Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Best. Week. Ever.

After several weeks of feeling like we're hardly making any progress at Emerald, this week has been exceptional. Over the weekend the crews paved the south side of University all the way from the border to Raymond. We celebrated on Monday by attending the Nice Rice expansion celebration. Lime green looks great with shiny new asphalt!





Today they ripped out old sidewalks by Metro Lofts to get ready for the new ones, so people were redirected to walk onto the new pavement. Well, ok, if you insist!



Lovely new asphalt to the right, future track guideway to the left...



A new crosswalk poured at Berry Street in a fab colored concrete (if I do say so myself).



And just when I thought I couldn't be more excited...a station pops out of the ground at Curfew Street?!




Whew! I'm gonna need a nap!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Headline FAIL

A couple weeks ago City Pages made the announcement that Cupcake was closing. Except, they're not closing.

As you know by now, I'm a neighbor and a fan, so I was upset. I've recently fallen for their black bean burger, and I was not so keen to give that up (along with all the lemony-type cupcakes I buy there). When I read the CP blog post the first time, it definitely said they were closing. But by afternoon, they'd changed the headline to "Cupcake is moving!" Except they're not moving. They're adding a "moving" cupcake truck. Get it? Yeah, neither did anybody else.

As the CP post says, "Last month we told you about the Central Corridor light rail construction's negative and dramatic effect on Chocolat Celeste's customer ​traffic. [Transiteer's note: Chocolate Celeste moved off the avenue like a year before construction. Just saying.] Well, the construction project has another local favorite shop to adapt. Cupcake, the University Avenue bakery, is the latest business that's moving to combat the disruption. But cupcake fans shouldn't panic. Rather than closing, Cupcake is bringing the sweets to you, literally."

I think this was lost on a lot of people who read just the headline, saw the early version of the post, or saw CP's @hotdishblog tweet: "Cupcake is closing store--waah!--and becoming a food truck--hooray!!" The damage was done.

Then I saw another confused customer on their facebook page had posted, "So what's going on at Cupcake's store on University? City Pages said you were closing and becoming a food truck only, then they changed the story to say you were 'moving.'" They explained the fail by saying that CP made a mistake and that they are NOT moving. Oh, and that they're anxiously awaiting the arrival of the light rail (me too, Cupcake). The food truck is an addition to the operation.

Thank goodness. Spread the word.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Baby steps

Sometimes small things make you happy. Like when you think that there is no crosswalk, and then you realize you get to walk across new concrete. Duh!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Back seat driver

Allow me to do what I do best - give you tips on how to drive. Ha. True, I don't drive all that much anymore. But I use University every day, and that means I watch a whole lot of dumb moves you make out there (mostly out of the desire to survive).

I've seen some majorly wacky things lately. First of all, that middle lane? It's a turn lane. It's not so much a passing-at-high-speed-into-oncoming-headlights lane. Playing chicken in a construction zone is not cool. Passing and turning right in front of buses is also not cool. A good rule of thumb - if you're not turning left, get out of the turn lane. Please note the stripey yellow stuff on the pavement.

The thing is, I know that extra 30 seconds you sit waiting is super annoying. But it might save you or someone else a trip to the hospital. And who likes dealing with car insurance claims anyway? Think of how much time you'll be losing then! So instead, think of all the other, less deadly ways you can save 30 seconds in your day.

Next up - the determined parker. I hope that if you are operating a motor vehicle, you are alert enough to catch some bright orange traffic barrels. I saw a guy last week park in the construction zone just east of Bedford, and proceed to walk through the construction zone, over jabby wire bobbins and knee-deep utility holes, to get to an ATM on Emerald Street. My first thought was, maybe this guy is some sort of undercover construction manager - no one would be so crazy to walk through a random road construction project. Not so much. If he had fallen into a giant hole, I would have had to yell down to him that there was an exceedingly adequate sidewalk next to a legal parking space all of 30 feet away.

It would be unfair to blame drivers only. Pedestrians make iffy moves too. I saw a construction worker last week trying to flag a pedestrian off of the 280 bridge (yes, the bridge that is missing part of its deck). Not a stellar shortcut. And I've seen more than one person walking in the traffic lane next to the jersey barrier on University to make the shortest path to a bus stop. Sigh.

Stay safe out there, people. Slow down. Make good choices.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Holy Curb and Gutter!

After a 103 degree day, I came home to find the most beautiful mirage ever. How do they do it in this heat?!


That's my new street! And a view closer to curfew - new curb and the edge of the station platform with utility bits emerging (ah, technical speak).



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Let them eat cake

After a crummy spring filled with rain and tornadoes, we kind of needed a ray of hope. And then right on cue this morning, @cupcakempls tweeted: "The cupcake of June is Strawberry Lemonade; a buttery lemon cake filled with fresh cut strawberries and topped with zesty lemon cream cheese frosting."

As my friends know, I have an affinity for lemon cupcakes, which, from time to time are in the normal rotation at Cupcake. On a good day you can snag one of their citrusy creations - lemon meringue, lemon sunshine, luscious lemon, lemon blueberry, lemon raspberry white chocolate, or vegan lemon (this one not so much - trust me). Shockingly, there are still days where i visit only to find a huge lemony void in the display case. But a cupcake in the coveted monthly spot? 30 straight days of lemon? I like my odds.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Platformish

In the future, when I'm perpetually late and running to catch the #50, I'll be running towards the eastbound Westgate platform between Curfew & Berry Street. It's starting to take shape!



Hopefully we are close to getting new curb and gutter this week...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone