Impressive Pothole development

[TheFlop]

2 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

But the tax was passed before the snow started melting exposing all these potholes?

People were starting to complain about roads already last Summer.  If you would have driven under the Washington Street underpass at any point last Summer you would have seen.  They left that thing beat to crap throughout their pleading for a yes vote as a shrine to the deteriorating roads in Grand Forks.  

Do you think perfectly good roads just fall apart after one winter?  No.  They weren't keeping up on maintenance and a perfect storm of a winter exposed them for it.

[Goon]

The Grand Forks roads are so bad that every bump you hit registers a step on your Fitbit. 

[SIOUXFAN97]

2 hours ago, TheFlop said:

It's not a coincidence that certain high profile roads were allowed to degrade in the year leading up to the sales tax vote in Grand Forks.  

They will be fixed this Summer but the city had to make sure people understood last Summer/Fall that the "only" way possible to get roads fixed was to approve the sales tax.

not a coincidence at all...

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

2 hours ago, TheFlop said:

People were starting to complain about roads already last Summer.  If you would have driven under the Washington Street underpass at any point last Summer you would have seen.  They left that thing beat to crap throughout their pleading for a yes vote as a shrine to the deteriorating roads in Grand Forks.  

Do you think perfectly good roads just fall apart after one winter?  No.  They weren't keeping up on maintenance and a perfect storm of a winter exposed them for it.

I didn't? Man, I must have imagined living in GF for the past 3 years. I honestly don't remember the roads being anywhere close to as bad as they are right now.

So just so we're all straight, Grand Forks has always had the resources to fix the infrastructure but chose not to in order to get this vote passed?

Have I gone full tinfoil hat yet? 

[SIOUXFAN97]

9 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

I didn't? Man, I must have imagined living in GF for the past 3 years. I honestly don't remember the roads being anywhere close to as bad as they are right now.

So just so we're all straight, Grand Forks has always had the resources to fix the infrastructure but chose not to in order to get this vote passed?

Have I gone full tinfoil hat yet? 

if you've ever dealt with some or most of the people at city hall that think thatthe taxpayer's money is fun money then you know that they will always have a master plan to keep the people wanting more

[BobIwabuchiFan]

Priorities...Remake the downtown into a hellish traffic nightmare or argue about the library in the age of digital communication and information or work on potholes...I bet anyone can guess where they want to spend money and have their names attached to it....

 

[dmksioux]

11 hours ago, KoolGuy2K said:

Do you think it might be because of the chemical treatment they spray on the roads before snowstorms? Just a thought. 

I’m sure all the best truck traffic doesn’t help either.  You would think the city would have certain routes the Beet trucks can drive on.  For example, cross the river at the Kennedy Bridge and Point Bridge only.  Keep the trucks away from downtown.  Bit there doesn’t seem to be any plan in place and truck can go almost anywhere (other than residential maybe.)

[TheFlop]

3 hours ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

I didn't? Man, I must have imagined living in GF for the past 3 years. I honestly don't remember the roads being anywhere close to as bad as they are right now.

So just so we're all straight, Grand Forks has always had the resources to fix the infrastructure but chose not to in order to get this vote passed?

Have I gone full tinfoil hat yet? 

If you've been in Grand Forks for the last 3 years it must have all been spent in Pete Haga's food truck if you didn't notice the start of this last year.  Regarding the N. Washington underpass, they left it beat up almost the entire Summer.  When they finally fixed it, it only took a couple days to fill it and asphalt over it.  Not exactly major construction.

As for the money....major projects obviously take time and money.  There is such a thing known as preventative maintenance.  

But you are right, in the history of time there has never been an instance of an entity (government or non government) dragging their feet/doing less than their best/etc in order to get what they feel they want/need.  

[UND1983]

I wasn't sure where to put this but it looks like former UND star Bochenski really didn't want any apartments anywhere near his house.  I understand the sentiment 100%.  But the quotes in this one come off poorly, IMO.  He should probably push for a gated community next....

"We decided to just make sure and save the neighborhood," he said.    

http://www.grandforksherald.com/business/real-estate/4440112-former-und-hockey-star-buys-land-stop-planned-apartment-development

 

 

[tnt]

13 minutes ago, UND1983 said:

I wasn't sure where to put this but it looks like former UND star Bochenski really didn't want any apartments anywhere near his house.  I understand the sentiment 100%.  But the quotes in this one come off poorly, IMO.  He should probably push for a gated community next....

