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Hi everyone- Tarkusian Cities has returned for 2024, and we'll finally take a look at further progress on the West Chemeketa Reconfiguration project. This particular project is focused on improvements around the Murdock Way N and 5th Avenue N corridor, in preparation for new development in Downtown Chemeketa. In Update 107: 5th Avenue N/NE was converted from two-way to one-way westbound operation, with 4th Avenue N/NE (one block south) being upgraded to serve as the eastbound portion of a new one-way couplet. Mission Street N and Oregon Street N were also converted to form a one-way couplet, with Mission Street receiving a realignment between 4th and 5th. In this update, we'll take a look at the following projects: The construction of a new 4-lane roadway, Tern Parkway N, connecting the 4th/5th couplet with present-day Tern Street N, and intersecting Murdock Way N west of Wallace Road N. Tern Parkway will have a grade-separated crossing over Wallace, to provide a bypass for the increasingly busy intersection of Wallace and Murdock. Upgrades to the Wallace Road and Murdock Way intersection. Realignment of Murdock Way east of Wallace Road, onto a new one-way couplet between 1st Avenue N and 2nd Avenue N, with a short portion of the former Murdock alignment (along the former Murdock Curve) remaining in place to provide additional connectivity between Murdock, Tern Parkway, and the new couplets. Here's a map of the area. The changes made last update have been incorporated, and the new roadway alignments are shown in dotted lines. First off, here is an image of the east end of the new 4th/5th couplet, at Progress Street NE (facing west): This is looking at the (soon-to-be-former) Murdock Curve, the current west end of the 4th/5th couplet. The four-lane roadway to the right is Wallace Road NE. Initial preparations to build the elevated section of Tern Parkway are underway (facing south): For construction staging and local access, a couple of blocks of the 4th/5th couplet have been reverted to two-way operations, since the northern portion of the Murdock Curve (where 5th turns into Murdock) will need to be demolished to make way for Tern Parkway. The elevated roadway is already partially built, and new development is also going up (facing south). Just to the west of the previous spot, where Tern Parkway will curve to the south (facing south). More work in the area of the former north portion of the Murdock Curve (facing south). The sharp curves are a temporary alignment, designed to restore access and allow a return to one-way operations along the 4th/5th couplet (facing south). The new Tern Parkway curve . . . or is it . . . the Tern Turn? The connector into the high-rise district along 4th/Plaza has also been constructed. (facing south) Work begins on the new intersection between Tern Parkway and Murdock Way (facing south). Murdock Way has been detoured onto a temporary access road to better facilitate construction on the new intersection (facing north). The new intersection has partially opened, and Tern Parkway can serve as an effective detour while work begins on the intersection of Murdock and Wallace, and the new 1st/2nd couplet (facing north). The existing state of the intersection of Murdock and Wallace, with the south portion of the Murdock Curve. The signals have been dismantled in preparation for construction. The interchange between Wallace Road and Highway 36 will also be undergoing upgrades in a near future update, to increase capacity and deal with the substandard steep grade up to the elevated portion of Wallace (facing north). Murdock Way has been shifted back to its original alignment, now freshly modernized (facing north). The western portion of Murdock has been connected to Wallace Road, with dual left turn lanes being added to the approaches on Murdock, while work commences on the connection to the 1st/2nd couplet to the east. Wallace Road will receive additional lanes when the Highway 36 interchange is reconfigured (facing north). Tern Parkway in operation (facing south): Demolition begins in preparation for the 1st/2nd couplet, and planned redevelopment of the area (facing east). Further work commences on the couplet (facing east), with the old stretch of Murdock (between the portions of the former Murdock Curve) being connected to the new couplet: The completed couplet (facing east). That does it for this update of Tarkusian Cities--the first of hopefully many for 2024. Hope you enjoyed it, and stay tuned for more. -Tarkus
