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Part I: Linking Lake to I-35 - whose gain,
whose pain?
By: Isaac Peterson, III
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
online at http://www.spokesman-recorder.com/News/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=18217&sID=4
Originally posted 11/7/2002
Corporate interests, neighborhood residents
face off over proposal to expand Lake Street access to I-35W
First of a two-part story
According to an October 11 Star Tribune article, the 2000 Census
showed that Minneapolis and St. Paul were two of the only Midwestern
cities to gain population from 1990 to 2000. The census also seems
to indicate that the growth occurred more in the downtown and inner
city areas than in the suburbs.
Immigrants, particularly from Asian and African countries, made
up a large part of the population increase. Population projections
into the future show Minneapolis gaining more than a million new
residents in the coming decades.
Most agree that now is the time for Minneapolis to plan for the
population increase, and in particular to lay the groundwork for
efficient transportation.
One of the major questions is whether Minneapolis, in light of
the population projections, should be mass transit-based, or automobile
oriented, as Los Angeles is.
A group called the Phillips Partnership has drafted proposals that
seem to favor an automobile-based Minneapolis, and will have considerable
impact in South Minneapolis, particularly in the Phillips neighborhood.
The Phillips Partnership website lists its members as "...top
executives of prominent corporations and non-profit organizations,
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, Metropolitan Council Chair Ted Mondale,
and Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin. Commissioner
McLaughlin and Jim Campbell, retired CEO of Wells Fargo, serve as
the Partnership's Co-chairs."
The firm Smith-Parker is handling public relations for the Partnership.
The Partnership proposes to construct a southbound exit ramp and
a northbound entrance ramp off of I-35W at Lake Street, and an off-ramp
from northbound I-35W to 28th St. The proposal also calls for additional
lanes on Lake Street, an 18-foot-wide median on Lake, and converting
some currently one-way streets, like Blaisdell, to two-lane traffic.
To a South Minneapolis neighborhood organization called the Southside
Transit Initiative for Determining our Environment (STRIDE), the
proposal raises more questions and concerns than it offers solutions.
STRIDE stresses that the "I-35 Access Project" is skewed
overwhelmingly in favor of the corporate interests involved, as
illustrated by the Phillips Partnership's membership. They maintain
that the project is not being done for the good of neighborhood
residents, but rather to make it easier for suburban commuters to
come into the Phillips neighborhood to take jobs from the community.
STRIDE member Jeff Carlson believes that most of the initial impetus
for the access project came from concerns aired by Abbott-Northwestern
Hospital. "They said their patients and employees weren't comfortable
driving in that neighborhood, so they wanted ramps that would come
right to their parking lot... That was back when Minneapolis was
called 'Murderopolis,' but a lot of the neighborhood has turned
around."
The practical effect for the new residents reflected in the Census
can be seen by anyone who looks on Nicollet Avenue between 24th
Street and Lake. Where previously that stretch and others nearby
were run down and crime-ridden, today they are populated by thriving
businesses owned and run largely by Hispanic, Asian, African and
Middle Eastern immigrants. STRIDE credits the recent immigrants
for turning that area around and creating a healthy local economy.
Minneapolis City Council Member Robert Lilligren echoes this when
he says, "...an economy and a culture, and a kind of a mosaic
is developing, a kind of a mixed culture, and it's developing its
own economic roots and engines." Lilligren goes on to express
concern about how building ramps and widening Lake Street might
be a negative factor working against that mixed culture.
Lilligren says he has his doubts that Minneapolis needs to develop
a "regional economy" that would serve primarily to make
the areas accessible to suburbanites at the expense of the people
who actually live there.
However, Tom Johnson of Smith-Parker says, "This project does
not contain elements that are negative to those neighborhoods."
Johnson also maintains that the plans so far have met with the approval
of most area residents and businesses. STRIDE contradicts this and
lists on its website a number of area neighborhood groups that have
expressed their disapproval of the plans for the Phillips neighborhood.
One of STRIDE's main objections is to the plans proposed for Lake
Street.
Says STRIDE member David Piehl, "We believe the widening of
Lake Street will cause Lake Street to lose pedestrian appeal, which
in turn negatively affects the pedestrian orientation which serves
the local community." Piehl also believes that entrance and
exit ramps in the community will serve to create physical barriers
for the area residents, making it necessary to use cars to get around
in their own neighborhood.
Johnson, however, says, "We are criticized because of what
we propose as changes on Lake Street...because of on and off ramps.
We are proposing no additional driving lanes, only turning lanes
and wider sidewalks with an 18-foot median." Johnson says that
the median will provide a safe place for pedestrians who cannot
cross Lake Street in one traffic light cycle. The medians would
also have trees and plants to make them look more appealing.
STRIDE's Carlson calls the effort to "revitalize Lake"
a phony issue, as Lake Street is already vital.
Critics charge that the proposal for the Phillips neighborhood
would be like a South Minneapolis Hollman Project: present low-income
residents would be forced out with no provision made for their needs.
At the same time, the neighborhood would be remade into something
that would be attractive for suburbanites.
Critics also maintain that the "improvements" would induce
suburban commuters to come into the city for jobs that would not
be made available to the area residents. These commuters would then
take their incomes back with them to the suburbs, harming the economic
base of a neighborhood that is starting to find its own way financially.
Smith-Parker's Johnson dismisses such claims: "It's clear
that opponents are picking out bits and pieces of the plan, and
then telling stories about those pieces that are far-fetched...
Residents and businesses have received calls from opponents that
are making them uncomfortable. And they're getting personal with
the attacks on me."
STRIDE's Piehl and Scott Smedberg respond by asking other questions.
They wonder, "Why is a public works project being pushed by
a public relations law firm? Why did they hire a lobbyist instead
of a community organizer or community group?"
Next week: the answer to "Why is a public works project being
pushed by a public relations law firm?" and other questions.
Also: the players and the stakes.
Tom Johnson may be reached at 612-344-1500.
STRIDE's website address is http://www.stride-mn.org
Isaac Peterson III welcomes reader comments at ipeterson@spokesman-recorder.com
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