Is anyone else tired of seeing the Light Rail authorities and the utility
companies argue about who is going to pay to move the utilities from 5th
St?
No matter which side wins, we will all pay, either as customers of Xcel
Energy, or as taxpayers who have to pay for light rail. This is only
deflecting the argument from the real issue: WHY was the city so adamant
about running light rail down 5th St? It seems that after the city and Met
Council learned that the utilities were all under 5th St, they could/should
have moved LR to 4th St (or somewhere else that wouldn't be so costly)...in
fact, they have destroyed the $4 million plaza in front of the Metrodome in
order to make room for LR to cross from 4th to 5th!
I watched some of the LR hearings about 15-24 months ago, and Xcel Energy
has consistently argued against the siting of the LR route on 5th St, and
that in addition, if the route was not moved, they would not be responsible
for the cost of moving the utilities. It seems to me that the real issue is
why the costs have to be incurred at all, not who should pay for them.
I can't believe that I am siding with the utility companies on this, but
this appears to me to be just one more arbitrary and arrogant decision by
local officials. Does anyone know why it was so critical to only run on 5th
St? (If this has already been discussed on this list, I'd appreciate being
directed to those discussions.)
Nancy Alcorn
Prospect Park
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