This morning's Star-Tribune mentions a MN DOT advisory board that is looking at design options for rebuilding the interchange of the Crosstown and I-35W. (Page B2 Metro Section, "Getting There" column) The advisory group includes public officials from Minneapolis, Richfield, Bloomington and several other Southwest suburbs. The rebuilding of the Crosstown should not be about road construction alone, but must also include discussion of potential transit improvements. I will be advocating this position in my capacity as a Minneapolis Met Council member, along with other committee members that will bring a Minneapolis perspective to the table, including Buck Humphrey (representing the Mayor) State Senator Jane Ranum and Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman. We are urging MN DOT to look more aggressively at bus shoulder lanes, and rail options in the Southwest Corridor. Relieving congestion, and cleaning our air in the metro area is not merely an exercise in building more interstate highway lanes but must incorporate a much more serious commitment to transit. It is my hope that Minneapolis residents will become engaged in this discussion as any additional automobile capacity on the Crosstown will impact the entire 35W corridor. In 1990, I first met then private citizens Dore Mead and Scott Dibble as they led the community effort to halt additional lane construction on 35W. They passed out buttons at one community meeting with the simple message, "Trains, Not Lanes". Dibble and Mead won this fight by solid grassroots organizing in which literally thousands of Minneapolis and Richfield residents turned out at various public meetings. We now need another strong and visible public effort to promote rail and bus options throughout the Southwest part of the region. Frank Hornstein Ward 13 Metropolitan Council Member |
