U, Met Council negotiations over light rail hit stumbling block

Peter Bell should be the last person to accuse another party of arrogance! I have personally "negotiated" with him only to see him take the Low Road by seeking out a weak link in my organization to conclude negotiations with - and "win" as a result. Shame on me for trusting him. Of course this light rail toy of Bell's (in a totally useless corridor where no real congestion problems will be addressed) amounts to nothing more than a legacy for Bell to match the (equaly useless) Ted Mondale toy/legacy - the Hiawatha Line.

This is indeed arrogance on the part of the University. They had plenty of opportunity to participate in the design of this project very early in the project when routes were being discussed.

Further, federal guidelines dictate certain criteria that must be met to qualify for feceral funding.

If the University wants to continue delaying the project, maybe they should come up with the 450+ million dollars in federal funds that will be lost.

Arrogance

The Pioneer Press has done a pretty good job of staying on top of this situation.
There was an earlier article reporting the details of the lawsuit in which General Counsel Rotenberg is quoted:
While saying [General Counsel Rotenberg] the U was working with the Met Council to make the budget work, "It's fundamentally not the U's responsibility to come up with a budget that is adequate to the project that they want to build."
These are stupid, arrogant, and insensitive words to use, Mr. Rotenberg. They will come back to haunt you. Wait until you hear something like this from the legislature: "It's not the legislature's responsibility to come up with a budget that is adequate for the buildings they want to build."
Unfortunately, the injection of the state legislature seems to be required here. Lack of leadership AND common sense at the U seems to be the problem. Dr. Bruininks is due to retire coincident with our going over the financial cliff at the U. Perhaps he should retire immediately so that a new leader could be selected who would have time to adjust before disaster strikes? If we had good leadership at the U the light rail situation would not have degenerated to its current state.
Active intervention by the legislature is the only thing that has kept tuition from going even higher in the past. Perhaps the legislature can help get the job done in this case?

The U needs more time to decide and this decision should not be rushed. As President Obama once said, "I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you in the harm's way," the same should be said of a hasty decision on ruining the U's transportation infastructure. The U needs more time, much more time.

Can I please restate this; " Hausman said. "It's not just St. Paul. It's Minneapolis and the whole state."

It should read, " Hausman said. "It's not just to completely ruin University Avenue in St. Paul. It's so the criminal element can come over from Minneapolis and the whole state can pay for his boondoggle."

I think that says it a little more accurately!

Joe Blow wrote:

Can I please restate this; " Hausman said. "It's not just St. Paul. It's Minneapolis and the whole state."
It should read, " Hausman said. "It's not just to completely ruin University Avenue in St. Paul. It's so the criminal element can come over from Minneapolis and the whole state can pay for his boondoggle."
I think that says it a little more accurately!

The criminal element? Surely, the Metro Gang Task force, Health insurance CEO's, and Wall Street Financiers won't be the only ones using the system, will they?

Joe Blow wrote:

Can I please restate this; " Hausman said. "It's not just St. Paul. It's Minneapolis and the whole state."
It should read, " Hausman said. "It's not just to completely ruin University Avenue in St. Paul. It's so the criminal element can come over from Minneapolis and the whole state can pay for his boondoggle."
I think that says it a little more accurately!

As if the "criminals" can't come over to either city already. University Ave is not going to be destroyed. It will be transformed. This isn't a mass-transit project, it's a development project. New buildings, new housing, and new businesses will come when this line is finished.

I love it when two unelected groups with tax powers get together to screw over the taxpayers........

The U and the Met Council are both bottomless rat-holes of government waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption. Both are bloated Soviet style bureaucracies whose only mission is to suck the taxpayers dry.

Jim in downtown wrote:

<quoted text>
As if the "criminals" can't come over to either city already. University Ave is not going to be destroyed. It will be transformed. This isn't a mass-transit project, it's a development project. New buildings, new housing, and new businesses will come when this line is finished.

Yes, I realize that. Just look at the Hiawatha line (that was shoved down our collective throats) and the new regulars at the MOA. I am very impressed by all of the NEW development that has taken place along Hiawatha. You support my post very well.

Joe Blow wrote:

<quoted text>
Yes, I realize that. Just look at the Hiawatha line (that was shoved down our collective throats) and the new regulars at the MOA. I am very impressed by all of the NEW development that has taken place along Hiawatha. You support my post very well.

Please note that a freeway was built along with the rail-lite...don't suppose that has anything to do with "development? Condemnation of scores of homes drove families out, mature woods were cut down, land sacred to the Souix was torn up, and we had the largest police action in Minnesota's history to push the project down the public's throats. It took the money men who build freeways and the money men who build useless rail to buy enough politicians to do this.

The U of M System is the single most powerful engine of real economic development in the state!!!! And the minorities who are being driven out of their neighborhoods, the small businesses that will be destroyed, MN Public Radio, and the historic churches should join with the U and slam this boondoggle.

Gee, another block to the LRT that Tiny Tim Pawlenty does not want.
Funny how that thing just can't get built by Gov.'Do Little'.

