Nyhaven: Views From Within (Nuclear City - 5/8)

[ecoba]

This was a great update, Zack, and it amazes me with Nyhaven's great rail connections.

I thouroughly wish that some of my cities had as great planning as Nyhaven does.

So can I hire you?

Ethan

Congrats on 300 posts, Zack, and welcome to Page 16! 

[djvandrake]

Great update!  Creative as always.

You have one of the most impressive transit networks I've ever seen for SC4.   

[JBSimio]

I've missed a couple updates again, Zack, but they've been some good ones!   

The Performing Arts Center looks great with it's large plaza along the street.

The urban renewal update was a bit of a surprise.  I didn't expect there would be such large apartment towers going up there.  The end results are impressive to say the least!  I'm sure all those new commuters helped make the MetroRail extension projects all the more necessary and successful.

Which brings me to your latest update... in what I've come to know as true Nyhaven style. The new sections of the Puget line seem very well planned and make a lot of sense from all areas.  Looking at the map (which I always enjoy!) I can see the gaps in service to the south that you've now filled in.  Yet you've done so in a very realistic manner in connecting existing lines, following the same paths in some cases, and minimal "new construction."  If getting the most out of every construction dollar isn't a real part of any civic project, I don't know what is!   

JB

[danielcote]

Nice system you have there! how frequently do the trains come? every 2-3 minuits?

[emgmod]

Nice system you have there! how frequently do the trains come? every 2-3 minuits?

Can you show us a congestion map sometime?

[woodb3kmaster]

Alex (Driftmaster07): Thanks, Alex! Now that you've served out your ban at ST, I imagine you've managed to get Cayman Rise, and I hope you're enjoying using it in Atrubia. Take care, my friend!

Ethan (ecoba): Thank you, Ethan! I'd be only too happy to help in your urban planning endeavors, and I'm glad my work here in Nyhaven has been so inspiring to you.

djvandrake: Thanks! I'm humbled to read that my transit network is so impressive, so thank you especially for that comment.

Jon (JBSimio): It's always a pleasure to read your replies, Jon, even if they're not as frequent as those of some other readers. I'm glad you enjoyed my latest updates to the city. The new apartment buildings are definitely big, but resta ssured that I'll soon find a few good places for some low-rise complexes made from your excellent RUSA apartment buildings. Take care, and don't be a stranger!

Daniel (danielcote): Thank you, Daniel! Train frequencies vary depending on the line and time of day, but on the Puget Line, I imagine that trains run every 10 minutes at peak times. This may sound infrequent, but many RL subway lines go even longer between trains (for example, trains on the Metro Red Line here in Los Angeles run every 15 minutes, and the line is one of the most heavily-trafficked in the US). On the sections shared with other lines, however, trains probably run every five minutes.

emgmod: I most certainly could do that. As it happens, in the underground images from the last update, you can see the tunnels colored according to traffic volume/congestion, as a result of my having the modified subway view mod from the latest NAM installed. I hope that will suffice for now. Thanks for stopping by!



I must apologize for not having posted any updates for the past few weeks. School has kept me busier than I expected, and I have literally had no time at all to devote to SimCity. Nevertheless, I will try to work some playing time into my schedule soon, since I don't want this MD to go inactive. So watch this space, as a new update is still coming!

[ecoba]

Don't worry about it Zack.

You along with Lora have both been busy lately, but you know everyone needs a break.

I'll be watching the thread.

Ethan

[Battlecat]

Man, I've missed a couple of excellent updates!  Love the buildings you're using, and that transit map is stupendous!  No worries about life being busy, it happens.  Keep up the great work!

[KoV Liberty]

Don't worry bout it. It will ease up soon (hopefully ).

[woodb3kmaster]

Ethan (ecoba): You're certainly right, Ethan. We all could use a break now and then. Now that I've got my schedule more or less in order, though, I hope to return to making regular updates. Thanks for stopping by!

Battlecat: Thank you very much, my friend! I'm glad you enjoyed the last couple of updates, and that you approve of my high-rise choices. The HKABT really puts out quality work, wouldn't you say? I appreciate your support as I try to work the kinks out of my schedule.

