Weekly Wayfinding: Street Observations (Same Place, Three Different Times)

Gameday

For this challenge, I decided to look at a street with no businesses on it, but still plenty of foot traffic. I chose the area where the traffic on University divides to westbound 4th Street. This stretch is home to most of the large athletic venues for the U, TCF Bank Stadium, Williams Arena, Mariucci Arena, and Ridder Arena. This was a busy day at these venues, with there being a home men’s basketball game and both a men’s and women’s hockey game occurring.

The first time I observed was around 11am. This was on a Saturday, so it was not too busy. Mostly car traffic with a few buses. A person or two passed, but very little foot traffic. This street is a bit intimidating, due to the high traffic volume (3 lanes) all going one way. However, at this location, a light at Oak Street and the arenas themselves act to bridge this gap. Also, the stadium was built with a large plaza for gathering before and after games.

The next time was after the men’s basketball game, 4:30pm. There was a lot of foot traffic, mostly leaving Williams Arena. I noticed that a majority of the people were crossing at Oak, due to the high number of parking lots around the stadium and Mariucci. There was very little movement along 4th Street, other than cars. There was also considerable movement between Williams and the Buffalo Wild Wings in Station 7. I wasn’t able to spend as much time observing during this time because I had my mellophone from pep band, and it was a but awkward holding it while observing.

The final time I observed was during the men’s hockey game (7:30pm). While there was evidence of large groups of people, there were very few on the street. The only pedestrians were the lone scalpers attempting to get whatever they could for their last ticket. Traffic flow was about average and there was more movement along 4th due to Mariucci’s location on the north side of the street.

What I learned from this exercise is that a street like 4th, which is mostly a traffic corridor, does not operate like a street in a business district. Rather than a consistent flow of foot traffic, the ebb and flow of pedestrians on 4th depends solely on events in the surrounding venues. When Williams’s doors opened after the game, there was a mass of maroon and gold flowing down and across the street. There was an air of energy because the Gophers had won. Ditto with during the hockey game. While there were not as many people on the street, the fact that there had been thousands only minutes ago as well as the energy inside Mariucci spilled onto the street and it felt strangely alive for how desolate it actually was.

11:00am

3:00pm

7:30pm