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(This update was originally posted on August 23, 2020 on the SC4 Devotion edition of Tarkusian Cities. It has now made its way to the Simtropolis edition, with minor edits, alongside Update 106. -Tarkus) Hi everyone- Thanks for the warm welcome back--I'm here with the next part of the downtown Chemeketa roadwork, focusing on the reconfiguration going on along the 5th Avenue/Murdock Way corridor. Here's the map again for the vicinity of the projects we'll be watching. This update (as well as the next couple, at least) will be focused on Project Area A, involving the 5th Avenue/Murdock Way corridor, from just west of Wallace Road out to Progress Street. As mentioned last update, 4th and 5th Avenues N/NE are being converted into a one-way couplet, between the Murdock Curve (which will eventually be dramatically reconfigured) and Progress Street. One of the challenges described in that update was the offset intersections of Mission Street N, which is a somewhat important collector which crosses under Highway 36 and connects this part of downtown to the university. Here are the 4th/5th/Mission intersections from another angle (facing east). The section of Mission north of 5th is merely a local street, and not of vital importance, but the portion south (including the offset) is of importance, and would create a rather confusing maze if the 4th/5th couplet conversion were to be completed without realignment. That, of course, is going to require some demolition, and eventually, redevelopment (some of which you can see is already underway). Here's a look at the demolition (facing north). Mission Street has been closed off right before 4th Avenue temporarily as well. A look at further work (facing north): Mission Street itself is also going to become part of a one-way couplet, being the southbound component. Its northbound counterpart will be Oregon Street N, while Farmer Street N will remain two-way, sandwiched in the middle. With the realignment of Mission Street N complete, the stretch of 4th to the west can now be converted to one-way traffic, with a signalized intersection (facing west). Here's where the newly one-way 4th Avenue N intersects Murdock Way N, right along the Murdock Curve (facing north). And now that 4th is a through one-way connection, 5th can be converted to one-way traffic as well. Here's the Murdock Curve after that conversion--you'll notice that curve isn't as smooth as the Road curve that preceded it, in large part due to the fact that this is actually (plot twist!) a temporary alignment. This couplet will soon be re-funneled onto a new roadway that will cross over Wallace, serve the Murdock District high rises, and then intersect Murdock Way--all of which will be featured in Update 108. (facing south) As part of this larger reconfiguration, 1st and 2nd Avenues N will also be extended and converted into a one-way couplet as well, which will tie into Murdock at the south end of the existing Murdock Curve. Here's a look at part of that corridor--the two Roads intersecting here are 2nd Ave N and Oregon St N (prior to the Oregon St one-way conversion) (facing north). And here's Oregon Street N at 4th Ave N after conversion (but just prior to 5th Ave's conversion) (facing north): That does it for this initial phase of one-way conversion in downtown Chemeketa. We'll be looking at the really heavy-duty aspect of this whole project next update. -Tarkus
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Chemeketa Downtown Project Overview (Update 106)
Tarkus posted a City Journal entry in Tarkusian Cities
(This update was originally posted on August 3, 2020 on the SC4 Devotion edition of Tarkusian Cities. It has now made its way to the Simtropolis edition, with minor edits. -Tarkus) Hi everyone- Well, after a little over two years away, Tarkusian Cities is finally back in action--and will hopefully stay that way for at least a little while, as I have quite a few projects to show in Chemeketa, some of which are, to quote Johnny Carson, "really big" (and maybe even a "lost update" from a past region). Getting back to this latest update--Update 106 (!)--today, we'll be getting an overview of some of the traffic problems facing Downtown Chemeketa in light of recent development in the city core, particularly the 5th-Murdock-Wallace Corridor (labeled as "A") and the North Division Corridor (labeled as "B"). Here's a map of the vicinity (click to enlarge): First, we'll begin by looking at some of the conditions with the first target area ("A"), the 5th-Murdock-Wallace Corridor. Wallace Road is a major north-south arterial, which was formerly part of Highway 221, skirting the west edge of Downtown Chemeketa, the east edge of Downtown Vivien Heights, connecting both with Highway 36. 