UMD ‘grand entrance’ could help Woodland development
February 21, 2012 at 6:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
The configuration of the retail and housing complex planned for the Woodland Middle School site has changed.
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UMD ‘grand entrance’ could help Woodland development
4 Comments
Certainly a “Grand Entrance” will accomodate traffic from I-35 coming up 21st Ave. East, throught a mile of residential neighborhoods and also the traffic from the Range/hwy 53 coming from the west along Arrowhead Road, then there is the traffic from Lakeside/Lester Park coming over-the-hill along Jean Duluth & Snively Road. Then also there is a long stream of cars coming from Messabi Avenue/Skyline and Kenwod Avenue on the West side of the UMD Campus. Seems like the Grand Entrance is going to cram a lot into a already congested corridore, and there are no experts on traffic control/design on whom we can depend. . . Just some thougts to consider while ‘giddy’ with this new development.
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I like the idea of a grand entry to the campus….UMD built a cheap, utilitarian salt shed visible from Woodland Avenue as if to tell the neighbors that they do not care how they view the campus…I would like to see that come down and a well controlled access through the area. An over-the-road pedestrian bridge to the new development might be a good way to move students on foot or bike safely from one side to the other. By eliminating the access of St. Marie I would guess at least 200 more parking spaces could be created.
I support the development of student housing here…maybe we can save a few more homes from falling into the hands of student housing slumlords. It is a shame what has happed along Arrowhead and Woodland…both used to be nice residential areas, now both are student parking lots with campsites for kids.
Take a look a Campus Park… beautifully maintained and no negative effects on the neighborhood….good planning does pay big dividends.
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The graphic shown is basically representative of an idea I’d put forth years ago.
Since the school is closed/closing, it should be bought/eminent domained and basically that entire red area be turned into a mixed type of student housing. Throw in a mix of standard homes, some apartments, townhomes. Perhaps have an auxiliary UMD Stores that can sell food & other items, along with some Redbox kiosks to save on traffic.
One thing that they’d have to do is figure out a shuttle and/or tunnel system, because you know darn well you’d get a lot of people who would still drive across Woodland to get out of walking, especially in inclement weather.
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Hold on a second: Woodland Middle school is still being used as a middle school, and next year, 2012-13 it will be used as a Grade School in place of Congdon while that building is renovated as part of the Red Plan. ISD could still used Woodland as a permanent replacement for the Congdon School to alleviate the Skating Rink Hockey Program crowding issue on Superior Street next to Congdon Creek, Then the Vacant Congdon Building can be developed into housing or other use.
UMD is going to tear down/raise the “Stadium” Dorms because the buildings are too tall for safe habitation according to the fire marshal, so then UMD will want more tax-payer money to replace those dorms.
More long range planning is needed.
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