13th Street & Grand Avenue Intersection

[stvfarmboy]

If I remember correctly, most of the homes affected would only lose a foot or two of their property. The ones at the corner would lose more, but like others have said, I don’t know why you would want to live right on that corner anyways.

And to the person who mentioned the Lincoln Way and Hazel signal, it used to be operating in some sort of recall, which means that the side street was given a green even when no one was there. I walk by this intersection at least twice a day and they seem to have taken care of that so it operates more normally now.

 

[Al_4_State]

Ames is a city of 50,000+ people w/traffic infrastructure built to handle about 20,000.

 

[IcSyU]

... If I lived at 13th and Grand... You are infringing on my pursuit of happines... **** the safety of others...

This is one of the cases where eminent domain is a beautiful thing.

 

[chuckd4735]

I bet the coldwater owners might get a good check from that then huh? I would imagine that they might have to reconfigure some of the holes?

No...when Coldwater went in they were made well aware of the plans. I'm assuming the golf course was conditionally approved to save the City's interest in the plans.

 

[AmesCloneFan]

Ames is a city of 50,000+ people w/traffic infrastructure built to handle about 20,000.

Exactly. Traffic doesn't seem to be that big of a deal for the majority of the summer, but during classes, moving time (the last 4 days) it's pretty bad all around town.

How come there's no good way to get north/south in this town? I live in SW Ames and have friends north of Bloomington. Takes 15-20 minutes to get there no matter which way you slice it.

 

[CYdTracked]

I know its not ideal but it's not like a lot of the current roads were built with the knowledge that some day they would not be sufficient enough to handle the traffic they do now. At some point something has to give and usually it's the properties that are in the way of improving the flow of traffic.

A perfect example would be when they widened Highway 6 from 2 to 4 lanes from Clive to Adel. I actually knew one of the properties owners whose house was right in the path if where they needed to expand. It wasn't anyone fault really, I'm sure whoever built the house never imagined that Hwy 6 would get so busy that one day where the house was built right next to the road that the space would be needed to expand. They actually sold the house and someone moved it near Hwy 169 near DeSoto I think. But again, just another example how when a lot of these homes were built in the early 1900's that no one probably thought twice that possibly 1 day it might be in the way of a road improvement because the traffic back then wasn't nearly what it is today.

 

[WeBeJ]

... If I lived at 13th and Grand... You are infringing on my pursuit of happines... **** the safety of others...

I grew up in that area of Ames, and that intersection has always been a complete mess. I foolishly even lived on Grand three houses south of the intersection and it was the worst year of my life. From trying to get in and out of my driveway to the noise, it was brutal. I should have had my head examined for moving into that house.

 

[Frak]

If you are going to kick someone out of their home and you need the property, you should pay a lot more than appraised value.

Well, if someone were to offer me appraised value for my house right now, I'd be packing tomorrow. Big difference between appraised value and what you could actually get out of the place if you put it on the market. I mean, who (other than the current owner) would want to move into a craphole at the busiest intersection in town? The city offering to buy that dump out from under him should be the best gift ever.

 

[price26]

Maybe if they are that in love with their houses, they should offer the city to pay to pick it up and move it to a different part of town. Save your house, but lose your spot at 13th & Grand

 

[HOTDON]

How come there's no good way to get north/south in this town? I live in SW Ames and have friends north of Bloomington. Takes 15-20 minutes to get there no matter which way you slice it.

Amen, brother! I lived on Mortensen and our daycare was on Brickman, also north of Bloomington. Drove that everyday before class for 4 years. South Dakota to 13th to Stange to Bloomington, or Mortensen to State to Lincoln to Hyland, et. al. No quick options. To make it worse, then I had to drive most of the way back to get to campus....

 

[mj4cy]

I've noticed that people in Ames have ways of making logical issues into emotional controversies. All it takes is a certain little catchphrase to be all that people listen to rather than the facts...

