Chuckle... I don't blame John for being suspicious. I've always said, "never completely trust the government. I know, I've been the government..."
In this case though, we have had a long running discussion about slowing traffic on w7th and trying to make it safer for pedestrians, bicycles and parked cars. We talked about it in the campaign last year and this year, in consultation with the w7th federation we asked public works to try the center turn lane idea. So far it has been nearly universally supported. It does slow traffic (one person going the speed limit pretty much sets everyone else's speed). Turning is safer and you can actually get out of your car without hugging your door. We believe that folks with urgent business who are merely looking for a fast route from the burbs will find that shepard road suits them better, making w7th a safer street. We also introduced traffic slowing measures at smith and the high bridge and are working to slow traffic around monroe school. No connection at all with the busway. In fact, the Riverview corridor plan is currently being rewritten, removing w7th from the bus rapid transit route. When it is finished it will be passed by the city council and will become policy. If anything the restriping shows that there never was any room for a dedicated bus lane. Sorry to burst any bubbles re conspiracy theories... I'm curious how anyone who travels w7th likes the change... ??? dave thune ward 2 st. paul >>> John Birrenbach <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 10/18/04 7:54 PM >>> At 7:17 PM -0500 10/18/04, Erik Hare wrote: >This was indeed the idea of the community. Who in the community knew about this? Where were the pronouncements, announcements, public meetings? I like to think I keep a pretty close eye on the local community paper (which did have a small piece about it but didn't leave you with the impression of what is actually going on), and what is going on. Is it because the Federation said they were behind it that makes it a Community idea? At 8:06 PM -0400 10/18/04, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >Addionally, I pointed out to Dave and Betty that one of the critical >reasons for Steve and I deciding to close our shop was that traffic >patterns made it amost impossible for someone to park on the >opposite side of the street (downtown bound lane) in the mornings >and find the safety to walk accross the street to our shop for their >morning coffee. While I am sorry about you having to close your coffee shop, you also must learn about business that the first three rules of succeeding are 1. LOCATION 2. LOCATION 3. LOCATION. If your business is primarily in the morning then being on the side of the street that heads toward DT is where you want to be as opposed to the opposite side of the street. As I suspected the Federation is involved with this GREAT idea, well they were also behind another GREAT idea not so long ago.... Maybe you will remember Gopher State Ethanol? Yes if you think back hard enough you will remember the Federation saying this is great cause it will save the brewery and bring more jobs to the area, it was gonna be a BOOM for the area. Well we know how that turned out. At 8:06 PM -0400 10/18/04, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >Essentially what Erik pointed out to us was that during a snowstorm, >traffic on W7th defaults to its "natural" flow. HOW is traffic during a Snowstorm anything resembling NORMAL? That is just frankly, sorry Erik, ludicrous in the extreme. Anyone who thinks that traffic is Normal during a snowstorm hasn't been driving in one in a long time. Last time I drove in one, speeds were greatly reduced, it was hard to see, it was slippery, far from what anyone would call normal in any sense of the term. W7th Street is a street with HEAVY truck and bus traffic on it already, how reducing the number of lanes and forming this TURN LEFT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BLOCK lane is going to help the neighborhood is beyond me. Lets not forget that parts of this section of W7th are also a 40mph zone. 40mph is not residential street speed limits. With the help of the Federation, I am sure the City was more than happy to do this. I am sure that Mayor Kelly jumped for JOY when he heard the Federation and Council Member Thune were ready to reduce the lanes of traffic from 4 to 2 with room enough for parking and a Center lane. That is what the Busway supporters have been asking for all along. This "Test" will be just like the Ayd Mill Road "ONE YEAR" test, anyone driven down Ayd Mill lately, sure has been a long year since they made the "temporary" changes to that road. Sorry to say I told you so but I did say "when they installed the lights that thing became permanent", and so it has. Mark these words, this is the first of many steps to a Busway running down W7th St... yea I know I am crazy, just like I was crazy when I said DT was relying on to much Government workers to fill the vacant Offices which will move out and is now happening (when we already have a vacancy rate higher than Mpls, Even St Louis MO), just like I was crazy to tell everyone (BEFORE it was even constructed) that an Ethanol Plant in a residential area was insane and wouldn't help the brewery. I have had people call me crazy all my life only to have them come back and eat crow later. :-) -- Sincerely, John Birrenbach W 7th Neighborhood, St Paul MN === Political & Business Consulting === http://www.birrenbach.com/ ====================================== "Six years on the council has trained me to feign interest for long periods of time" Chris Coleman Jan 21, 2004 +++++++++++++++ _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
