Driving in Grand Forks

[Frozen4sioux]

59 minutes ago, TheFlop said:

Apparently it's a great time to be in the "non-profit" business when a church can buy an entire mall and slowly turn it into compound one tax exempt space at a time as the leaseholders are forced out.  

Why does this remind me about the plot of Fletch Lives?

Indoor Farnsworth amusement park?

[TheFlop]

22 minutes ago, Frozen4sioux said:

Why does this remind me about the plot of Fletch Lives?

Indoor Farnsworth amusement park?

Or a "non-profit" like NDAD buying a for profit bar.........Fletch Lives....great flick.

[jdub27]

54 minutes ago, TheFlop said:

Or a "non-profit" like NDAD buying a for profit bar.........Fletch Lives....great flick.

Revenues for the bar are taxable and they still pay real estate taxes.

[TheFlop]

33 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

Revenues for the bar are taxable and they still pay real estate taxes.

I get that.  I've always thought it just seemed a little off when a non-profit is doing so well that it can buy buildings/businesses that are unrelated to the nature of the non-profit.  I view it almost like if the United Way decided to buy out Super Valu.  I know it's not illegal, but it makes me personally not want to donate when I know the funds are going for outside investments.  

[SIOUXFAN97]

3 hours ago, TheFlop said:

Apparently it's a great time to be in the "non-profit" business when a church can buy an entire mall and slowly turn it into compound one tax exempt space at a time as the leaseholders are forced out.  

hope church has already told rumors and kmart taht their leases won't be renewed....three or four years or less on both (kmart will probably bc a quasi retirement home/ nursing home)

[Frozen4sioux]

1 minute ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

hope church has already told rumors and kmart taht their leases won't be renewed....three or four years or less on both (kmart will probably bc a quasi retirement home/ nursing home)

Seems like a massive waste of location that doesnt serve the public interest. 

[dmksioux]

1 hour ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

hope church has already told rumors and kmart taht their leases won't be renewed....three or four years or less on both (kmart will probably bc a quasi retirement home/ nursing home)

A nursing home is doubtful.  There is a moratorium on NSG Home beds in ND, meaning they would need to purchase bed licenses from existing nursing homes.  A company can not just decide to build a nursing home without purchasing beds.  I  Have not heard of anyone doing that in GF other than Valley Memorial Homes who is already building there addition at 4000 Valley Square.  Maybe an Assisted Living, but again, I have not heard anything on that front either.  

[TheFlop]

1 hour ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

hope church has already told rumors and kmart taht their leases won't be renewed....three or four years or less on both (kmart will probably bc a quasi retirement home/ nursing home)

Rumors wanted to expand into the newly vacant Jack's Shoes space but were denied so that's not surprising.  A bar and retail fit in with a traditional mall scheme but not with a religious compound I suppose.  Everytime Hope can kick out a business and re-label the space as "Hope Library" or "Hope Daycare" or "Hope Administrative Office" the space becomes tax exempt.  A great racket if you can get it I suppose. 

[SIOUXFAN97]

35 minutes ago, dmksioux said:

A nursing home is doubtful.  There is a moratorium on NSG Home beds in ND, meaning they would need to purchase bed licenses from existing nursing homes.  A company can not just decide to build a nursing home without purchasing beds.  I  Have not heard of anyone doing that in GF other than Valley Memorial Homes who is already building there addition at 4000 Valley Square.  Maybe an Assisted Living, but again, I have not heard anything on that front either.  

let's just call it a place for old people to live/retire (and then wheeled down to the other side every sunday morning)

[gfhockey]

What better way to take people’s money then an old folks home

[TheFlop]

14 minutes ago, gfhockey said:

What better way to take people’s money then an old folks home

Yep.  Most churches depend on getting just part of old people's money via offerings.  Hope church is gonna get every penny of people's money once they get old with the built in old folks home.  Heck, with a good midwife someone could live from cradle to grave without leaving the compound!

[BarnWinterSportsEngelstad]

On 5/10/2018 at 3:19 PM, SIOUXFAN97 said:

hope church has already told rumors and kmart taht their leases won't be renewed....three or four years or less on both (kmart will probably bc a quasi retirement home/ nursing home)

Kmart was there before any of the mall was built, even had a grocery store. Seemed like they owned their own space.

[Cratter]

Just came from EGF over the river and turning right on 3rd Street to go towards Toasted Frog.

I was first at the red light. Thanks to the bumpouts and all the pedestrians crossing the street, I wasn't able to turn right for about a minute holding up all traffic behind me.

While Columbia Road is adding turn lanes to ease traffic, downtown is taking them away to increase it.

[UND1983]

1 minute ago, Cratter said:

Just came from EGF over the river and turning right on 3rd Street to go towards Toasted Frog.

I was first at the red light. Thanks to the bumpouts and all the pedestrians crossing the street, I wasn't able to turn right for about a minute holding up all traffic behind me.

While Columbia Road is adding turn lanes to ease traffic, downtown is taking them away to increase it.

But, traffic is cool when it comes to downtown.  Free flowing is bad, too suburbany.  Parking lots = bad.  Congestion is where it's at.

