|
35W Access Project hits bumps in the road
published 11.20.02
online at http://www.pulsetc.com/article.php?sid=227
by Ed Felien
Pulse of the Twin Cities
The Project Area Committee (PAC) for the 35W Access Project held
its third and final public hearing on last Saturday, at the 3rd
Precinct Station at 31st and Nicollet. It was in two parts. The
first part, which was supposed to run an hour, from 10 to 11, was
a description of the proposal by staff for the project. The second
part, comments from the community, was supposed to run from 11 to
12. The first part ran a little long and the second part ran even
longer. An overflow crowd of more than 80 finished the meeting almost
an hour past schedule.
This was the first series of public hearings where testimony from
the public was invited. The PAC has been meeting for four years,
mostly in the mornings on weekdays, a time which is inconvenient
for most working adults in South Minneapolis.
The PAC began as a consultancy between Allina Hospitals and Tom
Johnson of the Smith-Parker Law Firm. Allina wanted to make it easier
for patients and staff to find the Abbott Northwestern hospital.
Their first idea was to place were entrance and exit ramps at 26th
and 28th Streets where one-ways connect to the hospital campus.
This was found to be impossible because of the bend in the freeway
at those points, so their next proposal was a flyover ramp from
Lake Street connecting to 28th Street.
Their next step was an easy one. They sold the idea to The Phillips
Partnership. Allina was a member, and Smith-Parker was legal counsel
and project director. Honeywell and Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton and
Council Member Brian Herron and County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin
were members. The Phillips Partnership was responsible for probably
the most successful urban renewal project in recent history in Minneapolis.
It supervised the demolition of a square block of substandard homes
and constructed new homes and duplexes. It was urban removal of
poor people, like most other projects of its kind, but the major
objective of Honeywell’s Bonsigniore at that time was the elimination
of crime in the area around Honeywell Headquarters. It worked.
The first hint of trouble for the project came when they expanded
the PAC to include neighborhood people. They handpicked a Chairperson
and several other friendly business and community types, and neighborhood
groups filled out the list. There were about 36 members of the PAC.
The staff has always been Smith-Parker, and Hennepin County has
been paying the bills.
One of the first speakers at the meeting Saturday was Peter McLaughlin,
County Commissioner for the District east of 35W that includes the
Honeywell complex (now owned and operated by Wells Fargo) and Allina
Hospitals which operates Abbott Northwestern Hospital. He pointed
to the thousands of jobs that Wells Fargo and Allina have created.
He objected to the anti-business tone of much of the criticism of
the project. He said businesses on Lake Street have asked repeatedly
for access on Lake Street.
[In the interests of truth in reporting, it must be admitted that
Peter McLaughlin trashed me in the recent General Election 78% to
22%. I campaigned against most of the “improvements” to
35W that are being proposed by the PAC. He did not directly answer
my criticisms of the proposal during the campaign, nor did he actively
defend the PAC, so, although his re-election cannot be seen as a
mandate for the proposal, it has to be seen as more generalized
support by the electorate for his leadership.]
Councilmember Dean Zimmermann had to leave the meeting early, but
his aide read a statement by him. He doesn’t think this is
a good project. He supports his colleague, Robert Lilligren, the
8th Ward Councilmember who lives directly under the path of the
fly-over lane, and who has consistently opposed the project. He
believes the $153 million could be better invested in building a
transit system for this city and region. If the project does move
forward, it is essential that it include a separated bus lane on
the edge, or even better, a rail line down the middle of the freeway.
Of the options on the table, 6B is the most disruptive. It seems
likely that the reason 6B is on the table at all is to get the community
to compromise on the still undesirable 6A. We have major gridlock
downtown, and what sense does it make to continue to build freeways
to dump more cars into downtown? Why not focus on building a sustainable
system rather than continuing to put lipstick on this pig?
The parade of speakers included once and future candidates for
City Council. Barb Lickness opposed the project. She noted her Whittier
Neighborhood voted almost unanimously to oppose the project. Vicki
Brock said she was pleased to see her community had a lot to do
with this project, and she was pleased to see it is being carried
on. Valerie Metoyer, wife and partner of former 8th Ward candidate
Zach Metoyer, supported the project because she believed it would
benefit new Latino and Somali businesses on Lake Street, and because
there is nothing wrong in it benefitting Wells Fargo and Allina.
Although the audience seemed strongly opposed to the project, speeches
were evenly divided between those in favor and those against.
The always colorful and controversial Basim Sabri said, “This
is a good project, a good purpose. We should all support it.”
He also said, because his property might be affected by the project,
Councilmember Lilligren should declare he has a conflict of interest
and not vote on the project.
Antonio Rosell, three-year PAC member representing Ventura Village,
said if people should be disqualified from participation in this
process because of their conflicts of interest, then Tom Johnson
and Smith-Parker should be disqualified from participation because
they are legal counsel to Wells Fargo and Allina; they are legal
counsel to the Phillips Partnership; they are hired by the County;
and, now, they have been hired by the Met Council to help shepherd
growth through the entire metropolitan area.
Tom McGreevy, former PAC member, chair of the Nicollet Lake Business
Association, and owner/operator of the Pearle Vision store on Lake
Street next to 35W, had two letters read to the group in which he
said he heard McLaughlin say at a meeting he attended that he had
told Wells Fargo that he would try to get them access (the flyover
ramp) if they acquired the Honeywell campus. In a second letter
McGreevy said Tom Johnson and Peter McLaughlin had attended a meeting
of the Nicollet Lake Business Association with the attempt to stifle
criticism of the project and intimidate the members of the Association.
The last speaker was Gail Dorfman, the County Commissioner representing
the district on the west side of 35W. She tried to strike a balanced
and conciliatory tone, “This plan does not have to be the final
plan. We can make adjustments. It doesn’t have to be voted
up or down.”
Controversy and contention over the proposal was not resolved with
Saturday’s meeting. It may have just begun.
The 35W Access Project at a glance [with very opinionated commentary]:
- Move the 35th Street and 36th Street entrance and exit ramps
south to 38th Street to avoid the traffic weaving caused by the
close proximity to the 31st Street entrance ramp. [To solve this
problem it would not be necessary to move the 35th Street entrance
ramp, only the 36th Street exit ramp. This would eliminate the
traffic weaving; it would lessen traffic on 38th Street and moderate
the problems caused by excessive traffic on 35th and 36th Streets.]
- New northbound entrance ramp at Lake Street. [This is a bad
idea. Traffic would use this entrance for a quick trip downtown
or for a route to 94 West, and this would mean they would be moving
over two to four lanes of fast moving traffic in a short distance.
It is unsafe and unnecessary. Also, an entrance ramp to 35W from
Lake Street is not access it is egress.]
- New southbound exit ramp at Lake Street. [This seems sensible
and safe, but can it be done without serious disruption to the
Whittier community?]
- Widening of Lake Street from six to eight lanes. [This is unnecessary.
Traffic on Lake Street has actually declined in the last ten years,
and a new exit ramp would not increase traffic significantly.]
- Flyover ramp from Lake Street to 28th Street for workers and
patients at Wells Fargo and Allina. [This is unnecessary and would
create a serious blight on the neighborhood.]
|
