Knollwood, Southwest ‘Burbs Get (a Little) Closer to Minneapolis
Scarcely 4 1/2 months ago — late March, to be exact — Twin Cities motorists traveling 50 mph in opposite directions on Highway 7 in St. Louis Park came perilously close to one another (I’d estimate less than 4 feet).
On roads that were not exactly ice-free (see photo, above).
Thankfully, as of this week, the bridge over Louisiana Blvd. is almost complete, and traffic is moving through the area more safely.
And faster: without the traffic light and resulting bottleneck at Louisiana, travel time between Minneapolis and Knollwood shopping center — a distance of about 4 miles — is now a very quick 8 to 10 minutes.
New Construction Catalyst
That’s good news for Knollwood, as well as nearby neighborhoods in St. Louis Park, Hopkins, and Minnetonka.
Other positives for the area: the major construction project going up in Knollwood’s south parking lot; the nice new retail development at the Southeast corner of Highway 7 and Blake Road; and a light rail station planned for Blake Road between Highway 7 and Excelsior (just north of where the Midtown Greenway passes by).
Who knows — if the area continues to grow in popularity, maybe they’ll even bring back the movie theatre that used to be in Knollwood’s basement when I was growing up!
See also, “‘Name That Project’ Multiple Choice.”
