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Some I-35W changes could be put on hold
published 05.28.03
online at http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3905178.html
by Steve Brandt
Star Tribune
Project officials have offered to delay some ramp changes to Interstate
Hwy. 35W in south Minneapolis by several years in order to address
state concerns about the cost of the $153 million project.
That means it might be 2015 before the E. 35th-36th Street ramps
are shifted south to E. 38th Street to allow safer merging and the
5th Avenue S. entrance is rebuilt to ease I-35W congestion. Those
suggested postponements would delay $50 million in work.
But leaders of the I-35W access project say they still are pressing
for the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to stay on
schedule with the project's centerpiece. That is the $103 million
rebuilding of two freeway ramps at Lake Street and the addition
of three new ones, plus auxiliary freeway changes. Project officials
would like to finish those ramps by 2008.
Some neighborhood representatives say the proposed delay confirms
their feeling that the state lacks the money to do the full project.
Others say the possible delay has them fearing they'll have to fight
the same battles over the controversial project years from now.
On Tuesday, project manager Tom Johnson told a business-neighborhood
advisory committee that project officials expect to hear from the
administration of Gov. Tim Pawlenty after the Legislature adjourns.
Johnson, an employee of the Smith Parker law firm that manages
development of the freeway access proposal for Hennepin County,
said state officials had expressed concern over the size of the
project in a series of meetings. Those meetings were held both with
Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau, who also is the state transportation commissioner,
and with the governor and his staff. Neither the governor's office
nor the department returned calls on the matter Tuesday.
Project officials say they expect that U.S. highway officials would
require a commitment by MnDOT to eventually fund the entire project
before giving federal approval for the project. The tentative project
budget calls for the state to provide $98 million and the federal
government $45 million, with local governments splitting the balance.
Although some of that has been committed, much remains to be secured.
The project has been supported by several large south Minneapolis
employers, some Lake Street businesses and several neighborhoods
that believe improved access between the freeway and Lake Street
would revive the area's fortunes.
But some business owners and neighborhood activists say they fear
the effects of the project.
38th Street divisions
Those divisions are sharp at the proposed E. 38th Street ramp. Advocates
say shifting the 35th-36th ramps south to 38th is needed to eliminate
a tricky situation where drivers entering and exiting the freeway
between E. 31st and 35th streets have about 700 feet in which to
weave past each other.
Representatives from the Central and Bryant neighborhoods east
of the freeway have said that the proposed ramps would improve business
on 38th. The Lyndale neighborhood on the west has generally supported
shifting traffic off 35th and 36th streets. But the Kingfield neighborhood
has strongly opposed the traffic changes a ramp shift to 38th would
bring.
Bryant representative Liz Riley said Tuesday she fears a delay
would mean refighting those battles.
"If you drop much of this and you pick it up in 2015, there's
going to be different faces around the table. . . . Whoever hollers
loud enough and has the most advocates will win," she said.
Kingfield representative Jeanne Massey said her neighborhood long
has doubted that the state has enough money to shift ramps to 38th.
She said her neighborhood would rather see money spent to dampen
the impact of the 35th and 36th street ramps on nearby homes and
businesses.
Scott McBride, representing project engineering consultant SEH,
said the Lake Street changes would bring some improvement in the
cross-weave problem. But he said traffic simulations indicate that
the 38th ramps and revisions to the 5th Avenue ramp need to be completed
by 2015 to avoid clogging the freeway.
Steve Brandt is at 612-673-4438 or sbrandt@startribune.com.
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