr account in order to get under the new 1000 photo limit in an organized fashion (I need to delete about half of them, I'll probably start with the older stuff). At this time I have no intent of adding significant new content, I'm not sure if I'll eventually just shut down the entire thing and use some other platform for hosting random content. I still don't have access to Wordpress for that purpose as I'd have to sign up for an Earthlink email account to recreate the address I had when I created my account there, (or else I could leave it abandoned and actually figure out how to register a top level domain for a new account). It's been a year now and I haven't bothered as I've directed my energy towards writing articles, many of them roadgeek related, for the streets.mn blog where I get more exposure than a personal Wordpress site. 

All my road related photos are on a flash drive I have at home so nothing is going to be gone irrecoverably.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/26956281@N02/albums

DandyDan

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on July 15, 2018, 02:43:02 PM
I noticed today that MnDOT is installing new alternate I-35 route designations.







They were posted on almost every exit from the Iowa border to the Elko/New Market exit. I don't think either I-90 exit or the US-14 exits had them. There are probably others.

Some of them were missing the yellow tab on top, such as this one from the NB offramp to MN-251. Note that they have the wrong direction installed on this one.


I apologize for the belated response to this, but I was doing some semi-aimless driving in Southern Minnesota and it would be nice if there was one specific route one should follow. It appears if you exit I-35, you are just supposed to make a right, unless you are to go southbound onto US 65, which is the only place I remember where you are to turn left. There's also no coordination with Iowa because US 65 is the alternate route, but then you get to Iowa and there is no alternate route, or emergency detour route, for I-35 there. I also find it weird the county road east out of Glenville has the alternate route making a random left turn on it. I find the way they did things rather random and haphazard.
MORE FUN THAN HUMANLY THOUGHT POSSIBLE

MNHighwayMan

#832
Quote from: DandyDan on January 06, 2019, 04:41:59 AM
I apologize for the belated response to this, but I was doing some semi-aimless driving in Southern Minnesota and it would be nice if there was one specific route one should follow. It appears if you exit I-35, you are just supposed to make a right, unless you are to go southbound onto US 65, which is the only place I remember where you are to turn left. There's also no coordination with Iowa because US 65 is the alternate route, but then you get to Iowa and there is no alternate route, or emergency detour route, for I-35 there. I also find it weird the county road east out of Glenville has the alternate route making a random left turn on it. I find the way they did things rather random and haphazard.

It seems that the alternate route is specifically tailored for each exit from I-35, so I'm not sure that what you're suggesting is the intended function (as MnDOT envisions it). I didn't follow any of them very far beyond the interchange, so I can't say this for certain, but I wouldn't be surprised if the alternate routes were only signed as the alternative from one interchange to the next.

froggie

I believe MnDOT is making it flexible to adjust to different situations or different segments that may need closing.

Great Lakes Roads

Around 5300 miles of two-lane roads in Minnesota will get an increase to 60mph from 55mph!!  :clap: :clap: :clap:

Article:
https://kstp.com/news/mndot-minnesota-highway-speed-limit-increase/5220316/?cat=13154

froggie

Most of that mileage has already gone to 60.  The 5,300 figure is the total from the 5 years of study.

TheHighwayMan3561

Someone on Facebook speculated some months ago about any parts of MN 61 going to 60, which it appears the route was exempted from the study entirely. That doesn't surprise me, although I think the majority of the route in Cook County (roughly from Taconite Harbor to the border) could handle 60. The Lake County portion, probably not suitable.
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

froggie

My hunch is safety problems with deer and moose would preclude it even in Cook County.  I recall from my high school days a couple of high-profile moose-car crashes between Grand Marais and the border where the driver was killed on scene.

The Ghostbuster

I think the only portion of MN-61 that should be 60 (or 65) should be the expressway portion between Duluth and Two Harbors. Any other portion should have a maximum speed limit of 55.

The High Plains Traveler

MN-61 wasn't exempted from the study. It was a "discretionary" route that exists in only MnDOT District 1, and wasn't put on the schedule of studies. Rather, like other single district routes, the District was to do it sometime during the five years study.

That said, I was surprised that almost all but the lower 23 miles or so east of Two Harbors was designated to go to 60. I wasn't surprised that the part east of Grand Marais did, but there is a lot of side road traffic west of there.
"Tongue-tied and twisted; just an earth-bound misfit, I."

TheHighwayMan3561

Minnesota and Wisconsin are targeting 2028 to replace the I-535 bridge between Duluth and Superior.

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/traffic-and-construction/4585132-blatnik-replacement-officially-scheduled-2028
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Rothman

Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

froggie

The truss was nice, but I have no problem with replacing a fracture-critical span.

mgk920

Agreed, although very picturesque, trusses are 'too efficient' for most of the uses that they had been put to in the past.

A friend once told me a common 'internal' adage within the field while he was doing a stint as a volunteer firefighter - "Never trust a truss".

Mike

bschultzy


TheHighwayMan3561

self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

froggie

#846
^ May want to add I-94 up to St. Cloud to that list.  Especially on weekends.

On vacation so haven't done my usual major project breakdown.

triplemultiplex

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on March 15, 2019, 03:19:02 PM
Minnesota and Wisconsin are targeting 2028 to replace the I-535 bridge between Duluth and Superior.

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/traffic-and-construction/4585132-blatnik-replacement-officially-scheduled-2028

They're waiting on Wisconsin?  Eh, better grab a chair, MnDOT.
This is going to be one of those projects where someone is gonna have to score a big wad of federal money in order for it to happen on schedule.

It will be interesting to see what type of design ends up getting used.  Be nice if we ended up with a better interchange situation on the WI end of the new bridge, too.
"That's just like... your opinion, man."

SSOWorld

Quote from: triplemultiplex on April 15, 2019, 07:58:20 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on March 15, 2019, 03:19:02 PM
Minnesota and Wisconsin are targeting 2028 to replace the I-535 bridge between Duluth and Superior.

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/traffic-and-construction/4585132-blatnik-replacement-officially-scheduled-2028

They're waiting on Wisconsin?  Eh, better grab a chair, MnDOT.
This is going to be one of those projects where someone is gonna have to score a big wad of federal money in order for it to happen on schedule.

It will be interesting to see what type of design ends up getting used.  Be nice if we ended up with a better interchange situation on the WI end of the new bridge, too.
At the rate they're going, WisDOT is going to become IDiOT north well before then :popcorn:
Scott O.

Not all who wander are lost...
Ah, the open skies, wind at my back, warm sun on my... wait, where the hell am I?!
As a matter of fact, I do own the road.
Raise your what?

Wisconsin - out-multiplexing your state since 1918.

TheHighwayMan3561

For the Can of Worms project, part of Lower Michigan St. will be repurposed to become southbound I-35 with the northbound lanes shifted to the current southbound carriageway. Work is also expected to take place year-round, which is rare for a non-emergency project.

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/4609091-can-worms-work-will-go-year-round
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running



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