They have been working on this project for at least the last 5 years that I know of. Article claims 3 years but I remember construction going on before that even. I used to commute right through this when I worked in Burnsville a few years ago. This area was ranked in the top 10 for one of the worst (yes, worst) bottle necks in the country.
For those that never been through this area, you dont know rush hour unless your commute involved this part of Richfield/Minneapolis circa 4-6PM.
-- Edited by Chris R on Wednesday 20th of October 2010 10:56:39 PM
-- Edited by Chris R on Wednesday 20th of October 2010 10:57:14 PM
John D said
Oct 21, 2010
I still haven't figured out how MNDOT got away with a 90 degree turn in a 6 lane interstate in the first place.... let alone TWO.
SShink said
Oct 21, 2010
I'm on 494E in that 4-6 p.m. timeframe commuting home every day from Minnetonka to Rosemount... it SUCKS!
A lot of the 494 traffic is Crosstown overflow so I'm hoping when that is finished in Dec. that either the Crosstown flows better or 494 opens up when people shift back!
And... in the next 3 years they are going to be working on the 494/Hwy 169 interchange so that will probably mess up 494 again! As a wise man told me, that's the only freeway with stoplights!!!
Derek69SS said
Oct 21, 2010
What is this "traffic" of which you speak?
dashboard said
Oct 21, 2010
It is a time when some people communicate with only their middle finger, all others are either on the cell phone or busy texting.
John D said
Oct 21, 2010
What is this "traffic" of which you speak?
It's that stuff that when you get off the dirt road, onto the tar road, THEN onto the "seement" road, THEN onto the BIG "seement" road (with more than one lane each way), and near somewhere that more than 100 people live !
Derek69SS said
Oct 21, 2010
OOoooohh... that stuff. Like when I'm backed way up to the 3rd car in line at a stoplight. That's "traffic" Got it.
SShink said
Oct 21, 2010
Derek69SS wrote:
OOoooohh... that stuff. Like when I'm backed way up to the 3rd car in line at a stoplight. That's "traffic" Got it.
I grew up in a town that only had one 4 way stop in the 'downtown'. The closest stoplight was 20 miles away and there was only one in that town! Rush hour was when there was a car at each stop sign and nobody knew who should go first! LOL
And now I'm in the 'big city' spending an hour and a half each day in my vehicle in 'traffic'...
Dan Williams said
Oct 21, 2010
I think we call that our rush minute her in Ioway!
Lost in the 60s said
Nov 5, 2010
I recall driving the 494 loop from 35W west and north up to 694 when it first opened. Nothing but fields around and so few cars, we WAVED at each other thinking, "this is a huge waste of money to have a freeway to nowhere". This was around 1975-76.
I find it hard to believe it was ranked worse than Chicago. It may be as slow but the backups there are 8-10 MILES long, not just a few. I avoided that area around morning or evening commute for 17 years doing OTR.
Dave Seitz said
Nov 6, 2010
I used to live on Maple Grove and before 94 opened up we used to race snowmobiles on it.
Then again all the kids I hung around with from the inner suburbs would laugh at me for living out in the sticks of Maple Grove. They thought I was some kind of redneck hick living next to a farm and cornfields. Now they live in Maple Grove and I live by corn, soybean, potato, turkey, chicken, and cattle farms.
For those that never been through this area, you dont know rush hour unless your commute involved this part of Richfield/Minneapolis circa 4-6PM.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39770846/ns/local_news-minneapolis_mn/
-- Edited by Chris R on Wednesday 20th of October 2010 10:56:39 PM
-- Edited by Chris R on Wednesday 20th of October 2010 10:57:14 PM
I'm on 494E in that 4-6 p.m. timeframe commuting home every day from Minnetonka to Rosemount... it SUCKS!
A lot of the 494 traffic is Crosstown overflow so I'm hoping when that is finished in Dec. that either the Crosstown flows better or 494 opens up when people shift back!
And... in the next 3 years they are going to be working on the 494/Hwy 169 interchange so that will probably mess up 494 again! As a wise man told me, that's the only freeway with stoplights!!!
And now I'm in the 'big city' spending an hour and a half each day in my vehicle in 'traffic'...
I recall driving the 494 loop from 35W west and north up to 694 when it first opened. Nothing but fields around and so few cars, we WAVED at each other thinking, "this is a huge waste of money to have a freeway to nowhere". This was around 1975-76.
I find it hard to believe it was ranked worse than Chicago. It may be as slow but the backups there are 8-10 MILES long, not just a few. I avoided that area around morning or evening commute for 17 years doing OTR.