What the Met Council Sees
Dakota and Scott Counties are fucking pissed at the Metropolitan Council because funding for alleviating traffic woes in the South Metro is going to other areas first and leaving us, more or less, up the Minnesota River without a paddle.
There are some serious traffic problems in the South Metro that the Met Council feels can be lifted with such fantastic wastes of time, space, money, and energy as Bus Rapid Transit which the Cedar Corridor will be outfitted with in the coming months and the ever so fucking stupid toll lanes on I-35W.
Now, I understand that a limited amount of money needs to fund various projects around the metro. Believe me, I’m realistic. My beef lies solely with the choices that the Met Council is forcing upon South Metro cities. I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that forcing a business out of town and then putting up a mostly empty parking lot while planning on building more parking lots next to bus stops which terminate at the Mall of America is a good idea. And, if you happen to read the article above, please note that at the time people were still riding the bus to work because gas prices were high. Now that they are hovering around $1.94/gallon, the buses I take are usually half-empty. Nice.
Plenty of people, including the Apple Valley City Council aren’t too sure that the proposed transit changes will work. I’m really wondering how they feel that dumping people off at the Mall of America to ride packed trains downtown will somehow fix the traffic woes of the Cedar Corridor for the next 5 to 10 (and possibly 20) years. I’m sure that the I-35W toll lanes will be a huge hit, just like the current HOV lanes are — nothing like a near empty lane next to you while you sit idle in traffic crossing another possibly weakened structure crossing a river.
Do you believe that the South Metro is getting the shaft or do you believe that the money is being appropriated fairly? Should the plans being proposed for BRT and toll lanes in Dakota County be rethought to make better use of the funding available? Perhaps you have some other completely different ideas… Personally, I believe that Scott County’s Bob Vogel says it best when he simply stated that this entire mess is, “absolute stupidity.” What do you think?
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November 11th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
You’ve just reminded me of how very lucky I am to live half a mile from my office.
November 12th, 2008 at 8:34 am
And I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one making the comment that now that gas has (for the time being) dropped in price, all those “serious” efforts at conservation by everyone are now history…all over the country, not just here. It was a “serious” issue only when it directly affected everyone’s pocketbooks. Now pardon me while I resume my shopping for a Chevy Suburban…
November 12th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
The Met Council is supposed to be regional. I can see how movement within the loop is regional: You can’t get from Lakeville to Plymouth or from Woodbury to Delano without transversing the loop. And the Met Council is doing what it can to help the south metro, but until MNDot decides to build more bridges across the river (connect Hwy 13 to Normandale/Hwy 100, and another “local” bridge connecting Portland Avenue), theres crap they can do of “regional” signifigance. Build out county road 42? Cedar Freeway to Northfield? How is any of that not strictly the job of Dakota County?
November 12th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
The train doesn’t seem to be any less crowded than it’s been for the last couple of years, FWIW. I know sometimes that the ridership can change significantly in a very short timeframe; the one I ride in the AM usually has full seats past Fort Snelling, but I’ve rode it just a little bit later and earlier and there were fewer riders.
This could tie into why the buses are emptier, but I suspect as you do that it’s because of the price of gas going down (though I haven’t seen a decrease on the bus I ride from MOA to the stop by my house) near the same time as the fare going up. For some people, $5.50 a day (and you’re not even guaranteed a seat) isn’t worth it when other considerations are factored in, though I personally find it hard to comprehend.
November 13th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
At least Dakota County has some semblance of bus transit. In Scott County it is nearly non-existant. The Shakopee/Prior Lake/Savage option is the BluXpress and that’s been around for all of 18 months. There needs to be some teamwork in the south metro to push for some real options. ANd the idea of another empty toll lane is ridiculous. Hell, the existing carpool lane (where it exists on 35W) is, for the most part, empty during rush hour.