Yesterday was an especially wonderful day me. First it was by birthday but that was not the good part. The wonderful part was that I received an invitation by Diane Hofstede, our city council member, to attend and participate in the Figg Bridge Design Charette. This was an all day event where the designers of the new I35W bridge presented the options and allowed us to discuss it, lobby each other in the room and then vote for our preference.
This was a rewarding experience especially for me since I have been all over the board on this thing. First I was curious, then anti bridge, then came acceptance of it being built and back to wanting something spectacular and back again to disappointment that it would be boring and finally to acceptance and now at least partial excitement. Do I need meds or what???
During the emotional roller coaster one of my fears has been that we would pull the typical Minnesota thing and miss the last field goal and end up with a boring bridge. I went to some meetings that confirmed my fears so I was against building it at all. I still think there are other options than rebuilding but the "not build" discussion never happened so I decided I might as well get used to that and see what they intend to build. Then they unveil this slab of BORING concrete. I wanted something like the Golden Gate. A monument to what I don't know but something beautiful that people would recognized like the Golden Gate, or the Sydney Opera House, or the Sears Tower, or the Empire State Building, the Guggenheim in Bilbao but no, this is Minnesota, we only deserve a slab of concrete. I think I need to clarify here, yes 12 folks were killed on that bridge. This was a direct result of neglect by our lovely Republican mentality of "cut everything we can, keep all the money we earn, screw everyone else as long as I get mine, government is a bad thing" mentality. People are killed everyday in our nations cities and I have yet to see a memorial to them, also innocent victims. So I ask, if there is to be a memorial to the lives lost on the bridge, why is there no memorial to the victims of violent crimes in our cities?
Next is the Third Ward Summit and Linda Figg of Figg Bridge Design and Jon Chiglo of MNDOT are there to present the concept of the new bridge and thoughts that went into it. I will have to say Jon Chiglo was incredibly patient in answering the relentless questions of why it has to be so BORING. Finally he made a statement that at least made sense to me, at least it was a thought process about design rather than just being cheap. I don't agree but at least it was thought out or at least they found a way to make it look thought out. Jon Chiglo said, with all the other art on the river; the Stone Arch Bridge, Guthrie Theater, Mill City Museum, Third Ave Bridge and Hennepin Ave Bridge, anything dramatic would over power the rest and fight the rest for attention. Okay, at least they appear to have thought about this and I will not have any effect in changing this line of thought. So it is what it is. Who said that Joan???
Then I get the invite to help select the subtle design elements of the bridge. Okay here is my chance to either shut up or put up, I put up. I counted at one time 54 folks in the room and many were non voters so in the end about 40 of us decided the finer details of the new bridge. Linda Figg did a great job, listened to what everyone said, answered questions when they were asked of her, otherwise the presentation, discussion and voting appeared to have no predetermined outcome. Needless to say they had their own preferences but still we were the ones to vote and make the final decisions.
Fox9 news interviewed me and of course typical of them, took the most sensational quote and used it. How did we end up with a media that no longer cares about facts and substance and only about sensationalism? This is the second time they have interviewed about something and then chopped until they had something sensational they could use. If asked I won't let them interview me again, lesson learned. A reporter from the Star Tribune also quoted me incorrectly. I was making a case at one point for a solid wall barrier rather than open railing on the bridge for two reasons. 1-Are you going to be viewing the river in heavy traffic, changing lanes and at 60 miles an hour? I hope not. 2-MNDOT has shown a complete lack of understanding that things need maintenance so why put up something that will be rusted and ugly in a short time? However after listening to other participants I changed my mind and said so publicly, but still they printed that I was for the solid wall. I guess I have to write a letter to the editor for that one. You sure can't believe what you read in the papers can you? I think it is all sensational BS.
In the end the bridge will be sleek, unobtrusive, with a lot of curves and hopefully some nice lighting to enhance the gentleness of it.
I just wonder what Jon Chiglo is thinking? Does he really feel his department is doing a good job or does he simply believe he is doing that best he can with the resources he has? I would love an honest conversation with him.
FYI: Still the signs downtown directing us to HWY 55 do not exist.