5th Avenue N/NE is a major east-west arterial through the city center, which curves and turns into the diagonally-routed Murdock Way N, which intersects Wallace Road directly north of Highway 36. Given the vast amount of undeveloped waterfront property close to the city center along Murdock, the area has started to see considerable high-rise growth. And high-rise traffic to go along with it. The "Murdock Curve", where 5th Ave turns into Murdock Way, routinely endures lengthy backups from the Wallace Rd intersection. Here's a look at the Murdock Curve and Wallace Road, with that infamous traffic congestion (facing north). You can see the western portion of Murdock and Wallace Road itself are no slouches in the congestion game, either. Another view, right where Murdock intersects 4th Ave N, right before it curves onto 5th Ave N (facing north). And a westerly view, from 5th Ave N coming onto the Murdock Curve. As you can see, developers are wasting no time snatching up the waterfront property--even despite the congestion. This is a little closer to the city core--5th Ave N is the Road going from left to right toward the top of the image (facing north), and the lower one is 3rd Ave N. As you can see here, 5th and the surrounding network are also pretty congested. The north-south roadways through here are (from left to right) Claxtar St N, Mission St N, and Farmer St N. Here's a section of 5th on the east end of downtown (facing west)--being on the east side of Division St N, this section is actually 5th Ave NE. This section isn't quite as congested, but it is ultimately being taken into the survey area, because of one of the city's planned solutions for the corridor. The main crossroad here is Progress St NE. Since 4th Ave N/NE runs directly parallel to 5th from the Murdock Curve all the way to Progress St (and actually, two blocks farther east, to Dell St NE), part of the plan is to convert 4th and 5th in this area into a one-way couplet. Since 4th is a relatively minor street at the moment, the plans for staging this conversion involve switching 4th to one-way traffic first. Here's the east end of the couplet, at 4th and Progress (facing west). Further west, here's the couplet progress at 4th and Rail (facing west). (This work was initially done with an ancient version of the RRW, and took place intermittently over years.) One of the challenges with the conversion, however, is the jog that exists on Mission Street N, which, if the conversion is fully realized with its current alignment, would complicate traffic flow on a somewhat important collector street in the area. As such, the conversion is only being done to the east leg of Mission at the moment, such that the two legs may remain traversable, until realignment can be done. (facing north) (facing west) The other major downtown-area project is the North Division Corridor, named after Division St N. Division is a primary arterial through Downtown Chemeketa, signed as Highway 215. Through most of downtown, it forms a couplet with Commerce St NE, but on the north end of the central city, just past 16th Ave N/NE, the two converge into a unified Division (irony fully intended). This 4-lane stretch of surface arterial eventually turns into the Chemeketa Parkway, a freeway (featured in many past updates) which heads through the northern suburbs, until reaching Highway 15 in the Rankine area of unincorporated Marion County. Here is the point where the Division/Commerce couplet converges on the north end (facing north). This transitional section of Division, between downtown street and freeway, is extraordinarily congested, in large part due to traffic headed to the industrial areas in the Lila Engel neighborhood just to the north, and has a number of dangerous at-grade intersections before becoming controlled-access. Here is one such intersection (22nd Ave N/NE, a western extension of which is recent, and not on the map). (facing north) Here's the worst offender--the intersection with 24th Ave N/NE, a major collector in this part of town, connecting newly developed waterfront property with established neighborhoods, and some commercial development. The city and the DOT have ultimately determined that the controlled-access Chemeketa Parkway needs to be extended closer to the Division/Commerce split, converting the 24th/Division intersection into a grade-separated diamond interchange. This will require demolishing some of the nearby commercial structures, though will largely leave the residential areas in tact. Next update, we will look at further progress on the extensive work planned for these two vital corridors. Until then, hope you enjoyed this latest installment of Tarkusian Cities--it's good to be back! -Tarkus- 1 Comment
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Hi everyone- Having a small bit of downtime at the moment, I'm going to sneak out a few updates of Tarkusian Cities for the first time in over a year. In this update, at long last, we will see the completion of the northern segment of the Chemeketa Red Line Light Rail, up to its terminus in the Lila Engel/Starpoint neighborhood. First off, long overdue replies: Thanks for the very kind words--given that you've done road work, I take that as quite the compliment! Thanks for the suggestion! I agree that lonesome power pole is a bit awkward. I'm probably going to be redoing that freeway at some point down the line, so that gap will probably go away in some fashion. And without further ado, here's Update 105. First off, here's a map of the area around which this project is centered. The red line with the squares is the