from the PPS report - on the Excess Project

The following are excerpts from the full report (1.90 Mb pdf) prepared by Project for Public Spaces. on the LAke Street Reconstruction. PPS logically recognizes the clear connection between Excess and LAke.o

"... This review also addresses the I-35W access study area, which though it encompasses Lake Street, is not part of the scope of the Lake Street reconstruction project. Still, the projects clearly overlap for several blocks and reflect many of the same challenges." (page 6)

"... The situation is even worse in the I-35W access study area. The four sections shown have up to seven lanes with overall rights of way of 131 feet, 131 feet, 130 feet, and 119 feet. Proposed sidewalk widths (including the planting space) are only 14 feet wide. Consequently, the total walkable space may be even smaller than today. No lanes were proposed for cyclists, nor any for on-street parking, yet several additional lanes were proposed for motor vehicles.

Although the I-35 W report states that between 60 and 80% of the right of way being purchased is to improve the pedestrian environment, the majority of that right of way will be for a median - not sidewalks. Pedestrians may only take refuge on the tips of these medians as they attempt to cross the proposed seven lanes of traffic. Furthermore, at the two intersections closest to the transit facility at the I-35W crossover, pedestrians will not be allowed to cross Lake Street, despite the median. These medians are mostly for access management, separating motor vehicles moving in opposite directions, and for beautification/landscaping down the middle of the road." (page 14)

"... This project spells double trouble, since it not only affects Lake Street, but the entire neighborhood surrounding the project area. We recommend going back to the drawing board and evaluating an overhaul of the whole traffic network that would eliminate oneway, high speed residential streets and look more critically at how to balance local and regional transportation needs. Just as the Framework Plan vision paints a picture for the area, supportive transportation planning should be area wide as well." (page 24)

"... Lake Street is transforming itself, almost against all odds, into an amazing center of a new, ethnically diverse Minneapolis. Let its transportation planning be as forward looking as the new immigrant populations it is only beginning to serve." (page 24)