Last night we had a fundraiser for Diane Hofstede and the array of people who came was very interesting. We had 125-150 in our home for a couple of hours drinking, eating and talking. I asked our Senate Majority leader, Larry Pogemiller to check into this sign issue downtown even though it is not his issue, he promised he would. No one seems willing to take responsibility for this and it really is a problem that has a simple solution. The city says it is the responsibility of the county since the signs go on county roads, the county says it is the responsibility of the state since it is marking a state highway, how the hell does anyone ever get anything done, this I want to know? I should just get back to selling houses and forget this community agitation thing.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Saturday, October 6, 2007
More on MNDOT and their plan to control us
One thing that I have noticed is that MNDOT has become an agency of our government that is determined to force us to hate them. I can say this, they are incredibly successful at this at least, if nothing else.
Okay so you all know our bridge feel in the river due to neglect, right?
They held one community meeting after another to find out what they can do to make our lives easier during the time of adjustment. No bridge over the river means all those folks from Apple Valium that need to get to Blaine are driving through our peaceful riverside neighborhoods desperately trying to not get shot in the big bad city and still find their way back to the sameness of the burbs.
One of my comments at a "forum" that actually drew applause from the audience was "please fix the signs" "Especially if you are in downtown Minneapolis and want to find I94 going east or Hwy 55 going east, there are NO signs. Now you may think I am exaggerating...well I am telling you drive it, there are NO SIGNS AT ALL." Applause.
Now over a month later, actually almost two months later, guess what they did? You guessed it, they did what they could to confuse folks further. You see access to I94 is on 6th street a one way and access to Hwy55 is on 8th, a parallel one way. Still no signs on 6th directing you to I94 but if you make the mistake of going down 8th, there are signs pointing to the left directing you to I94, however it does not tell you after you follow the arrow that when you get to 6th you have found it and you need to turn right, Oh No, that would make sense and that is not in the lexicon of this department. Does this sound confusing and ignorant, well yes and no. Confusing yes, ignorant no. This is not considered ignorant at least not for a department that is housed in a building in St. Paul with 1200 pound sections of the siding ready to fall on passersby. To them this makes perfect sense. You can still drive down 8th street, enter hwy55 and go over a mile before there is a sign to tell you what road you are on. I am not kidding you. This is a modern American city in the 21st century.
Driving East on I94 in spaghetti junction there is a sign to switch lanes and exit for I35W, and then as soon as you do exit to the other portion of the freeway mess, guess what? Correct, there is a detour sign, back to where you just came from. Of course, makes sense to Who I don't know. Now all of this lane switching in such a congested area is not only stupid but unsafe, are they just trying to piss us off and maybe kill a few more folks? I hope they are not successful in killing more but they have been successful in pissing off some of us anyway.
Now coming in to downtown Minneapolis from HWY55 there were two signs directing you to get in the proper lanes for I35w. One is a huge one that easily covers three lanes of traffic the other is a simple one the size of a no a parking sign. Guess what????....that took a leap of guessing but yes you are right the big one is beyond the little one and the little is the only one covered, the big one is still there, visible from a great distance directing folks to I35w North, as soon as you get ready to make that exit or merge, the orange cones and road closed signs are telling you that you can't do what the sign just told you to do.
This is a grand plan to persuade us by confusing us and irritating us that we need this bridge to be rebuilt and as fast as possible, just in case we all find out that we really don't need it.
Needless to say I am not done on this subject and tomorrow will probably be more rantings and ravings on this topic. All I have to do is get in the car or walk down the street and MNDOT has the ability to piss me to the bone.
Okay so you all know our bridge feel in the river due to neglect, right?
They held one community meeting after another to find out what they can do to make our lives easier during the time of adjustment. No bridge over the river means all those folks from Apple Valium that need to get to Blaine are driving through our peaceful riverside neighborhoods desperately trying to not get shot in the big bad city and still find their way back to the sameness of the burbs.
One of my comments at a "forum" that actually drew applause from the audience was "please fix the signs" "Especially if you are in downtown Minneapolis and want to find I94 going east or Hwy 55 going east, there are NO signs. Now you may think I am exaggerating...well I am telling you drive it, there are NO SIGNS AT ALL." Applause.