Neglect a freeway bridge till it falls down? no problem. Roll over on welfare stadiums for
billionaires? no problem. Cut medical services to the poorest and sickest citizens? no problem.

Already a river runs through it (The U.) and now it will be a train. Whoever sited it in the first place? It's just in the way.

Joe Blow wrote:

<quoted text>
Yes, I realize that. Just look at the Hiawatha line (that was shoved down our collective throats) and the new regulars at the MOA. I am very impressed by all of the NEW development that has taken place along Hiawatha. You support my post very well.

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/ward9/issues_...

"The Hiawatha line provided 9.1 million rides in 2006, an average of 27,000 per weekday. In the first half of 2008, Metro Transit reports a 16.2% increase and an average of 32,000 rides per weekday. Ridership levels have already exceeded the pre-construction estimate for the year 2020."

http://www.metrocouncil.org/about/facts/Hiawa...

"In 2008, Hiawatha LRT rider-ship topped 10 million for the first time, a gain of 12.3% over 2007."

"Before construction, planners had predicted the areas surrounding LRT would draw 7,000 new housing units by 2020. By 2008, more than 8,000 new housing units were open or under construction along the line, with another 7,700 proposed by developers."

I for one look forward to new developments like the Lyric Apartments that are under construction. Frogtown Crossing at Univ and Dale intersection.

Don't forget frequent service to the Crack Stacks....

First of all before I get to my comments, it should be noted that the following remarks are tinged with satire.

Anyway, I was just reading a book about St. Paul's history. Part of it mentioned that the very first light rail mass transit were horse drawn trolley cars that ran from downtown out to various points in early St. Paul. Maybe the Metro council should consider this form of light rail. Every station could double as a poop stop.

What could be more arrogant than Peter Bell admitting the U of M will be directly harmed by his personal monument, but then refusing to take financial responsiblity for the damage? Sounds very Republican to me. If the project is too poor to pay for the damage it will cause it is by definition DOA. Bell has negative credibility. I'm glad the U is standing up to the Met Council and Hausman. This project has such low ridership estimates that the feds will only participate at an untenable figure guaranteed to produce a sterile skeleton of a rail line. University Ave. will become as useless as Hiawatha has become. Hiawatha Ave. is practically a ghost street. The University Ave. and Snelling Ave. intersection will be a perpetual parking lot. Anything that stops this route will be a positive for Minnesota. This was a bad idea poorly executed, and if the U of M can put a stake in it, SKI-U-MA!

Jim in downtown wrote:

<quoted text>
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/ward9/issues_...
"The Hiawatha line provided 9.1 million rides in 2006, an average of 27,000 per weekday. In the first half of 2008, Metro Transit reports a 16.2% increase and an average of 32,000 rides per weekday. Ridership levels have already exceeded the pre-construction estimate for the year 2020."
http://www.metrocouncil.org/about/facts/Hiawa...
"In 2008, Hiawatha LRT rider-ship topped 10 million for the first time, a gain of 12.3% over 2007."
"Before construction, planners had predicted the areas surrounding LRT would draw 7,000 new housing units by 2020. By 2008, more than 8,000 new housing units were open or under construction along the line, with another 7,700 proposed by developers."
I for one look forward to new developments like the Lyric Apartments that are under construction. Frogtown Crossing at Univ and Dale intersection.

Sorry Jim, I guess I need to slow down even more than I am slowed by that Stupid train. I need to seek the spots you refer to along Hiawatha for the development you say is there since the train was installed.

I have been driving that stretch for over 50 years. I remember it when it was actually a bustling area. You are wrong, a Freeway was not "built". A road that has lots of stoplights controlled by a train, and causing a lot of wasted time was created.

BTW, I was working construction on the Hiawatha rail line 3 years before the Minnesota Legislature approved the proposal. And, mark you calendars, the tunnel to the airport was built with sub-standard concrete. The government knows this and has covered it up. You heard it here first. We will be paying greatly when this concrete fails in a few years.

I think I've got the answer. I'm working on a time machine that will allow us to go back to the time when you could hire Swedes for a dollar a day and all the whiskey they could drink.(James J. Hill: "Give me enough Swedes and enough whiskey and I'll build a railroad to hell.") Then we'll have them dig a comprehensive subway system all over the Twin Cities. When we go forward again in time and we check underground, we'll discover the tunnels, neatly lined with limestone, all in place, and all we'll have to do is add the tracks and power supply system.
I've got a few details to work out, but I don't think my plan can miss.

"The arrogance is just counterproductive to moving this project forward," Bell said Friday.

That's hilarious! The U of M has been an arrogant and self righteous institution since Ken Keller's days. The Met Council is is also one of the most arrogant units of government I have had the misfortune to have to work with as an employee of a local unit of government. Their attitude is always "their way or the highway." The two deserve each other.

The bottom line is that the tax payers are getting light rail shoved down their throats, along with the hefty annual subsidy to keep Bell's trains moving, and no matter how this dispute is resolved scarce resources will be wasted, the taxpayers will get shafted again, and many healthy small businesses along University will struggle to survive. Some will not and perhaps that's part of the master plan.