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a note from Scott Russell
(the SWJ reporter who wrote "Driving the
I-35W Access Project")
from Minneapolis Issues Forum at http://www.mnforum.org/pipermail/mpls/2003-April/023134.html
Some have criticized the I-35W Access story I wrote earlier this
year as being something of a Chamber of Commerce piece. They believe
the process is flawed and I gave a one-sided account.
I have covered any number of stories - usually involving the Park
Board - where people criticize the public process. Examples include
the Lake of the Isles renovation project and the efforts to establish
off-leash dog parks.
People see double dealing and bad faith efforts, and as a reporter
it is hard to know whether people are just ticked off because they
didn't get what they wanted or whether the process was indeed flawed.
My first-hand knowledge of the I-35W PAC process started in the
summer of 2002. It was well on its way to wrapping up. The reporter
covering the story left the paper and I picked it up. Backers of
the project told me the process was the most open and exhaustive
of any public works project in the state. Others said the thing
was rigged from Day One and the public process made little difference
in the final outcome.
The most outspoken project critics said the whole thing was simply
an effort to get a driveway to Abbott Northwestern Hospital. I did
not have a good in-depth understanding of the history of the project
- when it started, what kind of public approvals it already had,
or who got the ball rolling.
The PAC took its final vote in the fall of 2002 and the project
was clearly moving forward. I had written about the objections to
widening Lake Street - making it pedestrian unfriendly. I had written
about opposition from the Whittier and Kingfield neighborhoods.
My goal for the January article was to provide a history, reminding
readers how we got to where we are today. Tom Johnson was the unbroken
thread. He had the history. The story made reference to the fact
that some had criticized Johnson's leadership. It also chronicled
the official version of events in a way that I had not read anywhere
else.
I do not feel that I understand process well enough to judge it
fair or foul. The thing that most struck me from my research was
that the project appeared to be a done deal by 1998, before the
Project Advisory Committee started. The Hennepin County Board unanimously
passed a resolution May 12, 1998 asking for Congressional funding.
The City Council passed its resolution May 22, 1998 11-0. Congress
declared the project "a national high priority." President
Clinton signed the transportation reauthorization bill on June 8,
1998, giving the project its first $2 million. That was clearly
spelled out in the story. The likelihood is just about nil that
the County Board and City Council would do a 180, saying that $2
million was spent on an unnecessary project.
It gives credibility to those critics who say that no-build was
not really an option during the PAC process. I believe the story
had information helpful to both project supporters and critics.
I was surprised the piece got so little reaction at the time.
Have at it.
Scott Russell
Seward
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