There have been several studies of how to redevelop Lake Street, the last, paid for through NRP funds and undertaken with the leadership at Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Assn. in 1995, produced a document called, "Lake Street at the Crossroads" in 1996. All the studies were alike in several respects, so it was a shame to reconfirm what was already known from previous studies and pay some $250,000 to do it. Such is life.
One of the big messages of the study was access to and from Lake Street and its general confines between 31st St. and 28th.St.via 35W. Access was defined in terms of truck traffic, auto traffic, foot traffic, mass transit, bicycle traffic. The Midtown Greenway was part of the considerations in that process and supported in that study.
One can make a solid case that bus rapid transit with dedicated lanes and handsome, functional stations at Lake Street is also supported. That complaint by STRIDE is, in my opinion, a winnable change in the present plan during the second phase of the 35W PAC (coming this spring) with odds of 8 to 5 in favor of getting that changed at this juncture.
However, the case would be stronger were Minneapolis to take the position, as a whole, that 35W is one of several gateways to the city of Minneapolis, gates to the city are our front doors and should be respected as such. Further, the city is already choking on emmissions and traffic, it cannot widen it's borders, so, as we get nearer to the hub of the metro area, we have to have fewer vehicles all trying to occupy the same space at the same time. This is hardly rocket science.
I cannot say I know anything about Eric Eoloff except that he has an open face, he listens, he is "into" the meeting while he's there.
They took pot shots at Art Erickson too. It's very popular to take pot shots at Art and, in some ways, Art almost invites it. I've taken a few shots at Art over the years myself. However, I think Art should be allowed to state his position at a public meeting on what he perceives as the value of business without suffering the snide remarks. He is, after all, the Chair of CNIA and empowered to represent its position on 35W access.
STRIDE's argument, repeated on this list and at its meetings, is that this project is an underhanded deal between Peter McLaughlin, Honeywell, and the hospitals. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was the body of people from the neighborhoods between 35W and Hiawatha who asked both Honeywell and the hospitals to help us. We asked the hospital to do another study of their traffic patterns so that we could factor that into any redesign of freeway access. Using the theory that its best not to ignore the elephant in the living room, I distinctly remember spouting off in a public meeting that undertaking the whole effort to redevelop the 11-acre Sears site and Lake St without having both Honeywell and the hospitals on board was an exercise in silliness. In a project this big, of course they have a stake in the outcomes.
At another of that series of meetings about Sears and Lake St. Ray Harris, then the Sears redeveloper, said that making the Sears site a destination for people within a radius of 3 miles would require that Lake Street have better access to the freeway and vice versa. People listened very closely to Ray because we cannot redevelop and nurture this part of the city without redeveloping the Sears site. At that same meeting, Gene Tory from Allina, and a really nice guy, said that Allina didn't care one way or other other about their access at that point, but that he could see advantages for them in improving the access for patients, employees, and visitors, and for the neighborhood (Phillips at the time--all of it) if it funneled traffic onto the big, one-way streets. People heard what he said too. Sen. Linda Berglin, Rep. Linda Wejcman, Rep. Karen Clark, Council people from the Sixth, Eighth, and Ninth wards were at some of these meetings, as was McLaughlin. We came out of those meetings with a plan, notions of how to go about getting what we needed, and support from city, county, and state.
After that series of meetings and design charettes and whatever other agony we put ourselves through, after the hospitals' traffic count and all that, we asked the hospital to team up with Honeywell and undertake carrying the ball and part of the cost of the, so far, 4-year access project PAC meetings. The county put money into the costs as well. It was at this point, I think, that Tom Johnson was hired, though he could have been part of the traffic study as well.
This whole project was community initiated and community driven, open to anyone and everyone who had the stamina to stick with it and still is.
WizardMarks, Central
Barbara Lickness wrote:
While you and Eric Eoloff may represent different
interests and disagree on the 35W issue, I would hate
to have it insinuated that he doesn't care about South
Minneapolis, it's residents and their well-being.
Eric Eoloff has committed a significant amount of time
and energy into making Phillips a better place. There
are so many initiatives that he has been part of, I
can't even remember them all. I see him at many
neighborhood meetings.
As the NRP specialist to the three regions of Phillips
and Ventura Village, I will forever be grateful for
the way Eric offered Allina services when the regions
were just getting started. Allina's help in
establishing the regions as independent organizations
and assisting with the community building activities
was great. I wish we could clone Eric Eoloff. He is a
truly wonderful guy.
Barb Lickness
Whittier
=====
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed,
it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead
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