Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Little Shop of Horrors

Some weeks are better than others. And this would not be one of those better weeks.

Yesterday, we got the complimentary wake-up call of cement being crushed by large machinery and dropped into a dump truck...at 6:45 am. Who needs an alarm clock when you live in a construction zone? I mean, I'm not complaining that they're out there so working hard. Ok, maybe I'm complaining just a little bit, but I was totally asleep, so they're kind of asking for it.

This afternoon I went out to do some field work for that pesky day job. I got off the bus stop at Hampden, and while strolling across a newly built wooden pedestrian bridge, a large hunk of lumber sliced the side of my foot open. Silly me, wearing sandals in a crosswalk. Who needs two whole feet anyway?

So I stood for a bit in the construction zone, bleeding on the pavement, until I decided to hobble a few more feet into the Lyric apartment building, where I whined into the intercom to the leasing office, "Um, I cut my foot...whimper whimper...sniff sniff." Thankfully, the ladies working there were very understanding and allowed me to come in and clean up - and even gave me a disinfectant wipe and big band-aid (extra credit goes to them for having a fully stocked first aid kit). We complained about construction together. I felt better.

And then on the way home, I saw something at Raymond that just really summed it up for me.



You couldn't be more right about that one! Better luck next week.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Switch, Round 1

Good news: The first stretch of University construction, from Emerald to Hampden, is complete on the south side. The new streetscape and lights look awesome, and all the added stormwater management goodies will actually keep the new street from flooding (like it did on the north side on Friday). Puddle-free living = bus rider's dream.

Bad news: The next few days are going to be rough. Work on the big switch - moving traffic and pedestrians and bus stops from the north side to the south side - begins tonight. That means for a few days, people will be frustrated and confused, and there will be a lot of Minnesota Not-So-Nice out there.

I like to imagine that the switch is a big midnight party set to music, where elves dance around with traffic cones. Since I will be sleeping, I can only assume I am right.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Weekend warriors

I was down at the Farmers Market this morning and was impressed by the ultimate weekend project in full swing: laying track. Woooo.







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Monday, July 11, 2011

Center-running, y'all.

A friend is visiting Detroit this week on business, which reminded me...

In the long tradition of legos and trains (um, yeah), I give you the most excessively awesome LRT alignment rap video ever produced. This video makes me ridiculously happy, and yes, maybe even a little jealous of Detroit.



Great, now I have Trains Down the Middle stuck in my head again.

And it was good.

Let there be (pedestrian-scale) light!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Christmas in July

Paver Watch 2011 continues - the new boulevard pavers have been delivered! My favorite part: the labels on the pallets say "light rail blend." Has a nice ring to it.







And here's a piece of new sidewalk near Curfew with a sample installation of pavers:













Can't wait to add some new trees to the mix.

Bridge to nowhere

No offense, Bremer Bank, but you were kind of in the way. Skyway - you're next!






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