Dave Piehl wrote: >Remember, the Lake Street >widening bit is part of the I35W proposal, and that is >being led by a LOBBYIST! > > >Despite being told otherwise by all and sundry and knowing full well that such isn't >the case, Piehl insists that Johnson is a lobbyist. Johnson is not a lobbyist for the >I35 mitigation project. This is another way to make it appear as though Johnson is >somehow engaged in some nefarious activity for the Phillips Partnership and against >"the neighbors." The process has been entirely above board. It is led, as chair, by >Craig Anderson who has the distinction of being an honest broker with a positive >reputation and a high level of trust among all those concerned in the task force's >endeavor. > Piehl is trying to make the case that we do not need this mitigation. However, those of us who have lived here (me for 30 years, others longer and shorter periods) have been asking the state to mitigate the mistakes made when the freeway was first built. Among those mistakes are (1) the entrance to the freeway at Fifth and Franklin which is indescribably bad engineering, (2) the failure of the original designers to built a northbound entrance to the freeway for Lake St., (3) the failure to build a Lake St. exit Southbound on the freeway, (4) the impossible entry and exit situations at 35th and 36th Sts., and (5) the butt ugliness of the whole thing. I35W's poor engineering has been a major factor in the decay of Lake St. The point of the mitigation is to attempt to reverse the decline by making Lake St. more accessible to the freeway.
It has taken us 30 years to get to this point. As advocates for Southside neighborhoods, many of us have lobbied the legislature, the county, and the city over a very long stretch of time. By the time Tom Johnson came into the picture, the lobbying was over (for the moment) and we had, some 3 and a half years ago, moved into the task force phase of the mitigation. WizardMarks, Central > >_______________________________________ >Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy >Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: >http://e-democracy.org/mpls > _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