routing that the light rail line will take through the area. After following the existing heavy rail line north of downtown Chemeketa, the Red Line will curve onto 33rd Avenue NE running down the median until just before the 5-leg roundabout, where 33rd meets McCabe Street, Creek Drive, and Starpoint Drive. The most challenging bit of this project will be the stretch where the Red Line crosses the rail line and begins its median running portion on 33rd. Here's the existing conditions at this part of the project (facing west). (Also, the rail crossing here looks a little funny--this image actually dates back to a very, very early prototype of the RRW plugin.) In order to facilitate through traffic to the residential neighborhood to the west, abutting the Chemeketa Parkway (Highway 215), as well as future work on 33rd, an extension of 34th Avenue was built to the north, connecting up with Bobcat Drive NE. The project study determined that the most effective method of handling the rail crossover was to trench it below, allowing the Red Line and 33rd Avenue to cross overhead (facing west). A little further along with construction (facing west). The stretch of 33rd east of Bobcat has now been closed off for reconstruction (facing west). This is part way through the reconstruction of the segment from Bobcat to Progress (facing west). The stretch up to and beyond Progress Street is now completed, along with some re-development and the construction of a new park-and-ride garage (facing west). Preparations are underway for the northern terminus of the Red Line. The road coming in from the top of this image is 33rd Avenue, and the line will terminate in the graded area behind the office buildings, making a northward jog before the roundabout (facing west). Here is the completed terminal station for the Red Line. A looping roadway and park-and-ride garage were constructed to facilitate access (facing west). This is a stretch of 33rd with the median running complete, through the industrial area between Progress and Ashcroft (facing west). And finally, here's the stretch right at the Ashcroft and 33rd intersection, just before the terminus (facing east). That does it for this update of Tarkusian Cities, and for the current work on Chemeketa's first major transit project--hope you enjoyed it. Next up will be some new road work in Chemeketa, and perhaps even a few "lost" updates from other regions, rescued from the "Tarkives". -Tarkus
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Hi everyone- I'm back to share even more Tarkusian Cities progress, by picking up where we left off with the construction on Chemeketa's Red Line. For those of you who commented on Update 103, I've replied to your comments over on that thread--I appreciate the support! Coincidentally, an alert reader at the SC4D edition, SimCity V6, pointed out that June 17th--still today here in the western US--happens to be the 10th anniversary of my first-ever post in Tarkusian Cities, so it's a rather fortuitous day for an update. I'm still in shock that Tarkusian Cities is that old . . . and it makes me feel old, too. Before we resume, here's the map again: When we left off last time, the 9th/10th Street SE couplet was being extended one block, both halves of the couplet planned to cross over both the existing railroad and the new Red Line tracks. (facing north) Work has begun on building the overpasses. There's also a lot of other things to note here. Since the plan entails lowering the existing railroad to cross under the new couplet, the C&O line through downtown had to be temporary closed. Rail Ave SE has also been reconstructed between 9th and 10th Streets, since it no longer has to serve as a de facto part of the couplet. However, Liberty Street SE is being widened to 4 travel lanes between 8th and 11th Streets, in order to fulfill the same purpose, and some structures have been demolished in preparation. (facing north) Here's the finished product. In order to seamlessly integrate with the couplet, the new 4-lane section of Liberty has been given dual left turn lanes onto the extended 9th Street. 9th Street east of Liberty, however, now ends at a cul-de-sac just before the new intersection, in order to better control access and mitigate impact on the residential neighborhood. (facing north) Here's a little farther north on the line. In order to mitigate the need for further demolition and new right-of-way (ROW) acquisition along Rail Ave, the portion of the Red Line between Salisbury Way SE (the road that comes in where 6th Street SE would be) and 8th Avenue NE is being run down the median of the road. Crews have already been at work on some parts of the track north of downtown, so here's where that advance work is going to connect into the median running. (facing north) Here's the completed Salisbury split, the south end of the median running. You can see the 9th Street overpass at the bottom. (facing north) And finally, here's the Red Line running underneath Highway 36. (facing north) That does it for this update . . . there will be a Part 6 for the Red Line coming shortly, where we'll see the northern segment under construction. -Alex
