Washington

Hennepin County, in coordination with the City of Minneapolis, is developing a design concept to do redo Washington Avenue between Hennepin Avenue and 5th Avenue. On Tuesday, the public is invited to attend a meeting about changes on the Washington Avenue corridor. The meeting will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Mill City Museum, 704 S. 2nd Street in Minneapolis.. Attendees will be able to provide input on project options that consider removal of traffic lanes, improvements to pedestrian area and incorporation of bicycle facilities. Reconstruction of the portion of the corridor from Hennepin Avenue to 5th Avenue is scheduled to begin in 2014. My colleague Eric Roper has a story in Monday's Star Tribune. Here is is http://www.startribune.com/local/west/207142181.html Older Post Keeping tabs on Friday's morning commute Newer Post 8:40 a.m. update: Headache on Hwy. 100 … [Read more...] about Washington Avenue is set to get a redo

A shelf in the corner office of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office speaks to Dan Starry’s beginnings, when he was a kid knocking around his Austin, Minn., neighborhood. On the shelf sits a can of Spam, a token of the new sheriff’s pride in his hometown known for its production of the cooked meat. Starry admits to still lunching on Spam once in awhile: You can take the kid out of Austin, but not the Spam out of the kid. Starry told how he and his brother, a Sherburne County chief deputy, got into law enforcement. “When we were kids we had a city patrol officer who came past the neighborhood,” Starry said. “There was always a group of kids out playing football, or tag, or cops and robbers. He would stop, say hello and play football, while wearing his duty belt. That drew my attention. Out of that neighborhood, at least four of our friends went into law enforcement. “It really drives back to that police officer making that contact. Twenty-five … [Read more...] about Cop who played football with kids influenced new Washington County sheriff

The question of who will fill the last of the five school board seats up for election this fall in the South Washington County School District is expected to be decided next week. Molly Lutz, a middle-school PTO president who had finished just five votes out of a tie for the final four-year seat on the Nov. 5 ballot, exercised her right this week to seek a free recount. The recount will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, at the Washington County Government Center. Lutz finished just behind Sharon Van Leer, a multicultural affairs specialist, in a field that included 17 candidates. Fourteen were competing for four four-year seats; three sought a two-year term. Van Leer and Lutz were among 11 candidates to speak at an Oct. 22 candidates forum, and were united in citing transportation decisions as points of concern. Lutz said that the … [Read more...] about Recount set for South Washington County school board seat

In the past week, the Drive has received a handful of emails from steamed motorists wondering why a lane of eastbound Washington Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Avenues has been blocked off by a police car during the morning rush hour and a "lane closed" sign. "It looks like they're letting cars in and out. But there's never any cars going in or out.  They take up an entire lane of Washington ave. unnecessarily," said Mike Fadlovich. "I've talked to many people who are frustrated with this The short answer is a refurbishing project going on at the Wells Fargo Operations Center. Construction has been most visible on the 3rd Street side of the building where the driveway used by armored cars to get to the underground garage is closed. As a result, deliveries and departures are being made using the ramp on the Washington Avenue side of the building. Because of its design, armored cars can't make the turn onto the ramp from Washington Avenue, So the contractor has arranged for the lane to … [Read more...] about Lane blockage irks Washington Avenue drivers

Sharon Van Leer, a multicultural affairs specialist at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, had her election to the South Washington County school board affirmed in a recount last week. She will join Katie Schwartz, a full-time student and stay-at-home from St. Paul Park, as the two new faces on the seven-member board when they are sworn into office in January. Van Leer, of Woodbury, entered last week's recount with a five-vote advantage over Molly Lutz for the last of the four four-year seats on the Nov. 5 ballot. During a two-day recount ending Friday, Van Leer picked up one additional write-in vote, according to a school district news release. Schwartz, Van Leer and incumbents Tracy Brunnette and Katy McElwee-Stevens won the four-year seats up for election this fall. Incumbent Laurie Johnson won a two-year term. Van Leer, who is black, grew up in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul and now lives in Woodbury. She and … [Read more...] about Van Leer prevails in South Washington County school board recount

Metro Transit and other regional transit providers, including Maple Grove Transit, Minnesota Valley Transit Authority and SouthWest Transit, will resume service on Washington Avenue through the University of Minnesota campus starting Saturday. The University of Minnesota's Campus Circulator also will return to Washington Avenue Saturday. More than 20 bus routes making 1,200 trips a day will operate between Pleasant Street and Oak Streets just as they did prior to May 2011 when they were put on detour when construction of the Green Line began. Buses will stop at Coffman Union on the west end of campus and at Oak Street on the east end. They will not stop at the Green Line platform at Harvard Street. Along the Washington Avenue Transit and Pedestrian Mall, buses will share the tracks with light-rail trains between Walnut Street and Church Street, making it the only place along the line where that will occur. Bicycles, emergency vehicles and pedestrians will be able to use the pedestrian … [Read more...] about Buses return to Washington Avenue on U of M campus

Minneapolis is getting another of the protected bike lanes known as a cycle track under a Hennepin County revamping of Washington Avenue in downtown that gives bikers dedicated space and walkers wider areas at the expense of motorists. The cycle track won't be built until 2015, when the county reconstructs Washington between Hennepin and 5th avenues. The track will be built on either side of the street at the level of the top of the curb. Each side will be one-way and five feet wide, with a two-footbuffer from the street. The design later will be extended east on Washington to Interstate 35W, but bike lanes will be striped from 5th to 35W until the cycle tracks are extended. The approval of the design Tuesday by the Hennepin County Board caps a long campaign in which the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition collected more than 500 letters from residents asking for pedestrian and bike improvements on Washington. The proposal now goes to the City Council for municipal consent. Hennepin County … [Read more...] about Washington Avenue to get cycle tracks

Sometime this year, American Airlines will discontinue service from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. and to New York's LaGuardia Airport. The Department of Justice required the airline to drop the three daily departures from Minneapolis to Reagan National and the four daily departures to LaGuardia in approving American's merger with U.S. Airways. "At this point, we don't know exactly when the service will end," said Patrick Hogan, a spokesman for the MSP airport. "It depends, in part, on when they sell the slots at those airports. We have other service to both airports, and out hope is that another airline will pick up the routes when American's service ends." The DOJ told American it had to divest slots and gates at key constrained airports across the country to low cost carrier airlines (LCCs) in order to enhance system-wide competition in the airline industry resulting in more choices and more competitive airfares for … [Read more...] about American Airlines will drop service from MSP to New York and Washington