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

[Battlecat]

Woah!     That's an incredible olympic sports complex!  Fantasic job, your region is very lucky to be able to get all the major venues so close together!  Looking forward to seeing more! 

[Ryan B.]

Zack, you have done an excellent job here.  I really like the point of view you're MDing from - this is great!

I don't mean to be a copycat, but I'd like to do kinda-sorta the same thing with Orleans County, except I'd limit mine to roads and signage. 

Keep up the wonderful work!

[threestooges]

Very nice work on this Zack (if I may). You've done an excellent job with the area. The BATs are great but, arguably more important, the surrounding areas, the plazas and parking lots, really make the area stand out. A good BAT can be used and make an area look good, but it's the surrounding bits and pieces that really give the area its character and allow a player to show off their skill. The plazas look like they allow for an excellent flow of people, Jeroni's parking lots (just above the tennis courts in the first pic) fit very well and the crowds look great. Sorry you didn't medal in any events, but there's always next time. Until then, take it easy.
-Matt

[GreekMan]

wow yet again you amaze me!
are you still upadating on Thursday's or no?

[woodb3kmaster]

bat: Thank you for your compliments! Enjoy today's update!

Guillaume (Sciurus): I'm glad you like both of them! I put plenty of work into each of them.

Battlecat: Thanks! It was my goal to have all the venues in one spot. It makes things so much easier on the visitors.

burgsabre87: I appreciate your compliments! You're free to adapt my style to Orleans County however you like.

Matt (threestooges): Thank you, my friend! I definitely try to make my sporting venues fit in with realistic surroundings, and I'm glad I've achieved that. I did, in fact, medal in events: Nyhaven is located in Lower Columbia, so when I said that LC won medals, I meant that I won medals. I hope that clears things up for you! Enjoy today's update!

GreekMan: Thanks! I intend to update every other Thursday, and that's what I've been doing. Less frequent updates may mean fewer replies, but it lets me focus on my academics more.





It was two years ago that we hosted the Simlympics, but it still feels like it was yesterday. Once the tourists started coming, they just kept coming back - and bringing friends! Nyhaven had never been more prosperous; every store and restaurant in the city was filled to the brim with customers, and we at City Hall are reaping the benefits.



So I wrote in my journal one spring night in 2382. The next morning, I commuted by subway to City Hall, like I had been doing for years by then. Stepping into the Engineering Department's lobby, I was about to turn the corner into my office when the secretary stopped me. "Mr. Franconi? The mayor left this note for you."

"Thank you, Janice," I said. "I'll be sure to read it as soon as I sit down." That's just what I did, too. In his note, Mayor Lundgren told me about an upcoming city council meeting that I needed to prepare a presentation for. It seemed the council wanted to know what my department was planning to do to make sure Nyhaven would be able to keep up with the growth it had started experiencing. I talked to four of my lead engineers and got each of them to give me a synopsis of the project they were designing. After a little work in PowerPoint, my presentation was ready.




When the time came the following week to give my presentation, I stood up and addressed the council. "Ladies and gentlemen of the city council, there can be no doubt that Nyhaven has entered a new age of growth and prosperity. As you can see from this satellite image, new suburbs have been popping up all around town. There are more people visiting, living and working in the city than ever before, and all those newcomers need cheap, convenient transportation. My department has been preparing a set of projects that will give it to them.




"First of all, to prepare for future outlying suburban growth and to allow motorists to bypass all the traffic in Nyhaven if they need to, I propose that we construct a new outer beltway, to be numbered as Route 148. The route would most likely follow the line on this map. As you can tell, it would pass through undeveloped land where there is little infrastructure. It would also pass near the protected Lankershim Forest, which it must avoid.



"The new highway would begin north of the Fairfax district, where Route 3 currently passes through open land. This section of Route 3 would be reconstructed as part of interchange construction.



"Southeast of Cathlamet, Route 148 would end at Route 50 near the Sawtelle Wood. Again, there would be more reconstruction of this section of Route 50 if the highway is built. We will need to work with the federal government on this project, since it falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transportation.



"The next project would add a branch to the MetroRail's Green Line serving the new developments on Price Island, near Skamokawa. There is already a fairly dense neighborhood on the island: Price Village.



The new branch would need to have a station here, but residents are sensitive to noise from construction. Extra caution must be exercised when building this branch.




"Route 148 would not be the only new beltway in Nyhaven. Working once again with the Ministry of Transportation, I propose building a rail bypass to allow goods to move quickly.



"As part of this project, new rail spurs would be built towards existing suburbs such as this one to prepare for the implementation of a new commuter rail system serving the city.

"Finally, it is my opinion that new development should be built around transit to keep our streets from becoming overcrowded. Therefore, I am working on what I have named 'Project Metro-land." Existing MetroRail lines would be extended into undeveloped land to encourage developers to build nearby.



"Saint Mark's Line, for instance, could be extended eastward from its maintenance yard.



"Also, the Grey Line could be lengthened toward the Lankershim Forest. This artist's impression shows what a new station in this area might look like.

