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Part II: 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=18645&sID=4
Originally posted 11/14/2002
Is the project's goal simply access, or is it
a major freeway expansion?
Conclusion of a two-part story
As reported last week in part one of this story, the proposed expansion
project for I-35W and Lake Street is a hot-button issue with serious
ramifications for the neighborhoods affected by the project. There
is a great deal of animosity and hostility between the two sides:
the corporate, city and county officials who are in favor of the
project, and neighborhood residents and tenants who oppose it.
Interestingly, depending upon whom one talks to, there is even
disagreement over what to call the project. Opponents tend to call
it I-35 and Lake Street "expansion," while its prime movers
insist that it be called I-35 "access." This distinction
may seem insignificant, but as we will see, it is huge.
The origin of the conflict can be traced back to the construction
of I-35 several decades ago. The project was constructed in a way
that was awkward, disruptive, and inconvenient to the area's residents.
Former Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles-Belton favored reworking
the access to the area in what current City Council Member Robert
Lilligren says was an attempt at social justice for the area residents.
He notes that "She [Sayles-Belton] promoted it as a 'remedy'
to social injustice, bringing a ramp there because the area didn't
get one originally." The oversight that Sayles Belton wanted
to correct was a lack of ramps connecting Lake Street businesses
and neighborhoods to I-35.
At or near the time that the former mayor was backing that plan,
Abbott Northwestern Hospital was funding a study of traffic in the
Phillips neighborhood. Some parties, both from the private and public
sectors, apparently concluded that new construction was needed on
more than just Lake Street.
Before long, the project that Sayles-Belton advocated had transformed
into a long-term redesign of I-35W, which would include entrance
and exit ramps on 26th, 28th, and 38th Streets, and High Occupancy
Vehicle (HOV) lanes on I-35. The project would not begin for several
years, and the cost estimates were in the neighborhood of $150 million.
The law firm Smith Parker was contracted to manage the project.
We reported last week that Smith Parker is a public relations firm.
Tom Johnson informs us, "Smith Parker is not a public relations
law firm... Smith Parker is a public-spirited law firm focusing
on public/private partnerships, water resources, labor and employment,
commercial litigation and public law."
Johnson himself, however, is not an attorney, but does have public
relations in his background, and is the manager in charge of the
project.
Johnson says, "Personally, I have more than 30 years of experience
in several public policy areas including transportation. During
these years, I have become very experienced in legislative relations,
marketing and public affairs. It is because of this background that
the Phillips Partnership and Hennepin County has contracted with
Smith Parker for the management of this project."
As noted previously, there is opposition from neighborhood residents
and business owners to the plan as it stands now. In a letter addressed
to Governor Ventura's chief of staff dated August 17, 2001, Sayles-Belton
complained that, "As has been voiced many times, residents
have strong feelings about the way Interstate 35W divided their
neighborhoods when constructed in the 1960's, causing significant
social, environmental and economic decay. To make matters worse,
the freeway was not designed to be very accessible to them."
Further into the letter, Sayles-Belton wrote, "Additionally,
Mn/DOT's [Minnesota Department of Transportation's] new expansion
proposals pose a significant breach of trust with our neighborhoods
and residents who were told that the project proposal is an access
project and not a project that would add freeway lanes. Had they
known in the beginning that Mn/DOT would be piggybacking on the
project in order to add lanes, their view toward the Project would
have undoubtedly been different."
Tom Johnson's reaction to the letter is, "...MnDOT's response
was to continue their requirement that space be available for future
HOV lanes. The Access Project does not propose these additional
lanes, nor does it support them... Currently, MnDOT describes their
vision for improving transportation capacity on I-35W at HOV lanes,
but when they actually have the funding and are able to initiate
a proposal, it might take the form of bus lanes or LRT, rather than
HOV lanes, no one knows."
Some area residents are complaining that they have been subjected
to high-pressure tactics in an effort to coerce their approval for
the project. Allegations include stacking neighborhood groups and
their meetings with elected and corporate officials who favor the
project, threats and intimidation, and "quid pro quo"
offers - favors in exchange for votes.
One opponent of the project who is willing to be named is Tom McGreevy,
owner of the Pearle Vision Center near the intersection of Lake
Street and I-35W. He spoke of a June 2002 business association meeting
intended for neighborhood residents and business owners to discuss
the proposed project. "This meeting was to be just for us,
so I purposely didn't invite Tom Johnson... He called me and asked
why he wasn't invited, and read me the riot act. He was pretty hot,
and was saying, 'I am the director of this project.'"
McGreevy went on to claim that Johnson then proposed a meeting
with just himself, Johnson, and a public official. McGreevy felt
that the purpose of the meeting was to try to bully him into going
along with the project.
McGreevy, who says that more than half of his clients are low-income
people on Medical Assistance, also tells of an experience with Hennepin
County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin. He recounts a July 2001 meeting
at which McLaughlin was present: "During the meeting at St.
Mary's, Commissioner McLaughlin stated that he had told Wells Fargo
that if they were to acquire the Honeywell campus he would try to
get them access. McLaughlin said 'How would the county look to other
businesses looking to come into our area if we can't deliver on
this?'
"My perspective of the project and motivation for the same
changed at that meeting," McGreevy says. "I believe that
the primary reason for the project is not as McLaughlin had said
at our first PAC (Project Advisory Committee) meeting. The primary
reason for the project is access to big businesses."
In rebuttal, McLaughlin says, "I have never made the statement
attributed to me...nor anything resembling it... I have made no
deals and do not apologize in any way for exploring the potential
for better access to and from South Minneapolis for residents and
workers. To suggest that I then got Wells Fargo to make a multi-million
dollar purchase based on an access ramp is absurd. I wish I had
that much influence over private capital investments."
Johnson adds, "As the record shows, the PAC has overwhelmingly
supported the preferred ramp location alternatives and all other
project decisions such as its design and the scope and detail of
the mitigation/enhancement measures... The insinuation that 'deals
have been offered in exchange for votes' is clearly a fabrication.
It is untrue, undeserved, and, given the level of support given
this Project by PAC members, unnecessary."
At Tom Johnson's insistence, we attempted to speak with business
owners in the area whom he says are supporters of the project. We
were unable to obtain comment from the owner of Sports Image, one
of the businesses Johnson urged us to contact. Another, the owner
of Edna Realty, told us she was tired of people harassing her about
the project, and refused to speak with us.
We did contact Jeff Smith, the owner of the McDonald's at the intersection
of Lake Street and I-35W. When we asked if Smith supported the project,
he replied, "I'm torn between yes and no. I believe that we
need to have access. The current system we have is dangerous...
It sends a lot of traffic through the neighborhood. On the other
hand, I don't like what's happening to me, personally; I'm going
to lose my business, and I just hope there is some way to stay in
the neighborhood."
Smith expressed that he has been in business at the same location
since the early 1970s, and has several long-term employees. He told
us, "I love this location, and I just hope there is some way
that I can stay... Ten or 12 years ago crime was bad, but it's gotten
a lot better around here the last few years."
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