We talk quite a lot about the big things DMC has to offer. To be sure, it’s a bold vision with big ideas that will serve our community for generations. But what will it take to get there? And who are the people behind the progress?
Month: February 2015
Transportation Discussion at DMCC Board Meeting
Representatives from transportation firms and public offices took time this morning to present and discuss strategies and adjustments to the transportation strategies in the Draft DMC Development Plan.
A quick overview of parking behavior in downtown Rochester: about 24% of sports consist of monthly parkers, 50-60% are short-term parking by employees who pay daily to park downtown. Overall, Mayo manages 16,500 parking stalls
Total parking additions proposed in the draft plan include about 13,000 new stalls. Use of these stalls could vary and have significant impacts on related systems, such as fewer riders on city lines. Tradeoffs could include fewer riders on city bus systems and needed alterations to those routes and scheduled.
Board member Bill George asked the transportation experts to collect more information about the parking and transportation behaviors of patients and visitors.
Among the highlights in the transportation proposal are the City Loop, a bicycle route around downtown Rochester that would tie into the existing trail network and other proposed bicycle routes.
Board member and former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak called the loop “the single most important improvement” Rochester could make for bicycles. The proposal imitates recent changes made to downtown Indianapolis to encourage commuters to use bicycles as a method to navigate downtown.
The loop, itself, remains conceptual but something that both Rybak and George remarked holds a lot of potential to both alleviate traffic and encourage low-emission, low-congestion bicycles.
Live Blogging from 2/26 DMCC Board Meeting
Public comment is wrapping up at this month’s Destination Medical Center Corporation Board of Directors meeting. Because of time constraints, imposed by the hour-long trolley tour of the DMC District, the board held comments to two presenters.
The commenters asked the board to:
– Preserve the Chateau Theatre in a respectful way, and
– Ensure that all transportation discussions and decisions include accessibility and convenience for the disabled and infirm.
Live Stream of 2/26 DMCC Board Meeting
A tour of the DMC District is complete, and the DMCC Board has just opened. Here’s a life feed…
More videos are available from DMC’s live streaming channel on Ustream.
On Tour with DMCC and Rochester Trolley & Tour Co.
Two trolleys from the Rochester Trolley & Tour Company are making their way around downtown Rochester to give members of the Destination Medical Center Corporation Board of Directors an on-the-ground feel for how transportation improvements would affect traffic flow and where changes would be implemented.
The first infrastructural highlight included a proposed new bridge over the Zumbro River, connecting 6th Street SW with 6th Street SE. Then it was on to the proposed site of the new University of Minnesota-Rochester campus between the People’s Food Co-op and the Rochester YMCA.
KIMT-TV: Public getting chance to share thoughts on DMC development
“The community had an opportunity to share their thoughts on a major development plan in our area.”
DMCC Board Meeting Packet Available for 2/26
Here’s the information and agenda for this week’s Destination Medical Center Corporation Board of Directors meeting on Thursday morning…
https://dmc.mn/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/DMCC-2-26-15-Board-Packet.pdf
Planning and Zoning Unanimously Approves Draft DMC Development Plan
The Rochester-Olmsted Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved the DMC Draft Development Plan, including the nine recommendations from Olmsted County’s Planning Department. A complete set of recommendations and studies from the Commission is available on their website.
We provide here excerpts for you from the nine recommendations:
Public Hearing Closed at P&Z DMC Hearing
66 minutes into the the Rochester-Olmsted Planning and Zoning Commission’s public hearing on the Draft DMC Development Plan closed, about a dozen visitors having weighed in on the plan’s latest iteration.
Transit emerged as a common theme for comment throughout the evening. Proposals in the plan include new parking systems, street reconfigurations, buses, rail, elevated rail, street cars, and more.
1 Hour into the Planning and Zoning Public Hearing
The City of Rochester’s public review of the Draft DMC Development Plan is formally underway–the Rochester-Olmsted Planning and Zoning Commission is holding a public hearing on the plan. And we’re blogging live for those of you who can’t make it.
Mitzi Baker, director of the Planning and Zoning Department, applauded the plan and the work that has gone into developing it. The plan establishes a sense of “placemaking” and “a strong sense of community.”