I lived near there (on Wilson) for years, and that intersection has needed change for nigh on to twenty years. And the dumb thing is, the houses there certainly aren't any prizes.

Exactly. I'm not sure why they'd want to be so close to all that traffic anyways.

The build up of traffic is unsafe, causes more pollution and effects surrounding streets/interchanges. It's just better all the way around to fix that interchange.

 

[AmesCloneFan]

Amen, brother! I lived on Mortensen and our daycare was on Brickman, also north of Bloomington. Drove that everyday before class for 4 years. South Dakota to 13th to Stange to Bloomington, or Mortensen to State to Lincoln to Hyland, et. al. No quick options. To make it worse, then I had to drive most of the way back to get to campus....

Exactly. I always try new ways, never successful. I've tried county line road to Cameron School road and back, hwy 30 to I-35 to 13th st, NOTHING WORKS! Ontario/13th is the worst - if you could drive the normal 35-45 MPH there that would make a huge difference.

 

[Gnomeborg]

I agree that 13th and Grand is the most dangerous intersection in town. Some others are dangerous, but more annoying than anything.

There are numerous wrecks at 13th and Grand. So anyone complaining about losing their property needs to ask themselves if property is more important than safety.

Really? I live a block away from 13th and Grand and can't remember the last time there was an accident more than a fender bender there. I see far more accidents involving people trying to turn in or out of Hickory Park

 

[Gnomeborg]

If I remember correctly, most of the homes affected would only lose a foot or two of their property. The ones at the corner would lose more, but like others have said, I don’t know why you would want to live right on that corner anyways.

And to the person who mentioned the Lincoln Way and Hazel signal, it used to be operating in some sort of recall, which means that the side street was given a green even when no one was there. I walk by this intersection at least twice a day and they seem to have taken care of that so it operates more normally now.

Houses as far back as Roosevelt (2 blocks) were going to be purchased and demolished for the plan.

 

[Gnomeborg]

the thing that chaps my hide about the 13th and Grand intersection is this: when the protests kept the homes from being purchased and the intersection from being expanded, the decision was made to put in new lights and a new traffic pattern to allow for left-turn arrows going east-west. Just a few weeks ago, they put in brand new traffic lights.

No turn arrows. In fact, while the pattern changed on who got the green light in what order, it was quickly changed back to status quo. And if the planned expansion (or at least hoped for) ever went through, then all that work on the new traffic lights would be wasted, as they'd have to be pulled out and moved once more.

 

[IcSyU]

the thing that chaps my hide about the 13th and Grand intersection is this: when the protests kept the homes from being purchased and the intersection from being expanded, the decision was made to put in new lights and a new traffic pattern to allow for left-turn arrows going east-west. Just a few weeks ago, they put in brand new traffic lights.

No turn arrows. In fact, while the pattern changed on who got the green light in what order, it was quickly changed back to status quo. And if the planned expansion (or at least hoped for) ever went through, then all that work on the new traffic lights would be wasted, as they'd have to be pulled out and moved once more.

They have the roads sensored now though. It doesn't go in order if no one is waiting at one of the lights. They also don't stay green if there isn't anyone using it.

 

[Gnomeborg]

They have the roads sensored now though. It doesn't go in order if no one is waiting at one of the lights. They also don't stay green if there isn't anyone using it.

so we've managed to make the lights flow better during non-peak traffic, but haven't really done a thing to fix the drive-time problems.

 

[Havs]

so we've managed to make the lights flow better during non-peak traffic, but haven't really done a thing to fix the drive-time problems.

When going on Northbound Grand and need to get over to the Freddy area, I usually find myself turning left at 12th or 11th (depending how far backed up the traffic is from 13th) and then taking Roosevelt, Marston, or Northwestern back up to 13th. However, I'm sure if more and more people began doing this, it would become extremely dangerous for people in this area. Unfortunately an accident in that area may be what it takes to make improvements at 13th and Grand.