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Hi everyone- Thank you all for the warm welcome back! As many of you may have hoped after my little teaser three days ago, I am happy to confirm that Tarkusian Cities is indeed returning from its 3 1/2-year hiatus. The plans to bring Tarkusian Cities back actually happened as a happy accident--Simtropolis' own Dirktator and Cyclone Boom tasked me with obtaining some NAM-related screenshots for a project. I dusted off Chemeketa and both versions of Argentum to that end. I wanted to get a good sampling of GLR and GLR Dual-Networking features, and ended up spending a fair bit of time playing around in Chemeketa, resolving the light rail "cliffhanger" set up by Update 102, which originated back in December 2013. It was the first time I had truly played the game in quite some time, outside of my normal NAM development work, and I had a blast. I'm not sure how much longer I'll really be able to do anything with the Chemeketa region, as my attempts to try to use an earlier backup to avert a Prop Pox issue in the downtown tile have unfortunately proved unsuccessful, and one of the other built-up tiles shows evidence of disabled props in SC4 Savegame Explorer. Argentum 2.0 also hit a point where I wasn't really feeling it anymore, though I do actually have some archives I've located of some projects I've done there that haven't seen the light of day, which I'm hoping to process into updates. In all likelihood, I'll be starting a new region in the near future, though pending RL (I'm looking at moving out of Oregon, possibly as early as this summer) might put things back on hiatus for a bit. So, without further ado, here's Update 103, where we'll be picking up with the construction of the Chemeketa Red Line light rail system. The Red Line is designed to connect between Chemeketa Regional Airport to the office and high tech area in the Lila Engel neighborhood, near the intersection of 39th Avenue NE and Ashcroft Street. When we last left off, construction was wrapping up on southern portion of the line, paralleling the newly-reconstructed and realigned Tweedy Boulevard SE. This update will pick up with the central segment of the line, which will run through Downtown Chemeketa. The route will continue to mostly parallel the existing C&O Railroad line, though in order to minimize disruptions to C&O's operations, and minimize demolition, it includes a "crossover" over the existing rail line, just south of 20th Street SE, and a stretch where it will run in the median of an expanded Rail Avenue, roughly between Salisbury Way SE and 8th Avenue NE. Additionally, the 9th/10th Avenue SE couplet will be extended one block east, from Rail Avenue SE to Liberty Street SE, in order to reconfigure some less intuitive intersections, and allow for a grade-separated crossing of both the Red Line and C&O Railroad. Here's a look at the finalized routing through downtown and vicinity (click to enlarge). This is just south of 20th Street SE, near the point where the crossover will be constructed (facing north). The road just to the east is Anglia Way SE (which is now connected directly to Tweedy Boulevard, just south of here). The crossover is needed due to the presence of the rail junction just north of here. The crossover under construction (facing north) Here is the current alignment along 10th Street SE, where the couplet with 9th Street SE will be extended one block east (facing north) The completed crossover (facing north) The 20th Street SE station on the Red Line, just south of the C&O junction (facing north) Work begins at 10th Street SE (facing north). The portion of 10th Street SE between Rail Avenue SE and Liberty Street SE has been closed, in preparation for excavation work (facing north). This part of the central segment of the Red Line is actually the only one where building demolition was required, due to the more extensive reconfiguration of traffic patterns at this spot. Preparation work also begins on extending 9th Street SE from Rail to Liberty (facing north) That wraps up this construction update. For Update 104, we'll continue with the 10th Avenue SE reconstruction, and enter into the heart of downtown. -Tarkus