Alex (Driftmaster07): Thanks, Alex! My schedule troubles should be just about over now (I hope).





One Friday after work in 2403, I decided to visit a friend of mine who had just moved into a new condo on Tenasillahe Island, not far from the town of Barrington. To get there from City Hall, I had to cross the river via the Tenth Street Bridge, downtown's closest road connection to the island. Let me tell you, traffic was horrendous! I had the misfortune of trying to cross the bridge during the evening rush hour, and it must've taken half an hour to go a measly mile. I couldn't stand the thought of my friend and his neighbors having to sit through all that traffic twice each weekday, so the week after that visit, I started looking into just how congested that bridge really was.



When one of my junior engineers handed me the report, I was astonished. The bridge was regularly packed with bumper-to-bumper traffic at more than triple its original capacity! It was clear to me that downtown needed a new bridge over the Columbia as soon as it could get one. But what major street could I extend across the river? Main Street was out, since the popular waterfront village was centered on its western end. Fifth Street had a ferry terminal blocking any potential extension, and anyway, it was too close to the existing bridge. That left Broadway as the sole contender for extension.



Having settled on a road to extend, I began to study the sites of the bridge's future ends. Broadway itself ended at the waterfront, with the historic Broadway Pier jutting out into the river along the bridge's future path.



Across the river, on the shore of Tenasillahe Island, there was a ferry terminal just to the north of where the bridge would reach dry land, with its access road running in the way of any potential extension of Broadway onto the island.

With all this information in mind, I started drawing up the plans for the bridge. I planned to reroute the ferry port's access road further to the north and tear down the pier at the old end of Broadway, since the bridge's easternmost tower would need to be built on the pier's site. I didn't think this would be a very big deal to the citizens, but boy, was I wrong. Within weeks of unveiling the preliminary engineering to the public in December, I opened up one issue of the Nyhaven Sentinel to see this article on the front page:



I was shocked. The Historical Society actually filed an injunction against the city?! Clearly the old pier was near and dear to some people's hearts. When the Wahkiakum County Superior Court heard the society's case, I made it clear to the judge that the city would not tear down the pier without rebuilding it elsewhere. Once I had agreed to rebuild the pier one block to the north, safely out of the bridge's path, the injunction was lifted and the project began in earnest.



First of all, the bridge's future endpoints had to be prepared, and that meant clearing the old pavement from the sites and building approach ramps. First off, the westernmost block of Broadway was torn up...



...and that ferry port's access road began to be rerouted. At the same time, work began on the roundabout at Broadway's future western end on the island.



By August of 2404, the roundabout and western approach ramp were finished; the eastern ramp was completed not long after that.



At the same time, another contractor got to work on rebuilding the Broadway Pier just north of the bridge site, at the end of Moore Street.





After only a year, the pier was opened to the public as New Broadway Pier. It may not have been an exact replica, but most people didn't seem to notice. All that mattered was that the downtown waterfront once again had a signature pier, complete with a restaurant at its end. We had done a good job so far.



As the spring of 2405 turned into summer, the towers of the bridge rose out of the river, and the cables started getting installed. It wasn't long before the first sections of road deck were floated into place.



Further west, the story was pretty much the same. The towers were completed in mid-2405, and all the cables were in place by April 2406.





In September of 2406, the Broadway Bridge was finally opened to traffic. Many residents of the western suburbs and Barrington enthusiastically adopted the new bridge as their new route into downtown. Within a year, traffic on both bridges was close to capacity. Another successful project was complete!

[KoV Liberty]

Very nice! I like the little stories you create. They always make it more like RL.

[Battlecat]

Nice update!  Good job with replicating the construction technique used to build cable stayed bridges!  I've been watching one go up a few blocks from my office for the past 3 years, and you've really nailed it with those intermediate photos! 

I like the little side story; Nyhaven can consider itself lucky that there were so few properties in the way of this bridge development! 

[Tomas Neto]

Very nice update, great work!! 

