While we as rail transit advocates plan to ride a number of trains in three metropolitan areas (can't say "cities" because there are more than one in the MSP area), the nature of living that time dependent on transit to get around does lend itself to a bit of walking. I just want to make it clear to everyone that other than Chicago, I have never been to the Twin Cities other than passing through the old Midway Station in 2010, and my visits to Pittsburgh can be counted on a few fingers. I cannot tell everyone exactly how far the group may need to walk. Even using maps or other means to calculate distance, sometimes there are physical obstacles such as hills or barricades that might result in a longer walk than it appears to be.
It is summer, and now while some are tracking the weather predictions in the three areas in another thread, it may take some effort to get from one point to another when getting to meal stops, hotels, etc.
On one of our fests in California late last decade, we walked from a light rail station in Milpitas (suburban San Jose) to a mall, and I didn't know where the entrance was closest to the food court. We probably walked the long way around the outside of the mall, mainly because you followed me. So hopefully we don't have any more unnecessary strolls!
In Bethel Park, PA this Thursday, home of South Hills Village, that is our lunch stop for the full day in the Pittsburgh area. SHV.jpg 167.97KB 1 downloads
In the attached screenshot of the station and mall area, the station is the Blue "M". From there is appears we need to follow a curved path, cross a circumferential roadway, cross a parking lot, and through said lot to the building. The food court is located on the right side of the mall seen from this direction, in one of the areas that has a white roof. So that section either needs to be accessed by walking through a department store and through the mall itself, or outside around the right perimeter. There may be a set of steps however between a grade and elevated level of the parking lot, so it is probably best that the 7 of us take the department store route.
Now moving to the lunch stop in Bloomington, MN in Mall of America, we have already discussed that much of the walk within the mall will be indoors, but how far really depends on where you plan to go to eat. The food court that has most of the eateries condensed in a single location is on the south side of the mall on its third floor, and we will have entered the mall from the first floor on the east side. So some of the movement will be via escalators or elevators.
Dinner in both Pittsburgh and Minneapolis again will be dependent on where you go, and how far those places are from the nearest station.
A couple of concerns I have in the Chicago area relate to the rail travels themselves. In order ride O'Hare Airport's people mover, there is a short walk and a bus ride within airport property to get from the Metra station. Steve checked this out for me during the winter and it appears to be bearable. Hopefully our schedule and that of the bus will mesh well, but we really don't have any hurry here because we have more than ample time for a lunch break before the evening Blue Island trip. The issue I have more here is waiting outside for the bus if it is very hot. Next, Blue Island will feature us arriving on Metra Electric and leaving on Metra Rock Island District. I would describe the stations are caddy-cornered on opposite sides of Virginia Street. We will have to walk to the end of the Metra Electric platform, cross Virginia Street, and then onto the Metra RI platform, all at the same grade. We have 10 minutes to do this, less if the first train is late. The train we are catching is an express back to Chicago with minimal stops. If we miss that train, there is another one 16 minutes later than makes many many local stops en route to Chicago. Obviously I would rather be on the express. However those planning other activities that evening should be aware that arrival of the later train would be at 5:04 PM at LaSalle Street station and then there is still a walk from there to Union Station. Blue Island map below:
BI.jpg 149.03KB 1 downloadsThe Metra Electric tracks are at the top right corner of the picture. The RI Express tracks are in the middle, and the RI pair of local tracks are next on the left. The platform we will go to is between the express and local sets of tracks where we see the station building. However if time is short I suppose we could board the RI train wherever it stops closest to the Virginia Street grade crossings. If the train is missed then we turn around and face the local set of tracks and board, then lumber along in a SEPTA manner between stations one can through a rock between.
That should cover everything of any substance.