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Note: This update was originally posted in 2013 in the SC4 Devotion edition of Tarkusian Cities, as part of a special feature, but had not made it over to the Simtropolis version. It has been slightly edited to fit with the context of the Simtropolis edition. Hi everyone- The Tarkusian Cities update splurge continues. Last we left off, the Ashcroft overpass had been built, along with a good bit of the new routing of Tweedy Blvd, and work on the light rail line. Now, we're going to delve a little further into that project. This is at the south end of the Ashcroft overpass (facing east), where Ashcroft has been temporarily routed to end at 45th St SE. This temporarily alignment will give way to the permanent alignment this update. The short, curvy connector roadway between 45th and Stiratt will be replaced by the Ashcroft extension, which will be built to include 4 travel lanes, at least between 45th and 61st during this phase. Here's the progress on that (facing east). This is the new Ashcroft/Stiratt intersection, after completion (facing east). The old connector road can be seen in the lower left corner. The new Ashcroft/45th intersection (facing east). The section of 45th up top formerly crossed the tracks and intersected Tweedy Blvd, but now dead-ends just before the tracks. You can also see the remnants of the old connector road and the temporary Ashcroft alignment here. The Ashcroft overpass is seen here, fully open to traffic, with preliminary work on the Ashcroft stop on the new Chemeketa Red Line (facing east). This is along the Tweedy Blvd extension. (facing east) Part of the old alignment of 35th has been turned into a roadway paralleling Tweedy on the other side of the Red Line tracks. You can also see the city's "trial" passenger train from C&O running on the heavy rail tracks. In order to provide access from Tweedy to Ashcroft, an access road was built, hooking into the 36th/37th St couplet through the industrial area, and providing more direct access to Ashcroft Station (facing east). The next update will provide a little further clarity as to all the myriad changes undertaken as part of this project. -Tarkus
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Note: This update was originally posted in 2013 in the SC4 Devotion edition of Tarkusian Cities, as part of a special feature, but had not made it over to the Simtropolis version. It has been slightly edited to fit with the context of the Simtropolis edition. Hi everyone- Something you don't see very often--two Tarkusian Cities updates in a week. We'll delve further into construction on the Tweedy/Ashcroft Corridor and the light rail project this update. Last we left off, Tweedy Blvd had been closed, and work was starting on realigning and extending Ashcroft Street, instead of having Ashcroft run into Tweedy, south of 35th. This is facing west at that same spot, after work has begun on building an overpass (facing west). Ashcroft will pass over the extended section of Tweedy Blvd, with access being provided by a future connector roadway, which will be built a bit later. This is to the south of that area, showing where the extended Ashcroft Street will meet with 45th Street SE (facing west). Upon completion of the project, 45th will be closed off just east of this future intersection, instead of continuing across the tracks and meeting up with the old alignment of McCabe Street. The overpass on Ashcroft is coming along nicely. Now it just needs some more things to go under it (facing west). The elevated part of the Ashcroft extension is now hooked into the existing northern section (facing west). The 36th/37th couplet is still in place. A temporary alignment of the Ashcroft extension, terminating at 45th, has been built, to alleviate traffic displaced by the Tweedy Blvd closure (facing west). The new Tweedy alignment is being built under the Ashcroft overpass (facing west). This is along 35th, past the end of the 36th/37th couplet, and just a bit west of the intersection that had been demolished (facing west). As you can see, 35th has some substantial issues of its own, prompting Tweedy Blvd extension. So, that intersection is getting demolished, too (facing west). You can see the Tweedy Blvd extension sneaking into the picture in the bottom left corner. This is at the intersection of Nego Way (named after long-time TC supporter Nego) and Anglia Way (facing west), which, as you can see, is also very congested. Tweedy Blvd will be extended to meet and overtake Anglia Way's present alignment at this spot. The extension has now been built (facing west). This is where Tweedy Blvd meets up with the aforementioned "connector" to the grade-separated section of Ashcroft (facing east). The diagonal road paralleling the rebuilt Tweedy Blvd is part of the old alignment of 35th. The road that previously intersected 35th has been cut off at the tracks. A little further realignment work south of Tweedy along the extension (facing east). This will be put into better context soon. That does it for this installment. Stay tuned for Part 3 of this project, coming next time. -Tarkus
