Let us deceive ourselves no more. Perusing both e-mails opposed to the project and those from the Project Manager, one grows weary of that euphemistic misnomer, "Access", peddled to citizens misleadingly by the public relations firm - Smith Parker - strangely charged with our city's transportation future.
Questionable also is the term "public/private partnership". The power to move this project forward has been irresponsibly vested in a private law firm, Smith Parker. Allow me to illustrate how this imbalance has flawed the project. When a citizen harbors a concern over matters of infrastructure, is it not be prudent to voice that discontent with elected officials? On October 21st at the Whittier Transportation and Land Use Planning Committee, we voiced our concerns about the I-35W Expansion Project. Our city council member, Dean Zimmerman, joined us in saying: "I am opposed to this project in its current form." Three days later at STRIDE's I-35W Expansion Forum, my state senator Linda Berglin voiced her opposition to the project. She doubted that "access" was really necessary, saying that "there are plenty of hospitals in the metro that don't have freeways to their front doors, and people seem to find them O.K." In an ideal democracy, one could take for granted that the outpouring of opposition from neighbors and public officials would instruct our decision here. Instead we have a savvy and well-connected law firm in the driver's seat of this SUV. Were the public in charge, I suggest that this project would look very different. With the Minneapolis Plan as our guide, we wouldn't invest a nickel in freeway expansions without LRT or a dedicated busway, to be built now, and not ten years later. If the Minneapolis Plan were our guide, no home or business would be demolished for flyover ramps - the same kind that are being torn down in Milwaukee for being eyesores and dividing neighborhoods. All of the forums and task forces and focus groups amount to silly pipe-dreams if we allow backward thinking to drive the big projects that really affect our lives. Our participation as citizens must amount to more than "mitigation". My public officials know that another $150 million to keep us in our cars is the clear path to more smog and congestion. What more can a citizen do? Jeff Carlson, Whittier I suggest that the project be tabled until we remedy this semantic error. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