Now over a month later, actually almost two months later, guess what they did? You guessed it, they did what they could to confuse folks further. You see access to I94 is on 6th street a one way and access to Hwy55 is on 8th, a parallel one way. Still no signs on 6th directing you to I94 but if you make the mistake of going down 8th, there are signs pointing to the left directing you to I94, however it does not tell you after you follow the arrow that when you get to 6th you have found it and you need to turn right, Oh No, that would make sense and that is not in the lexicon of this department. Does this sound confusing and ignorant, well yes and no. Confusing yes, ignorant no. This is not considered ignorant at least not for a department that is housed in a building in St. Paul with 1200 pound sections of the siding ready to fall on passersby. To them this makes perfect sense. You can still drive down 8th street, enter hwy55 and go over a mile before there is a sign to tell you what road you are on. I am not kidding you. This is a modern American city in the 21st century.
Driving East on I94 in spaghetti junction there is a sign to switch lanes and exit for I35W, and then as soon as you do exit to the other portion of the freeway mess, guess what? Correct, there is a detour sign, back to where you just came from. Of course, makes sense to Who I don't know. Now all of this lane switching in such a congested area is not only stupid but unsafe, are they just trying to piss us off and maybe kill a few more folks? I hope they are not successful in killing more but they have been successful in pissing off some of us anyway.
Now coming in to downtown Minneapolis from HWY55 there were two signs directing you to get in the proper lanes for I35w. One is a huge one that easily covers three lanes of traffic the other is a simple one the size of a no a parking sign. Guess what????....that took a leap of guessing but yes you are right the big one is beyond the little one and the little is the only one covered, the big one is still there, visible from a great distance directing folks to I35w North, as soon as you get ready to make that exit or merge, the orange cones and road closed signs are telling you that you can't do what the sign just told you to do.
This is a grand plan to persuade us by confusing us and irritating us that we need this bridge to be rebuilt and as fast as possible, just in case we all find out that we really don't need it.
Needless to say I am not done on this subject and tomorrow will probably be more rantings and ravings on this topic. All I have to do is get in the car or walk down the street and MNDOT has the ability to piss me to the bone.
Friday, October 5, 2007
What am I missing?
Here we go for another post on my new Blog.
Needless to say something is bugging me and it is this crazy bridge debate we are having here in Minneapolis.
When I say what am I missing what I mean is "why are we rebuilding this bridge in the first place?"I am assuming everyone reading this knows I live in Minneapolis a few blocks from the I35W bridge that fell in the river at the beginning of last month.
At first with the increased traffic here in the neighborhood after that bridge fell, I wanted that bridge rebuilt Immediately. Now I am not sure about that. From what I have been reading there are several examples of bridges or freeways around the country that have been torn down or fallen down and never rebuilt. The resulting construction and development boom have proven, that rebuilding this bridge is a mistake. San Francisco had a bridge or double decker freeway that fell during the last big shaker in 1991 I think and it was not rebuilt. San Fran is not economically depressed and as a result the area where that freeway was has been redeveloped and is now a vibrant community. We could certainly use another vibrant community in NE Minneapolis.
My questions are; has anyone making these decisions ever been to Europe? What European City has freeways running through the middle of them? We are told to save downtown Minneapolis we need these freeways, I just wonder what the European cities did to save their cities? I would say European cities have fared much much (how many times can I say much without the buzzers going off) better than US cities, I wonder why this is? Is it because they have better mass transit and using transit is considered a viable option to owning two or three cars? Is it the chicken and egg thing then? Granted transit in the US and Minnesota leaves a lot to be desired, but with Republicans in control, how can anyone expect anything else. Marie said "let them eat cake" the Republicans say "let them drive an SUV."