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Note: This update was originally posted in 2013 in the SC4 Devotion edition of Tarkusian Cities, as part of a special feature, but had not made it over to the Simtropolis version. It has been slightly edited to fit with the context of the Simtropolis edition. Hi everyone- Well, at long last, after a couple teasers, we've rolled the odometer to Update 100. And aside from the fact that there's three digits now, this update will simply be a dose of good old-fashioned Tarkusian Cities, something which has been a bit of a scarcity lately. I'm going to continue along the lines of the teasers, and show you all the start of what will be the start of a modest light rail system in Chemeketa, along with a number of road realignment and extension projects that will accompany it. The continuation of Update 99's couplet project in Argentum (2.0) will serve as a bit of an intermission in what should be a multi-update arc, and I may take a little peek back at a couple of Tarkusian Cities you may not have seen in some time, including the discovery of a "lost update" from 2009. Chemeketa, unfortunately, has begun to experience the dreaded prop pox in its downtown tile, and I've yet to ascertain just what is causing it, so I am considering a full Plugins reboot and a new Tarkusian region in the near future. As it's been a few years since I've done that--since Chemeketa's start some 4 years ago--it's actually a process I'm somewhat looking forward to undertaking. Below is the map of Chemeketa, with a rough sketch of some of the proposed changes shown. Road realignments or additions are in dashed lines, reflecting the color of the new roadway's expected functional classification, and the new light rail line is shown on the map as the "Proposed Red Line". As my long-time stand-by for large maps, Gmapuploader, is no longer offering the service I used, I'm trying out Zoom.it and using my space at SimTarkus for image hosting. (Edit as of June 2017: It appears Zoom.it has also broken down since, too. I am hoping to find an alternate solution, and am adding it to the list of things I need to do to fully restore Tarkusian Cities.) Now to see the "proposals" in action. The two major projects you'll see under way during this project are the start of the Red Line, and the Tweedy-Ashcroft Corridor project, which are symbiotically related. (If you're curious as to the namesakes for those roads, see here and here, respectively.) The Red Line, as a whole, is intended to begin at the Chemeketa Airport, wind its way past the university and through downtown parallel to the railroad tracks, and eventually curve onto 33rd Avenue NE, heading through a high-tech area and ending in the Starpoint District, serving to link up downtown with the airport, and alleviate commute-related traffic on the south end of the Chemeketa Parkway. This first image is at the intersection of Stiratt Road SE and Link Road SE. Link Road acts as a little connector between Tweedy Boulevard and Stiratt Road, which are important arterials in the area, and it is surprisingly congested, even more so by the fact that it has an at-grade rail crossing along both it and Stiratt, right near the intersection. McCabe Street SE is planned to be realigned to meet up with Link Road at Tweedy, and overpasses will be built to cross over both the existing rail line, and the under-construction light rail line. Stiratt Road traffic was temporary diverted and briefly closed, to make room for the overpass construction (facing north). Overpass work under way (facing north). This is facing west. The 4-lane structure is the replacement for Link Road, which will be renamed as an extension of McCabe Street. This is at the new Tweedy/McCabe intersection (facing west). This intersection's completion is a necessary step in preparing for the Tweedy Boulevard re-alignment and Red Line construction. More construction. This is where the existing McCabe Street alignment meets with the new alignment (facing west). The road will now continue south to meet with the former Link Road, instead of southwest to align with 45th Street. And the new alignment after completion (facing west). The new intersection at Tweedy is open for business (facing west). Two roads through the industrial area along McCabe have been converted to one-way traffic, in order to handle the loads caused by the Tweedy Blvd closure. This is where Tweedy and Ashcroft currently converge, at the intersection with 35th St SE. The new one-way couplet hooks in here as well. Ashcroft will eventually be extended south, some 35 blocks, to meet up with the proposed Western Bypass. (facing west) 35th is also being realigned (its naming is actually a bit odd, as it actually intersects Tweedy/Ashcroft where 38th should be), and the eastbound part of the couplet now connects into it, a temporary change. (facing west). Tweedy Blvd west of the new McCabe Street intersection has now been torn out, and work begins on extending Ashcroft Street (facing west). Upon the project's completion, Ashcroft Street will have an overpass atop Tweedy Boulevard, allowing for smoother traffic flow. That does it for this installment of Tarkusian Cities. -Tarkus
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#BringingTarkyBack? Stay tuned. -Tarkus
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- 11
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