In my post about Chris Coleman and GSE, I touched only briefly on the other boondoggle that my neighborhoodâs been running defense on over the past few years and with which all the mayoral candidates have some involvement. That of course is the Riverview Corridor Transit Thing. For those new to that debate, this never completely or fully described Transit Thing was a constantly evolving Transit Thing that was supposed to move people from the airport to downtown St. Paul. But any more detail beyond that was difficult to ascertain. What ended up happening was about a three year civic dialog along these lines: Transit Thing proponent/consultant: Weâre going to build a Transit Thing for $46 million! What do you think? West Seventh Neighbors: Well, okâ But we donât know what we think until you tell us what youâre going to build, so tell us. Transit Thing proponent/consultant: Well, we donât know that yet. Maybe itâs going to be a dedicated busway down the middle of West 7th all the way to the airport. But maybe itâs going to be light rail somewhere. But maybe itâs going to be an express thing on Shepard Road. Maybe weâll use the Soo Line tracks out to the Ford plant. Maybe weâll widen the street and take out all your trees to make better bus lanes while we cut out many of your bus stops. All the details arenât in yet. So, whaddaya think? Great idea, eh? West Seventh Neighbors: Well, weâre not sure. Why donât you figure out what youâre going to build and get back to us? Transit Thing proponent/consultant: WHAT!?!?! YOU HATE TRANSIT, DONâT YOU? NIMBY! LUDDITE! LISTEN, YOU LITTLE SQUIRT, WE GOT $46 MILLION SMACKERS TO SPEND, AND WEâRE GONNA SPEND IT, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT! Lather, rinse, repeat. Some neighbors along West 7th (including many in Highland) filed a petition asking the Metropolitan Council to conduct environmental review under the Minnesota Environmental Rights Statute. At 300+ pages, it pointed out the multitude of unanswered questions raised by the Transit Thing, but the Met Council denied the petition stating that there was no evidence that the project would do harm. Of course, by not telling what the Transit Thing was, those seeking review were left with no identifiable instances of environmental harm. It reminded me a bit of that old joke about the man who murdered his parents and then threw himself upon the mercy of the court because he was an orphan. But before anyone ever made public what the Transit Thing was, $40 of the $46 million state money was pulled back by the state, and Chris Coleman announced (I think it was on this list) that the project was as dead as the parrot in the Monty Python skit.* But for purposes of the Mayorâs race here in St. Paul, we have to remember that two of the biggest Transit Thing proponents were Raphael Ortega and Mayor Kelly. While both had the best of intentions, the harm on the neighborhood that the Transit Thing could have done was ignored, glossed over, and pooh-poohâed by both. I for one would like to know where they stand on the fact that this Transit Thing is not going to lay dormant forever. Like something out of one of those Jason or Freddie horror movies, this monster is already back on the planning maps of the Metropolitan Council: http://www.metrocouncil.org/planning/transportation/TranPlan2025%208x10%20Sept%20Final.pdf The way that the project was handled along West 7th has reverberated into other projects. A big part of the reason the businesses along University Avenue are frightened by the Central Corridor project is that they saw how businesses along West 7th were treated. In the face of a Chamber of Commerce insisting that this was the best thing ever, small businesses read in the newspaper that their livelihoods were on the chopping block and felt vulnerable and abandoned. Neighbors who had seen two other massive transit corridors rammed through their narrow neighborhood (Shepard and 35E) were wary of a third. It was the classic multi-million dollar solution in search of a problem. And if weâre going to face it again, I think we deserve concrete answers about what the candidates think about the Transit Thing, especially from the two who brought it upon us last time around. Diane Gerth West End * â'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! 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