I attended the meeting last night. There were about 75 people present including elected and agency officials from the state, county and city levels. Also, you couldn't raise your hand to ask a question without hitting a candidate for a Minneapolis city office. The proposed changes at 35/36/38th were not part of the original plan. They were pitched in by the technical designers when it became clear that traffic using the proposed Lake Street ramps (north & southbound) and the intrusive and unnecessary "fly-over" ramp to 28th St. would not have the distance to sort itself out between Lake and 35th (this is called traffic weaving). If this "fly-over" ramp were not built, it's possible that the changes farther south would not be necessary. The only new traffic being brought to Lake St. in the prosposals on the table would be from the north (southbound) and would exit on the west side of the freeway. This is the exit that CM McDonald explained was proposed by Lake St. small businesses to increase their accessibility. It is the fly-over ramp that has driven this planning proccess from the beginning. Originally it was promoted by Allina, Honeywell and Ray Harris (Great Lake Center - Sears). Now that the latter two have demonstrated their commitments to the region by leaving, Wells Fargo (new owner of the Honeywell campus) has jumped aboard the fly-over bandwagon. I hear they even have a special exit off the fly-over ramp planned to feed directly into the 2000 car parking ramp they are planning to build on the north side of the Midtown Greenway. This will allow their employees to leave their cars; enter their offices by skyway; stay in the building all day (using new in-house cafes and health club); then return to their cars and suburban homes never having actually stepped foot in the neighborhood. It is easy to see who benefits from this destructive and impactful flyover ramp and it is not the neighborhoods or Lake Street. Yes, I-35W disconnected our n'hoods and created an hideous gash in South Mpls., but ramp placement didn't bring about the economic blight in the region. That was caused in large part by the sprawl, which I-35W ennabled. People could drive quickly in from out-lying areas to work at these large companies, then quickly return to their own communities to invest the resources they gained here. I do not believe that adding more of this same freeway infrastructure will, in some inoculative way, cure our ills. It is bad planning to condemn this entire region to several more generations of dependance on 1 car/1 person transportation. It is time to invest our resources in alternative transportations. Let's supply training to the people living here so they can take the new jobs created at Wells Fargo, Allina and the Sears-site and minimize commuter traffic from the suburbs. Let's spend our money on parks, service improvements and green spaces which enhance the quality of our lives. Robert Lilligren 8th Ward City Council Candidate Phillips West
