Councilman Zimmerman has a letter about the 35W Access Project in today's Strib:
from the Star Tribune letter to the editor sections at http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/3443174.html ****** The Fantasy World of the 35W Access Project met the Real World last night at Horn Terrace. The residents, all pedestrians, many of them disabled had a lot of questions about how this auto-centric project will change their neighborhood. Will waiting on a median in the middle of a widened Lake Street be as pleasurable as the the Access Process people say it is? They wanted to know if snow and ice will be kept clear of sidewalks and the median. They wanted to know how many pedestrians could fit on a median...especially if they were in wheelchairs. One woman said she would be scared of taking the elevator in the middle of the bridge to the transit station. Picture yourself doing this...especially at night and you'll see what she means. A man asked how the project will effect wind on Lake Street...will the destruction of existing structures create a "Venturi effect" under the bridge? this is not a small matter for pedestrians when you consider that an increase in wind speed at sub-zero temperatures can create dangerous wind chill. Did they conduct wind tunnel tests? I asked about the danger of the bus lane criss-cross. We were told that a crash would be impossible because of signals and careful bus drivers. The Horn Terrace residents did not share the confidence of the Project Manager....they had seen bus drivers run red lights and almost run them down. I brought up the problem of air quality in the transit station...will a transit station in the middle of the freeway, four lanes of cars on each side become a toxic gas chamber for transit riders? Look for more Real World questions at the Stride Web site; http://www.stride-mn.org Ken Avidor STRIDE Kingfield _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