I am sure you all agree with me that these four projects would make travel in Nyhaven easier and faster than ever before. Thank you."

[Battlecat]

Excellent update!  I can see you've put a lot of thought into how this city is going to develop, and boy there must be a lot of development on the horizon to require transit projects on that scale.  I'm looking forward to seeing how things develop going forward.

Also, looking at your urban core on the squared off region map makes me chuckle, it looks almost exactly like aerial imagery of any major urban area in the world with the buildings tilted over like that.  Very cool! 

[guurgkud]

Wow that region is amazing!! You got some great projects going on.
Looking forward to more development.

[GMT]

wow.
very nice birdseye view over the whole city 
I really like the story around it aswell!

[woodb3kmaster]

Battlecat: Thank you, my friend! I certainly have planned things out for Nyhaven. Glad you like the region view!

guurgkud: Thanks! With the development going on, I'm sure you'll like today's update!

GMT: I'm happy you like the view and the story! Thanks for commenting.





After that meeting, the city council agreed that I should once again pay the Minister of Transportation a visit to make my case for federal funding of Route 148. One short train ride later, I was in the capital, getting ready for a new presentation to Minister Paulopoulos.



The following day, after I had made my presentation, the minister had a few words for me. "Paul, your plan sounds solid, but there's one more thing that would make this highway project a perfect candidate for funding: new infrastructure."

"I couldn't agree more, sir," I replied. "However, Nyhaven's city limits don't go nearly as far from downtown as they need to for us to build new thoroughfares. Is there anything your ministry can do to help us annex the land we need?"

Minister Paulopoulos answered, "Unfortunately, there isn't anything I can do, no. You'll just have to hold a referendum in the next election - that is how Nyhaven expands, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is, sir," I said. "I'll be sure to suggest that to the mayor. Thank you for your time, Minister."

With that, I returned home and told Mayor Lundgren and the rest of the city council about what we needed to do. Without hesitation, they agreed to put an annexation measure on the ballot for the election coming up in September. A few months later, the people of Nyhaven approved the largest expansion of the city in decades.



With that, my department set about putting our infrastructure plan into action. By January the next year, work began all around the newly-annexed land. The first part of the project to break ground was the extension of Persson Street to the southeast of its existing path.



Meanwhile, in the Melrose district north of downtown, construction crews were preparing to build a tunnel to carry Prinzhorn Street under Sunset Mountain. They were doing everything they could to make sure the mountain could support the future tunnel.



On the other side of Sunset Mountain, new roads were being laid out that would eventually lead to the Route 148 construction site.



At the eastern edge of existing development, workers were busy extending Skamokawa Road further away from the city. It would eventually have an interchange with Route 148.



We were also extending some of the Nyhaven MetroRail lines while we still could. Just east of Villaincourt Parkway, my boys were laying the foundations for a new station on Saint Mark's Line. They had to cut out part of the nearby hillside to put the station and new tracks on level ground.



After most of 2383 had passed, the work was finally all done. Persson Street now connected to roads that led out of the city...



...Prinzhorn Street was safely tunneled through the mountain and off northwards...



...the trench for Saint Mark's Line was finished and landscaped, and the tracks were laid all the way out to the extension of Persson Street...



...and a web of new roads criss-crossed the hills that Route 148 would eventually pass through, including near the Lankershim Forest.



Even while we were still building, developers started flooding city offices with new building permits. It wasn't long before new neighborhoods started rising from the ground in places like northern Lincoln Hills...



...nearby in the new Lankershim Forest district...



...and at the edges of the developed area in Melrose. It was amazing watching those new suburbs get built seemingly overnight!



Of course, it wasn't just new homes that were going up. Retail moguls rose to the challenge of giving those new residents places to shop and eat - places like the Villaincourt Crossings strip mall. The stage was now set for construction to begin on Route 148...

[Battlecat]

Looking good!  Expanding a city like that is a huge commitment, glad to see it's going smoothly, and looking good in the process.

[DarkLoki]

That region view is one of the best I have ever seen! I like how you document the development.

[woodb3kmaster]

Thank you both for replying! If you liked that region view, I'm sure you'll enjoy this more recent one, too! This one shows the suburbs that were built in Update 17.



Until next week...

[Battlecat]

Coming along nicely!  Those suburbs are slowly creeping outwards! 

I see you've carefully hidden something along the future path of Route 148.  Looking forward to seeing more!

[woodb3kmaster]

Battlecat: Thank you! Yes, "something" is indeed hidden on that satellite view - what could it be? You'll have to wait for future updates to find out!





While the city was busy preparing to annex all that land for building Route 148, I worked on the engineering for the future extension of the Green Line:



This new set of tracks, to be built mostly in tunnels, had to have stations placed where they would do the most good, so finding those good locations fell to me to do. After some detailed studies, I had eight spots picked out for new stations.



The extension would converge with the old alignment under downtown Skamokawa before heading west again along the standard-gauge railway coming from Nyhaven Central Station. It was unfortunate, but we would have to close down the Skamokawa Harbor station temporarily to make room for the new trackage. I delegated the responsibility of setting up replacement bus service to one of my subordinates.



