Aside from Carl Pavano's mustache, the only scruffy patch at Target Field is the plot of weeds and dirt along Interstate 394 just below the plaza. The "doughnut hole," as Twins executives call it, looks particularly forlorn and neglected sitting next to the architectural splendor of the new baseball emporium.

For months the team and the Minnesota Ballpark Authority have pleaded with The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to spruce up the eyesore, maybe with trees, flowers and ornamental grasses. "It's a priority," said Twins President Dave St. Peter, whose attention to detail has made Target Field admired around the country. ESPN magazine named it the nation's best sports experience.

MnDOT, better late than never, will present its landscaping plan on Wednesday. Expectations are modest, given the agency's meager finances, its concrete-only culture and the strict federal rules that govern highway medians. Trees are next to impossible because, as any road engineer will tell you, drivers might run into them.

(The famous architect Robert A.M. Stern once told me about his struggles to plant trees along streets. "The highway engineers tell me cars might run into them. I offered this advice for drivers: Don't run into them.")

"We asked MnDOT for something simple, maybe a canvas of ornamental grasses so that when you look down from the plaza there would be something that appeared to be intentional and not so kind of indifferent," said Tom Oslund of Oslund and Associates, the landscape design firm that designed Target Plaza and advises the Twins on the doughnut hole question.

Tom Sorrel, the state's transportation commissioner, has been justifiably proud of MnDOT's contribution to the design and construction for the ballpark and its multiple transportation connections. "I can't tell you how proud we are of this project," he said at the plaza's dedication last March. He should be prouder once MnDOT turns its blight into bloom.

North Carolina turns roadsides into botanical wonderland
North Carolina may be the best example of a state that cares about the appearance and environmental function of its roadsides. On a recent 80-mile drive between Raleigh and Greensboro I passed millions of colorful blossoms, a planted by the state's Department of Transportation (NCDOT). Its Wildflower Program dates to 1984 and, because of the perennial nature of most of the plants, grows larger each year. So far, the state has planted 2,000 acres of wildflowers (including poppies, daisies and coreopsis) along its roadways, as well as 2 million bright orange day lilies. The effect is stunning.

"We get feedback that tourists want to come back and spend more time here," said Derek Smith, an environmental engineer at NCDOT. The plants also help to stabilize the roadsides and control runoff. The program, $1.5 million a year for wildflowers and $800,000 for day lilies, is financed through the sale of personalized license plates.

Minneapolis declares two-way traffic conversions a success
When Minneapolis city officials decided last year to return two major downtown streets to two-way auto traffic you would have thought the world was coming to an end. Predictions of chaos, gridlock, lost business and crashes filled the air.

The city plunged ahead with its plans to convert Hennepin and First avenues for a good reason: Downtown needs to start feeling and functioning as a 24-hour community, not just as a funnel for workers hoping to get in and out as quickly as possible. Especially with the opening of Target Field, the city wanted to reintroduce itself to fans as a place to linger, dine and shop, rather than flee to the suburbs as quickly as possible. So far, so good.

A Public Works report issued last week showed positive results for the project's first six months. Auto traffic on the two streets is up is up 2.1 percent (up nearly 7 percent on Hennepin and down 4 percent on First). Chronically congested intersections have been reduced from four to two. Bicycle traffic (including new bike traffic on Nicollet Mall) is up 43 percent. Crashes are down 8 percent. The new Amsterdam-style bike lanes and parking configuration on First Avenue remain controversial. But 96 percent of vehicles are parking correctly.

There will be modifications in the coming weeks. A number of lost parking spaces along First will be restored — good news for complaining merchants. And street markings and better signs will clarify that Hennepin's right lanes are to be shared among buses, bikes and turning cars.

Still, City Hall has declared victory. "There were a lot of dire predictions and we took a leap of faith in doing this, hoping it would be better," said Council Member Betsy Hodges of the 13th Ward. "And now the numbers bear that out."

The conversion is part of a broader "access plan" emphasizing transit, biking and walkability as part of the downtown experience. Now, if the economy improves, it will be up to the private sector to put housing and jobs on all those unsightly surface parking lots that still dominate much of downtown. The city is in a holding pattern, hoping that its work will pay off.