"We decided to just make sure and save the neighborhood," he said.    

http://www.grandforksherald.com/business/real-estate/4440112-former-und-hockey-star-buys-land-stop-planned-apartment-development

 

 

Let's face it, apartment buildings don't exactly give people a sense of community in their neighborhood, so essentially doing that did save that sense of community for those people. 

[UND1983]

4 minutes ago, tnt said:

Let's face it, apartment buildings don't exactly give people a sense of community in their neighborhood, so essentially doing that did save that sense of community for those people. 

Now he can walk over and get some sugar.  Good point.

Anywho, if he didn't know what was planned for that area before he built that's his fault.  But, luckily he had the means to fix it.  

[The Sicatoka]

If he does this right (and really didn't overpay that badly) he should come out even. They aren't making more space/land. 

More importantly, he now has control. And now he just needs to control what's his to control. 

[UND1983]

2 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

If he does this right (and really didn't overpay that badly) he should come out even. They aren't making more space/land. 

More importantly, he now has control. And now he just needs to control what's his to control. 

Would guess he will sit on it and then find a developer to take it off his hands.  Or go in on it with a developer.  There really isn't much going on in GF as far as that goes so he may be alright.

[UNDBIZ]

Apartment buildings across the street would reduce the value of his home, increase congestion on the streets, and hurt his view.  When you build on the outskirts of town, you don't expect high-density development to begin across the street.  I'm curious what the land was zoned for (multi family, single family, commercial, farm) when he built.  If it was changed to multi family to accommodate the apartment developer, he has every right to be upset.

[UND1983]

Basically, he bought half of that open field closest to him.  There is no stopping the developer from putting apartments further to the south or east on the rest of the land (if that would be an option), which would be much further away from his house.

[gfhockey]

An FYI he is in the gobc 

[SIOUXFAN97]

is there a reason that every apartment/condo complex in this town is either 3 or 4 or maybe 5 stories tall? city codes/regs or just cost prohibitive to go too tall?

[SiouxVolley]

1 hour ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

is there a reason that every apartment/condo complex in this town is either 3 or 4 or maybe 5 stories tall? city codes/regs or just cost prohibitive to go too tall?

A building over four stories needs deep pilings to keep it from slowly dropping/slipping or hinging from the massive sediment layer here.  The weight just is too much.  Most other cities don’t have nearly so deep of a sediment layer before they hit bedrock.  Winnipeg and Fargo buildings more than four stories are expensive to construct, as well as the Mill as well as the Canad Inn and Columbia Towers. 

San Francisco is another expensive place to build high rises, as bedrock is 300 ft below the surface.

https://www.wired.com/2015/11/it-took-18-hours-to-pour-san-franciscos-biggest-ever-concrete-foundation/

 

[siouxforcefans]

12 hours ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

is there a reason that every apartment/condo complex in this town is either 3 or 4 or maybe 5 stories tall? city codes/regs or just cost prohibitive to go too tall?

SiouxVolley gives an explanation that makes more sense than what we've heard around here - in Fargo, we've been hearing for years that they have to put in a sprinkler system over 3 stories.  Not sure if that's true, or an interpretation of the truth, but would be an added cost as most buildings around here don't have sprinklers.  I'm guessing sprinklers are a lot cheaper than those deep footings, though!

[BarnWinterSportsEngelstad]

19 hours ago, UND1983 said:

Now he can walk over and get some sugar.  Good point.

Anywho, if he didn't know what was planned for that area before he built that's his fault.  But, luckily he had the means to fix it.  

He was told this land would be single family homes.

Also, Zoning can and does change on land.

[UND1983]

1 minute ago, BarnWinterSportsEngelstad said:

He was told this land would be single family homes.

Also, Zoning can and does change on land.

OK.  Was it ever pre-platted?  If it wasn't then they just speculated it would be single family but left the option open for anything. 

[SIOUXFAN97]

why fix the 1 million pot holes in this town when you can just "shrink" down the road??? 

 

[UNDBIZ]

Be happy you don't have polka dots like Bismarck.

[geaux_sioux]

5 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

why fix the 1 million pot holes in this town when you can just "shrink" down the road??? 

 

Or..... wait for it..... do both

[TheFlop]

So the people of Grand Forks dealt with a good chunk of Washington Street being borderline undriveable in the curb side lane, for most of 2 summers, when a 2 week mill and overlay project only costing the city just over $100,000 is currently fixing the issue?