3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great map useful while driving...put it on the steering wheel!, November 16, 2007
This review is from: Twin Cities Metro Area: Minneapolis-St Paul (Map)
Here in the land of high gas prices, snow day bottlenecks and road construction, it would be useful in having a quick-look for up-to-the-minute road conditions for detour alternatives mentioned on TV and the radio.
This review is for the c2000 1st edition, 4th corrected printing. This newer 2006, 2nd edition would be substantially the same as discussed below.
There are actually 6 different maps and an index grid on the 6 segment foldout which is 4in wide by 10in high, and expands to 25in wide with all panels opened. It is printed in 6+ colors on heavy stock and is laminated on both sides. Could temporarily mark with a crayon, grease pencil, or washable magic marker. It would fit in a overcoat [...] pocket and backpack for students too.
It is useful for the resident of the Twin Cities as well as tourists as the MSP airport, Amtrack and Greyhound stations are shown. The index includes 3.5 column-inches of hotels, 4.5 inches of colleges and universities, 3 inches of shopping centers, 4 inches of theatres and venues, 2 inches of museums and libraries, 11 inches of golf courses and 15 inches of parks and trails all with marks and labels on the maps (1 column-inch has 14 entries). There are labels for major corporate campuses, such as 3M, General Mills, Summit Brewing, Gillete, Ceridian, West Publishing, Deluxe (checks and forms), Land O'Lakes, SuperValu, and Office Parks, etc but are not indexed. Many city neighborhoods are labelled, but are not indexed.
On the main side, there is a 6.5in wide by 8in high map of "SE Minn & NW Wisc, (1"=32mi, 1:2mil)" which has I-90 on the bottom and Duluth on the top, including Lake Mille Lacs and La Crosse, WI to get to the casinos. Since the counties are marked in red, the map is useful in storm and tornado chasing from TV and radio weather reports.
The main side's biggest map covers the "Central Metro Area, (1"=1.8mi, 1:114K) 18 inch wide (4+ panels)" map includes almost the entire I-94, I-694, and I-494 ring (except the NW corner of Maple Grove arterials) loop freeways along with I-35W and I-35E north-south corridors. It includes the eastern suburbs of Lake Minnetonka. Only the northern parts of Eden Praire, Bloomington, Eagan, and Inver Grove Heights are covered. It doesn't cover the major suburbs south of the Minnesota River which include Burnsville and Apple Valley. Each major freeway interchange is marked with a small square; interchanges with less on/off ramps is marked with a smaller lane symbol.
The main map the other side is the "Greater Metro Area, 2+ panels, 10 inch wide (1"=7.5mi, 1:475K)" which includes full coverage of the Twin Cities 6 major counties of the SMSA's 7-county area of Hennepin, Dakota, Anoka, Washington, Scott and Dakota (eastern Carver to Young America); including portions of surrounding counties in MN and WI. It includes the suburbs of Prior Lake (Mystic Lake Casino), Burnsville, and Apple Valley.
The other side includes 3 more maps covering "Downtown Minneapolis and the University of Minn (4in high x 2 panel, 1"=2000ft)" with MetroDome, Target Center, Minneapolis Convention Center, Warehouse District, Mariucci Hockey Arena marked. "Downtown St Paul (4in square, 1"=2000ft)," with River and Xcel Centers. The downtown maps have the 1-way streets marked and major parking ramps. Many major downtown buildings, Post Offices, and government offices and agencies are named.
The unusually shaped "I-494 Strip (2in high x 3 panels, 1"=0.55mi)" map in Bloomington where many hotels (conference locations) and restaurants near MSP are located, west to E Bush Lake Rd. The famous Mall of America and Southdale Mall is included. Hospitals and high schools are labelled but are not indexed.
This durable quick foldout map fits the bill perfectly. Mine is much used and awaits to be grabbed from underneath the driver's arm rest along with an equally used 1 1/4" thick spirl-bound Lawrence "King of Maps" TC detail street maps.
It is designed and published in the Twin Cities by Hedberg Maps, whose offices is on the third floor of Nord'East's restored Northrup King Seeds Building near the northwest quadrant of the Central Av NE and Broadway Av NE corridor. It has an annual open house on the Friday evening of the annual NEMAA Art-A-Whirl art crawl held on the third weekend in May (Hedberg Maps is not open during Sat and Sun with the multitudes of budget art seekers).
During their annual one-evening open-house, they have many boxes of overage and seconds maps for a buck or two each. The staff is available for Q&A with the public and share refreshments too.
Unfortunately neither of the Metro Bus & Light Rail routes are superimposed on this map nor is the Twin Cities famous downtown Skyway system. Nor is the USPO ZIP code numbering system marked which would help interface with Yahoo and Google maps or MapQuest high-res detail on-line maps.
With today's gas prices, its $[...] cost would be repaid within getting lost three times.
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