Can't Get There From Here

I have a long commute, from New Brighton to Burnsville. It's about 26 miles each way. My travel path takes me around downtown Minneapolis on 35W and not into it. Good thing, too:

Wednesday's commute into downtown Minneapolis was even worse than many had feared.

Express buses took hours to arrive and downtown streets were parking lots well into the day.

Emily Zieska, an accountant with the Dougherty & Company LLC, said she was late to work Wednesday after her commute up Interstate 94 was stalled for an hour and a half.

I'm not sure who thought it would be a good idea to simultaneously shut down parts of the Lowry Hill tunnel on I-94, and Hennepin Avenue, and the light rail line, but it shows a stunning lack of coordination and communication. And people were, well, pissed. Here's a commuter I know pretty well:

Dear Powers that Be in Downtown Minneapolis,

Next time you plan simultaneous construction projects that close major thoroughfares and close light rail, all while traffic on I-94 is routed through one side of the Lowry Hill Tunnel, you should do it when the Twins are in town. I don't think we've even come close to reaching the true gridlock potential we have, but with a Twins game thrown in the mix, I really think we could get there. That's how we become a real world-class city!

That's from our sometime contributor Stinger, who had a dandy time in his trip from Nordeast into downtown this morning. I would also suggest a presidential motorcade, just to really get people going. Or not going.

Oh, and that business about being able to move on 35W? That's coming to an end soon, too:

The list of construction projects weaving through the Twin Cities is about to get even longer.

Starting in August, Interstate 35W will be under construction between I-94 in downtown Minneapolis and 46th Street. The tough part for drivers and neighbors is the estimated $240 million project should take more than four years to complete.

And during construction, nine lanes of highway will be reduced to just five.

Bumper to bumper and side to side, rush hour traffic on I-35W can be a pain. And that’s with nine lanes and every ramp and bridge over the highway open.

When asked what it will be like to know a more than four year construction project is on the way, one commuter said exiting off the highway near Uptown said, “It’s a good thing I bike to work in the summer for the most part.”

Emphasis mine. I'm going to guess that a lot of traffic in that stretch is going to move to Hiawatha and/or 35E, and even Highway 100, so the nightmare will extend into other parts of the city and St. Paul. And it will be going on for four years. Yay.

Vagaries of weather

As far as I can tell, it did not snow at all at my house yesterday. Near my office, about 25 miles away as the crow flies, almost a foot of snow:

The National Weather Service says an estimated 12 inches of snow fell on Savage by early evening Wednesday, before it began to taper off in the south metro. That total stood up at 11:56 p.m., when the National Weather Service updated the storm's totals.

Other reports include 11.5 inches of snow in Burnsville, 11 inches 2 miles south of Lakeville and 10 inc inches in several locations.

By contrast, as of 7 p.m., 3.7 inches was recorded at the airport, with 3.2 inches at the Weather Service's office in Chanhassen.

In downtown Minneapolis, snow was swirling through the taller buildings late in the afternoon but failing to coat the streets and sidewalks below thanks to temperatures holding above freezing. It stopped downtown in the early evening, and the northern suburbs largely escaped the early spring reminder of Minnesota’s reputation.

It was bizarre driving home yesterday. As I slogged through the streets of Burnsville, the snow was falling fast and hard and the commute was slow -- the plows could not keep up with it. As I made my way north, it looked like a particularly malevolent snow globe throughout Bloomington, Richfield and into south Minneapolis, but as I approached downtown Minneapolis, the snow was minimal. Once I crossed the Mississippi River, it was gone. I've never seen anything quite like it.

Question for the audience

If you drive in the Twin Cities, have you noticed that a lot of the overhead lighting on the expressways seems to be turned off at night? I have noticed that all the lights on the 35W bridge over the Minnesota River aren't being turned on -- I've seen this during my morning commute and noticed it as we were coming home last night. I also noticed that on various stretches of 35W elsewhere in town, it seems as though only half the overhead lights are in operation. This seems like a dangerous idea and I haven't seen any public discussion of the topic. Anyone have any idea why this change has taken place?