LB-Victoria-pptLB-Victoria-docLB-Victoria-doc.2Rondo Neighborhood - 1940Interstate 94 now splits an old, diverse community.“Diversity is the hallmark of District 8” -St. Paul PlanningVictoria Street Tiger Jack Memorial Basketball Courts/ Soccer FieldsVictoria Street – Western Edgehttp://www.nk.psu.edu/athletics/images/soccerfield.jpgThank YouVictoria Street Land Bridge 1 VICTORIA STREET LAND BRIDGE Prepared by: Brad Ellis Brendon Slotterback Jeremy Tennant May 5, 2004 PA 8202 Networks and PlacesVictoria Street Land Bridge 2 I. Introduction _________________________________________________________ 3 II. Current Conditions ___________________________________________________ 5 III. Existing Plans and Incorporation of the Project Plans _____________________ 10 IV. Victoria Street Land Bridge Plan ______________________________________ 14 V. Traffic Planning ____________________________________________________ 17 5.1 Traffic Analysis and Trip Generation________________________________ 17 5.2 Parking _________________________________________________________ 18 VI. Benefit/Cost Analysis ________________________________________________ 19 VII. Conclusion _______________________________________________________ 20 VIII. Bibliography _____________________________________________________ 22 IX. Appendix – Benefit/Cost Analysis ______________________________________ 24Victoria Street Land Bridge 3 I. Introduction A “land bridge” is a large bridge over a below-grade freeway. This bridge is not simply designed for automobile traffic, however; it is designed to accommodate open space, buildings, people, and roads. The land bridge does not simply traverse the highway below; it actually bridges the neighborhoods and people separated by that highway. The land bridge gives back to the neighborhoods the land originally taken by the highway in an effort to provide cohesion and a sense of community. The land bridge is large enough to block out the noise and pollution generated by the highway below, allowing the land on top to be used for any number of uses. Land bridges have been used in the other areas of the country to reclaim space and sew communities back together. This is a way to spur further investment in an area as well. For example, one land bridge has already been built in Minnesota: the Lake Place Project in Duluth. This land bridge spans I-35 and has a park, several historic structures, and a rose garden. Another major land bridge is Freeway Park, in Seattle, WA, allowing people in the downtown area to enjoy green space on what would otherwise be highway space. It allowed Seattle to reclaim space from transportation and put it to another use. In the mid-1960s Interstate 94 cut through the heart of St. Paul, splitting the Rondo neighborhood in half. Rondo was a tightly knit predominantly African-American neighborhood, and I-94 left the neighborhood residents cut off from each other, destroying much of the neighborhood’s sense of community. This project aims to restoreVictoria Street Land Bridge 4 that feeling of community, giving the residents of what is now know as the Summit-University Community a place to gather and relax. Figure 1: Rondo at Arundel Street, ca. 1940 Source: Minnesota Historical Society Figure 2: Rondo at Grotto looking east (towards Arundel Street), 2004 Source: AuthorsVictoria Street Land Bridge 5 This report will analyze the existing structure of the neighborhoods surrounding the Victoria Street Bridge over I-94, and will formulate a recommendation for a land bridge based on community needs and wishes. II. Current Conditions The Summit-University Neighborhood is much larger than the proposed site for the land bridge. Summit-University has a variety of housing types and income levels, all sharply demarcated – there is a major difference between the north and south of the interstate. The area near the proposed bridge has a median household income of approximately $34,500, although the median household income of the area bordering I-94 to the south is only half that, at $17,578.1 This may seem like a large discrepancy, but the households along the interstate tend to be smaller, meaning that even thought the household income is half the average, the per capita income is roughly the same as the others. Approximately 19 percent of the residents in the area of the land bridge are below the poverty line. The average resident age in the neighborhood is 27.5 years old. 53 percent of the population is female. The racial breakdown is shown in Figure 3, and is as follows: 56 percent Black, 21 percent White, 11 percent Asian, 4 percent Hispanic, and 8 percent Other/Multiracial. 1 Source for all data in this section is the 2000 US Census, www.census.govVictoria Street Land Bridge 6 Figure 3: Racial Composition of Land Bridge Area Source: US Census 2000 49 percent of the houses in the neighborhood are owner occupied. Sadly, 7 percent of the housing lies vacant, which is a fairly high number, and one of the problems the neighborhood’s local plan2 is attempting to address. The area in and around the I-94 land bridge centered on Victoria Street is largely a residential area, but does include some small commercial property. The majority of the commercial areas are near the borders of the study area, which include University Avenue to the north and Selby Avenue to the south. The homes in the vicinity of the land bridge consist mostly of pre-World War II housing. The houses are fairly large, and many have been converted to rental units. The housing is decently kept up, although some of the rental properties are showing quite a bit of wear. This is to be expected since the demographic analysis showed this to be a poorer area, especially in the strip along the I-94 corridor. The closer one gets to I-94, the worse the housing conditions. There are 2 District 8 Plan, 1980Victoria Street Land Bridge 7 some multi-family units that are newer than the surrounding houses; again, these are closer to I-94 than the nicer single-family homes. The commercial land uses in the area are lower-end, mostly consisting of gas stations and check-cashing businesses along University Avenue. Along Selby there are bars, a liquor store, a vegetarian restaurant and a small music school. The little commercial within the study area consists of day cares and a Veterans of Foreign Wars meeting hall. There is a new development under