[UNDBIZ]

I like round-a-bouts and the bold paint for crosswalks is nice, but those bumpouts are annoying. 

[jdub27]

They need to get rid of the bump outs on Demers that take out the right turn lane. Otherwise, whatever. 

[NoiseInsideMyHead]

http://www.grandforksherald.com/lifestyle/faith/4475500-highway-heaven-man-shoulders-cross-he-walks-4000-miles

Quote

The 66-year-old said the northwest Minnesota portion of his 4,000-mile walk across the country has been particularly lonely, but within a half hour on Friday morning, he was visited by three different cars who stopped to talk to him about Jesus.

Maybe he should rest.

[NoiseInsideMyHead]

So, the City likes the 32nd Ave bridge location.

https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/government-and-politics/4544822-council-approves-32nd-ave-s-bridge-recommendation

I wasn't initially a fan, but looking at Google Earth, I can kind of see their point. I feel for the homeowners along the 'quiet' stretch of 32nd, but there is lots of green space on which to erect a landing and get traffic sorted, albeit with a lot of earth work on the ND side.  And I'm hopeful they will minimize disruption to the bike trail.

While there's a spot in the 3700 block of Belmont with zero homes, there simply does not appear to be enough land AND you would still need to manage the traffic between the bridge and the arterial roads of 32nd and 47th.  Moreover, there's not much green space at 47th, and it's even further away from civilization on the east side.

I think the real winners of an urban crossing are the MN land owners, because that undeveloped land between Bygland and wherever the bridge ends up is going to become very accessible, and desirable.  I hope the MN interests will pay their fair share.

Personally, I think the proposed heavy duty southern bypass (e.g., Merrifield) is the much higher priority, if only to get the beet trucks out of GF altogether.

Any other closet engineers care to weigh in on this?

[Cratter]

The "official preferred bridge route" has changed many times over the last 20 years and in 2055 when the bridge gets built it'll be somewhere else.

[MrEdway]

If the needs of the many outweigh the needs of a few, then 32nd is the logical choice. 

[SiouxVolley]

What is the projected traffic?  A two lane bridge doesn’t seem to have much impact, like the Point Bridge shows.

This brdge would probably just siphon off traffic from the Point Bridge.  The idea that 32nd east of Washington will be another like around Columbia is far fetched for another generation.  Belmont Road hasn’t turned into a disaster because of the Point Bridge.

[Smoggy]

I've mentioned this before about the bridge...

The further south you go the less point in building it.  No one will use it for every day use as for most East Siders it'll still be quicker over Point Bridge.  Weekends to lakes for GF residents would be different story.

Minnesota side also needs more and more infrastructure the further south it goes.  At 32nd it ties in pretty quickly to Bygland road (old hwy 220).  Though even this will need county roads upgraded to get to Bygland.

School safety is a strange argument.  Does Phoenix elementary on Minnesota Ave not get a say?  Check out the traffic there during school hours as people cross at the Point Bridge. 

In all honesty something does need to be done.  Crazy to have 3 bridges so close and then nothing for half the metro area.  Check out the point area at rush hour times.  Real fun to get on Bygland Road.  Talking 5+ minute wait once you are at a stop sign.  Doesn't include waiting behind someone.  This obviously is because of schools and parents dropping off kids and then turning around to head back to GF.

[jdub27]

1 hour ago, Smoggy said:

School safety is a strange argument.  Does Phoenix elementary on Minnesota Ave not get a say?  Check out the traffic there during school hours as people cross at the Point Bridge.

There's two schools (both much larger than Phoenix) that would be directly between the bridge and main destination for those using that crossing (32nd Ave/S Washington interesection). As someone who drives quite a bit by both spots, I'm not sure the comparison is that close. 

[The Sicatoka]

10 hours ago, NoiseInsideMyHead said:

Personally, I think the proposed heavy duty southern bypass (e.g., Merrifield) is the much higher priority, if only to get the beet trucks out of GF altogether.

I've said since the late 1980s that the Merrifield overpass* needs ramps. From there it's less than a mile to Columbia Road and less than two to Washington Street. It's also open up another way to access the industrial park west of I-29. 

The other thing I still say GF needs is an underpass under I-29 at 17th Ave S. 

 

*For those not sure, that's the overpass at about mile marker 135 on I-29. It's right there by AgDepot and those other buildings. 

[Sioux_FF]

9 hours ago, jdub27 said:

There's two schools (both much larger than Phoenix) that would be directly between the bridge and main destination for those using that crossing (32nd Ave/S Washington interesection). As someone who drives quite a bit by both spots, I'm not sure the comparison is that close. 

Not a bad point, but the cities have used pedestrian underpasses in the past for similar situations.  At Wilder school along the very busy Gateway.   On the UND campus,  South Washington by WDAZ, and by the pool in EGF are good examples.    A couple well placed pedestrian underpasses, one on 32nd and one on Cherry would make it workable.  It's really only one school along 32nd, with Kelly's access being on Cherry.  Maybe one over\underpass for each school would adequately address school safety and make this proposed route work.

The ball was dropped decades ago by leaders of both towns.  A city this size only having 2 single lane bridges and plus the Kennedy has been short sighted and probably hurt growth over that time.