[danielcote]

Graet update on the bridge! Looks like you neede it too with all that traffic.

[djvandrake]

 

Great update.  I always enjoy your presentation with the in-progress construction and the backstory.

That is a serious bridge too!  Quite the span.  The cable stayed style is a nice addition to the skyline. 

[ecoba]

OooH, I like that bridge, Zack. Very sleek...

Historical Societies, don't you love 'em, they seem to have gotten in a lot of Nyhaven'ses, projects way, but I actually do like them, they keep historic neighbourhoods in tact.

What type of food does that restaurant serve? I've been to a restaurant that looked like that before, and it was under a bridge!  That wasn't an excellent restaurant, I must say.

Good to see you back from your well-deserved break,

Ethan

[carkid1998]

Great Update! Just goes to show Maxis Bridges look good... in the right place!
Excellent Update to come back with! 

Ryan

[JBSimio]

Excellent update Zack!   

I really enjoyed the storyline for this one.  Much like all your other projects, the rationale and presentation make perfect sense and seem very true to a real situation.  I'm glad the historical society stepped in and forced a bit of additional planning.  While moving and rebuilding an entire pier probably hurt the budget, it would have been a shame to lose such an attraction.

Good to see you back,
JB

[woodb3kmaster]

Alex (Driftmaster07): Thanks, Alex! The story is really the main part of this MD, so I'm glad you like it.

Battlecat: Thank you! I'm thrilled to have gotten the bridge construction method right; it was my intention to simply repeat the Photoshopping that I did way back in Update 11, but it's great that I did such a good job replicating the real way that cable-stayed bridges are built.

Tomas Neto: Thanks a lot, my friend!

Daniel (danielcote): Thank you! Yes, it was high time that a new bridge was built; the western suburbs desperately needed a new route into downtown.

djvandrake: Thanks! I wanted to use an ultra-modern bridge design to complement the skyline, so it was only natural to go with a cable-stayed design. Hopefully I'll be able to replace the Maxis model with a new design that choco's working on, if he agrees to make an avenue version.

Ethan (ecoba): Thank you, Ethan! Yes, as much as the Nyhaven Historical Society may be a thorn in the city's side at times, it does valuable work, as you so rightly point out. That restaurant you saw is actually a food court I added to the rebuilt Broadway Pier, as an added bonus to appease the historical society. It serves a couple of different kinds of food, none of it very healthy. I hope you enjoy it more than the food at that other restaurant you visited!

Ryan (carkid1998): Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for your kind words! Indeed, sometimes a Maxis bridge actually complements its surroundings rather nicely, and I'm glad you approve of my choice. Thanks for the welcome back!

Jon (JBSimio): Thank you, Jon! The pier was definitely worth saving, even if rebuilding it cost the city a pretty penny. I appreciate your kind words!



Thursday may just barely have started here in LA, but it's going to be a busy day for me. My fraternity is hosting its annual pre-Thanksgiving dinner tonight, so once class is over, I'll need to help set up the last remaining decorations and seating. We expect about 300 people to show up, so we need as much extra seating as we can afford!





Today, I took advantage of the holiday and consequent break from classes to redesign Kendall's Royal Mall, the park that connects the headquarters of each branch of Lower Columbian government. I based my design on the real National Mall in Washington, DC, replacing Pegasus's paths with BSC paths and adding CP's latest seasonal trees to the Mall. I also used a different, BSC parks-compliant lot for the fountain in front of the Parliament building, although it's still ardecila's Buckingham Fountain. In addition, I replaced the San Francisco City Hall which had been the Parlimant house with yoder7652's Osturland Great Hall, on a custom lot.



In the center of the Mall, where the two axes of the park cross, I added a circle of 12 Lower Columbian flags, made by my fellow League of Nations member Joelyboy, one for each of the kingdom's 12 states.

That does it for this week's specials. I'll post a couple more shots of this renovation after Update 35. Stay tuned!

[carkid1998]

That park looks great! I like the ring of flags and that foresty area at the bottom of the mosaic looks good too .

Ryan