Justin Foell

Before I get into any questions like “What the heck is a split phase intersection and why would you have a favorite?” Let me give you some back-story… I’ve been attending a series of workshops revolving around State Highways 65 & 47.

I’ve got several opinions about these roads and their intersections, and one very loud opinion that we don’t need both to act as expressways, we just need one.

Luckily, I learned at the meetings that my fellow residents share the same opinions! I was delighted at the first two meetings. Do I think MnDOT will actually listen? Probably not, but that’s when we’ll sick Mayor Lund on them 🐕

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Intersection Timing

Another big issue brought up at the workshops is how the intersection timing across both 47 & 65 favors traffic going north and south. Residents that are actually trying to just get to the other side of town find themselves waiting endlessly.

So what’s up with split-phase intersections? Well, let’s define it first:

A split phase intersection is one where one side gets a green light and green left turn arrow, then the other side gets a green light and a green left turn arrow.

Here are the technical details behind split phase intersections: https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/conventional/signalized/fhwasa13027/ch5.pdf#page=11

They aren’t known for their efficiency – they’re a band-aid for poor road design. But I think I’ve found one of the better ones which others should emulate.

Fridley’s Split Phase Intersections

There are several split-phase intersections in Fridley. MN-65 & Mississippi St. is the most notorious, however there are split-phase (or rough equivalents) at MN-47 & 57th and MN-47 & Mississippi.

Most of these are in place because of road geometry. The state highways (65 and 47) are so damn wide that there can’t be two left turn lanes running simultaneously without cars crashing head-on. 4-to-3 lane road diets could alleviate those problems, but until then let’s look at the signal timing – a software problem we could address today.

None of the split phase intersections work well for residents in Fridley, whether they’re driving, walking or biking. So let’s look a well-timed example to copy.

County Road 10 & Able Street

I used this intersection twice daily by car or by bicycle for 4 years. It is on the way to my kids’ day care provider. I didn’t like it at first… in my car when you leave Highway 65 and go on County Road 10 west, it’s the first signal you’ll encounter.

More often than not the signal would be green and then I’d see it change to red as I was approaching. I’d silently curse to myself (trying to watch my mouth as a new Dad). But after going this way about a dozen times, I realized something. I’m almost always going to see the light change from green to red because it’s constantly changing all the time. This is a good thing because it won’t be red for long for either the people on County 10 or Able St.

The first question traffic engineers will probably ask is “how much traffic goes through there?” It’s sees 20,000 vehicles per day on average. Keep in mind the times when I was using this intersection was always during rush hour, 7-8AM and right at 4PM.

So why not try it for a week or two? Signal timing is software, not hardware. Yes, 47 & 65 carry a bit more traffic (30,000/day), but if traffic backs up on 47 or 65 one of two things will happen:

MnDOT will change the timing back
People will find another way that is less congested

#2 is the option residents are shooting for. Remember when the 35W bridge collapsed? If I recall correctly, traffic was a little nutty for about a week, and then… Poof! Everyone found a different way about town and traffic wasn’t drastically worse than when 35W was wide open.

We should at least give this cheap-and-easy timing change a shot. Got any other ideas for these roads? Share them in the comments.

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Not everyone has the time, money, or permission to build an insane RC track in their backyard.

Mostly because of wives, home owners associations, neighbors, etc. But up here in America’s snow boot, anyone can build a temporary off-road track out of snow instead of dirt.

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In the winter it can be hard to get out and play all of the time. We built some chained tires to tackle the snow. Unfortunately 2019 has been more ice than snow, and the polar vortex kept us inside for over a week. But we can still have fun driving RC inside. So how do we get these high speed vehicles from wrecking everything in the house? Training mode & drift tires!

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The state of Minnesota defines our waste hierarchy as:

I wrote about recycling, and composting, and I recently visited the local waste-to-energy (WTE) facility to complete the picture of the garbage lifecycle. If you live in or near Minneapolis, there’s a place called the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (the HERC). It’s downtown, right next to Target Field. In the winter, the amount of steam it produces in the cold, still air makes it look like a cloud factory.

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I toured the facility to see what it’s all about. To begin, this facility is not without controversy. The Sierra Club tried to shut it down recently.

Emissions

Burning trash doesn’t sound like a great idea. Ever put styrofoam into a campfire? Noxious fumes! But the HERC burns trash at much hotter temperatures – 2000°F. Also, more than half of the facility is dedicated to cleaning the exhaust from the burn – after it has turned the heat into power.

Here’s what it looks like in the belly of the beast:

The alternative to a facility like the HERC is landfill. But even landfills that capture their gas emissions, called Landfill Gas to Energy (LFGTE), produce more emissions on all accounts:

Ash Waste

So we’re good on emissions and particulates compared to the alternatives. What about the leftover ash? It still needs to be landfilled, but it occupies 90% less space than the trash that went in. The ash, while it does require a special type of landfill, surprisingly is much cleaner than you’d think. Landfills are frequently tested via leachate – collecting water that has traveled through the material, and testing it for toxins.

Just the clarity of the ash leachate compared to that from a regular landfill is incredible:

Burn in Moderation

Waste-to-energy is listed as #68 in Drawdown – and basically describes it as a “net zero” effect – not really good or bad, but better than the alternatives (as we’ve shown here). WTE is 2nd-to-last on the hierarchy of trash for a reason – we need to do what we can to reduce what is sent to the HERC. Even if it is turning our trash to energy, it is running at capacity. Sadly, another waste-to-energy facility in Elk River, MN recently closed. This is where many northern suburbs trash went, and it’s also where the HERC would send overflow when they were at capacity. Now any extra trash will wind up in the landfill.

Doing as much as we can upstream will help – Reuse, Recycle, and Compost. Then we need to political will to keep places like Great River Energy in Elk River open – or we may just end up like this…

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Installing a Rustler bumper upside-down on a 2wd Slash is a popular option for creating an on-road or rally style bumper cheaply and easily. Many people that have customized their Slashes for drag racing, rallying, or top-speed runs are already doing this. I got the idea from the Traxxas Slash Modified group on facebook – one of the most helpful (and positive) resources out there. I wanted to document the steps and parts I used to do create mine for a rally car conversion.

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Justin Foell

Technology, Bicycling, Hobbies, Kids, Life.

My Favorite Split Phase Intersection

Intersection Timing

Fridley’s Split Phase Intersections

County Road 10 & Able Street

Off-Road RC Snow Track

LaTrax Prerunner Drift

Waste To Energy – the last piece of the garbage puzzle

Emissions

Ash Waste

Burn in Moderation

Slash 2wd Rally / On-Road Bumper