Soon enough, though, all the plans were ready and the government gave us the go-ahead for construction. In the spring of 2384, I went to yet another groundbreaking ceremony. It was getting a bit monotonous going to all these ceremonies, but I knew it was a sign of good things to come for Nyhaven.



First, the workers had to expand the December Avenue station on the main Green Line alignment, located on the mainland, right across Steamboat Slough from Price Island. Another station to divert traffic around, but what else was there to do?



After just a couple months, construction crews were lowering the tunnel-boring machines into the closed section of tunnel and, before long, were busily excavating the new tunnels.



Soon, the workers were flying below the streets. New sections of tunnel were being created each week. By the summer of 2385, we were already approaching Skamokawa's posh Resort District, at the north end of the island. But then...



It was a real blow to the project. This collapse was Nyhaven's worst public works disaster since the early days of subway construction. Some locals questioned whether the tunneling should continue if another disaster like this happened. It seemed to them that the price of new mass transit options might just be too high.



After a thorough investigation and a pledge to tighten on-site safety measures, however, we were up and running again. As work continued, things were heating up at the Skamokawa Harbor station. More and more workers arrived each week to prepare the enlarged station for the imminent arrival of the TBMs.


In mid-2387, the first phase of the project was completed when the tunnelers breached the tunnel wall at the station. Everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief; not only had the city pulled through a terrible disaster, but it had also emerged victorious!



Now the focus shifted to laying down tracks on the surface. To the north, in the South Sleepy Hollow industrial district, we built a new light rail/standard rail transfer station...



...while in the west, we added that connection to standard rail that I mentioned earlier. Now we could extend this branch of the Green Line as much as we like, and we would only have to build stations and bypasses! It was a genius idea that one of my colleagues in the MetroRail engineering department came up with.



I'm sure I surprised some of you by not continuing with the Route 148 project, but rest assured, it'll come back next time! Here's a little something to hold you over for the next two weeks:



Enjoy, and keep your eyes on Nyhaven!

[Battlecat]

Quite the project there!  Good to see the subway rolling outwards to the suburbs! 

[Nexis4Jersey]

Very Interesting Subway and City in genre 

[woodb3kmaster]

Thank you both for replying! Yes, the MetroRail system just keeps on expanding. You'll see more about that in future updates!





With work on the Green Line in full swing, my colleagues and I set to work putting together the plans for Route 148. We decided it was best to open the new freeway in two segments - first, from Route 50 north to Route 48, and later, onward to Route 3 further west.



In this first segment, there would be a total of eight interchanges, six of them with roads the city had built or extended not long ago. In addition, three of those roads would have overpasses carrying them across the freeway, but no ramps. In the future, we might go back and turn one or two of them into interchanges, if the traffic demand is high enough.



In the summer of 2386, we finally broke ground on the highway project. First up was building Route 148's southern terminus, at Route 50, not far from the Sawtelle Wood. After some upgrades to the old highway, construction commenced on the ramps that would link the two freeways.



Several months later, construction had come a long way. The flyover and flyunder ramps that would eventually connect Route 148 to eastbound Route 50 were almost done.



Further west, we expanded Route 50 on the approach to the interchange to accommodate the new ramps. Because the terrain was pretty bumpy, the workers built a causeway to carry the highway.



Just norh of there, a long, straight stretch of highway was under construction. I watched as the construction crews graded the land where it would run.



It didn't take long to pave this section of the highway once things got started. It was done by winter.



Even further north, around the Wilshire Valley, the freeway was being paved around where it would have an interchange with Main Street, which had been extended all the way out here. As usual, first came the grading...



...and before the highway was paved around there, work started on Main Street's overpass.



With the freeway all paved and the bridge built, crews started working on the ramps for the interchange.



At last, the interchange was done! Soon it would see its first use by motorists. But first...



...work had to be done on a combined rail underpass and interchange near Skamokawa Road. After laying tracks for a detour, workers started digging the trench where the highway would run.



Soon after excavation was finished, the highway was well on its way to being paved.



As paving was going on, workers started building the new rail bridge over the freeway. They were done, and the detour was removed, after only a little while.



With that out of the way, construction crews could finish the interchange at Skamokawa Road. A year after work began at the site, this mini-project was complete.



The last part of the project's first phase was buildin part of Route 148's interchange with Route 48, which would itself need to be widened. That's what workers started doing as construction on Segment A was being wrapped up.



FInally, in February of 2388, the partially-built interchange was ready for traffic. That month, Segment A of Route 148 had its grand opening. I received dozens of letters from grateful drivers thanking me for the new freeway. The public loved it! And soon, things would get even better for them...

[Sciurus]

Your updates are huge!!Very huge, and what a work, but I think the city would like to have terraforming!

Guillaume

[KoV Liberty]

Let me just say this... Your cities are amazing! Much better planned out than mine. Cant wait for next update!

Driftmaster

[kj3400]

Looking great. I especially liked the map of interchanges. That stack looks like it's going to be interesting when you finish it.