Gary: You raise some very good questions. Because the questions are basically rhetorical, I will not address them one by one, but, in the spirit of your questions, let me respond with some thoughts about the 35W Excess Ramps at Lake Street.
There is a lot of pressure to build the Excess ramps from Lake Street Businesses, Wells Fargo, Allina, Citizens groups, etc. They claim that the Excess ramps will provide improved access to their businesses. Alliana, for example, even suggests that they will not locate their new headquarters in the Sears building unless the Excess ramps are built. Even thought, for example, Alliana says that they want these Freeway ramps, I contend that what. Allina really wants is not access ramps, & the expansion of the Freeway. What Alina/Abbott-NW wants is to be able to get its employees, patients, vendors, visitors, etc to and from their campus safely, enjoyably, efficiently, inexpensively and if possible without polluting the natural environment. If the Excess Ramps do that, great. But, do the excess ramps really do that? And would the same amount of money invested in some other strategy accomplish that goal, just as well or, perhaps even better? It is one thing for groups to oppose the building of the 35W Excess Ramps. They claim, that to build the ramps is to aid and abet the ever expanding growth of the freeway and our continued enslavement to the automobile--there is probably some truth in that. But, unless a plan is put forward that addresses the real issue of moving people efficently there will continue to be irresistible demand for easy, but only partial solutions--such as building the Excess Ramps. In fact these partial solutions may solve part of the problem, but only exacerbate other parts of the problem. Any serious plan must do a better job of getting people in and out of and around the Lake Street area. An ideal transportation plan and infrastructure would possess a number of characteristics, such as: 1. produces zero emissions in operations; 2. does not leave behind parking problems; 3. cuts the BTUs/per passenger mile by at least 60% compared to transportation options in use today; 4. does not require a yearly subsidy from taxpayers; 5. will cover all operational, maintenance & administrative costs through fare revenue. 6.will increase walking and biking among the general public 7. will serve as an efficient feeder to the LRT. 8. Takes up virtually no footprint. 9) lessens congestion on the streets. 10. will reduce the cost of transportation for a very large percentage of the people coming to and leaving the Lake Street area - or any area where the system is built. 11. reduces road rage 12. makes it easier for many more people to use various kinds of existing transit infrastructure more frequently than it is for them to continue their habit of, now, mainly going everywhere by car. 13. reduces the need to build more parking ramps, 14. operates 24/7 I suspect that there is no such thing as an ideal transit system, but I and 5 of my colleagues, with the support of the mayor, have introduced a motion to the City Council to have our City, over a 6 month period, look closely at the technology of the Taxi2000 Corporation. A transit system build with this home grown technology will address the 14 points above. As a part of this process, I am now putting the final touches on a map of where such a system.might be built. This map will be offered to the City and to the community as starting point of discussion. For more information about the technology check out the Taxi2000 web site: www.skywebexpress.com When you go into this web site, I recommend you check out the section labeled "system". I hope to have the map available on the web in about two weeks. But for now, let me just describe the map a bit. It has 68 stations in an area from Uptown to the UofM and from the Minnehaha Mall to the Main Downtown Post office. 4 of the Stations will be at LRT stations. There will be stations at such major destination spots as Hennepin County Hospital, the Metrodome, Uptown, MCTC, MIA, Mill City Museum, Wells Fargo, Target Center, Sears, Alliana, Eat Street, LynLake, Fairview Riverside Hospital, etc. Every Public Housing high-rise in the web area will have a station. 6 of the stations will tie in directly to the downtown skyway. About 5 stations will be in or at major downtown commuter bus terminals. There is at least one station in 21 different neighborhoods. In addition to the LRT, the SkyWeb will intersect with at least 15 MTC Bus lines. No two Skyweb stations are more than 10 minutes apart. It is my intention to present this plan to each and every neighborhood organization and every business association in the map area, as well as to other interested groups. Gary, I hope this answers some of your concerns. I understand there is a story in the latest Southwest Journal about PRT, but I have not seen it yet. Dean Zimmermann Mpls City Council - Ward 6 612-673-2206 ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2004 11:04 AM Subject: [Mpls] 35W Access: Sustainable Design Questions > Here is a list of questions about the design of the 35W Access (so-called) > project, which I gave to Tom Johnson last summer when I met with him > individually. I've also raised similiar questions in a number of meetings about the > project, and have recieved no answers from the proponents of the project. > > With little money to spend, alternatives like PRT, BRT, carsharing (NEC''s > "hOurcar"), seem like much more economically and environmentally sustainable > investments. > > I urge list members and city and state leaders to read over this list and to > insist that dollars spent for metropolitan area transportation design be spent > on the most sustainable options. > > ***** > > Sustainable Design Questions for Transportation Project Evaluation > > 1. How does this project improve or damage local air, soil, and water > quality? > > 2. How does this project improve or harm local public health? > > 3. How does this project increase or decrease bike, pedestrian, and transit > share in the total transportation mix? > > 4. How does this project decrease car over-use in Minneapolis? > > 5. How does this project affect land use? Does it encourage urban sprawl, > or does it encourage wise land use? > > 6. Are there more effective strategies for developing sustainable urban > transportation? > > 7. Are the premises of this project irreconcilably at odds with sustainable > urban development? > > 8. Would the resources dedicated to this project be better spent on "smart > growth" and development of comprehensive metro-wide transit connecting > walk-able, bike-able neighborhoods? > > 9. Can this - or other transportation projects - be linked to a metro region > "congestion tax" aimed at discouraging car over-use and at encouraging > alternative modes of transportation in the metro area? > > ***** > > Of course, I must also mention that I've been riding cargo trikes every day > -- all through the winter -- for my work. I can haul up to somewhere around > 600 to 800 pounds, but rarely need to haul more than a couple of hundred pounds. > I make many personal and family errands this way, too. The past four > winters have not been real tough ones for biking and triking, so I feel I've had it > easy lately. > > I believe that if we could increase bike-share from about 3% to even 7-10%, > we would do more to help our local environment and economy, without spending a > public dime, than any other single transportation change we could make. > > I am currently mentoring a young bikeworker, referring work to him that I am > unable to take on. I've discussed bikeworking with a number of people, and at > our last Sustainable Neighborhoods Conference (held at Augsburg College) one > of the profs asked me to address a class about this. > > We can positively transform our city for the better by being and supporting > small "micro-eco-entrepreneurs"! > > -- pedaling for peace and ecojustice -- > > Gary Hoover > Kingfield > REMINDERS: > 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. > 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > > For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