The cost for this bridge is now approaching $400,000,000.00 and you can bet by the time it is built that number will be $500,000,000.00
Are you ready for the best part of this. The department that is going to be in charge of rebuilding this bridge is housed in a state building that is literally, and I am not kidding or exaggerating here, falling down. There has been scaffolding around the entrance of the Minnesota Department of Transportation building in St. Paul for over a year so pieces of the building will not fall off on people who are entering the building. An no, they are not working on it now, it is just sitting there because they have no money to fix it. Now let me remind you, this is not Tirana Albania in 1980, this is St. Paul Minnesota USA in 2007. Shocking, well maybe not considering who is running things here. Carol Molneau (I am not sure if I spelled her name correctly but frankly she does not deserve the respect of the time it takes to look it up), with absolutely no experience at managing a transportation department if anything else but she is the Lt. Governor. We also have the wonderful Tax Payers League here that of course wants absolutely no money spent on anything for anyone at anytime for any reason what so ever. They loved that fact that Gov. Pawlenty decided to save money in state salaries by having his Lt. Governor be head of MNDOT rather than sitting around twiddling her thumbs which of course is what she did anyway. Brilliant plan as you can all see, we have bridges falling down, buildings that are unsafe to enter for fear of pieces of it falling on you and a department that is now BROKE. WOW, brilliant move Gov. Pooolenty. When Gov. Ventura left office there was a big surplus of money and a trust fund that is now all GONE.
So the question is, have we all totally lost our minds, have we lost the ability to see things clearly, can we not see the forest for the trees, how many more cliches can I think of that do NOT work here?
I would love comments...
I am told I should save this post before I publish, but I say what the hay, here it is.
Needless to say something is bugging me and it is this crazy bridge debate we are having here in Minneapolis.
When I say what am I missing what I mean is "why are we rebuilding this bridge in the first place?"I am assuming everyone reading this knows I live in Minneapolis a few blocks from the I35W bridge that fell in the river at the beginning of last month.
At first with the increased traffic here in the neighborhood after that bridge fell, I wanted that bridge rebuilt Immediately. Now I am not sure about that. From what I have been reading there are several examples of bridges or freeways around the country that have been torn down or fallen down and never rebuilt. The resulting construction and development boom have proven, that rebuilding this bridge is a mistake. San Francisco had a bridge or double decker freeway that fell during the last big shaker in 1991 I think and it was not rebuilt. San Fran is not economically depressed and as a result the area where that freeway was has been redeveloped and is now a vibrant community. We could certainly use another vibrant community in NE Minneapolis.
My questions are; has anyone making these decisions ever been to Europe? What European City has freeways running through the middle of them? We are told to save downtown Minneapolis we need these freeways, I just wonder what the European cities did to save their cities? I would say European cities have fared much much (how many times can I say much without the buzzers going off) better than US cities, I wonder why this is? Is it because they have better mass transit and using transit is considered a viable option to owning two or three cars? Is it the chicken and egg thing then? Granted transit in the US and Minnesota leaves a lot to be desired, but with Republicans in control, how can anyone expect anything else. Marie said "let them eat cake" the Republicans say "let them drive an SUV."
The cost for this bridge is now approaching $400,000,000.00 and you can bet by the time it is built that number will be $500,000,000.00
Are you ready for the best part of this. The department that is going to be in charge of rebuilding this bridge is housed in a state building that is literally, and I am not kidding or exaggerating here, falling down. There has been scaffolding around the entrance of the Minnesota Department of Transportation building in St. Paul for over a year so pieces of the building will not fall off on people who are entering the building. An no, they are not working on it now, it is just sitting there because they have no money to fix it. Now let me remind you, this is not Tirana Albania in 1980, this is St. Paul Minnesota USA in 2007. Shocking, well maybe not considering who is running things here. Carol Molneau (I am not sure if I spelled her name correctly but frankly she does not deserve the respect of the time it takes to look it up), with absolutely no experience at managing a transportation department if anything else but she is the Lt. Governor. We also have the wonderful Tax Payers League here that of course wants absolutely no money spent on anything for anyone at anytime for any reason what so ever. They loved that fact that Gov. Pawlenty decided to save money in state salaries by having his Lt. Governor be head of MNDOT rather than sitting around twiddling her thumbs which of course is what she did anyway. Brilliant plan as you can all see, we have bridges falling down, buildings that are unsafe to enter for fear of pieces of it falling on you and a department that is now BROKE. WOW, brilliant move Gov. Pooolenty. When Gov. Ventura left office there was a big surplus of money and a trust fund that is now all GONE.
So the question is, have we all totally lost our minds, have we lost the ability to see things clearly, can we not see the forest for the trees, how many more cliches can I think of that do NOT work here?
I would love comments...
I am told I should save this post before I publish, but I say what the hay, here it is.
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