Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/conrad-defiebre/page/5/)
When Minnesota officials of the former state highway department began planning a repaving project on Hwy. 61 in White Bear Lake recently, they told the city they couldn’t do anything to improve the median strip, widen an adjacent sidewalk or accommodate bicyclists. That got the attention of advocates for active transportation, who pointed to a 2010 state law that requires consideration of all travel modes and all abilities in every road project.
In Cheesehead Land to our east, officials are getting ready to try clearing ice from Wisconsin roadways with something called cheese brine, a water-salt mixture used in producing mozzarella and oth Continue Reading
While libertarian-leaning Minnesota trailed the nation in cracking down on drunken drivers and seat-belt scofflaws, it was well ahead of the curve in banning texting while driving. Whatever the reason—legislators may have felt less blowback from young mobile device early adopters than from imbibers and non-clickers of all ages—we were among the first states to outlaw at least one very dangerous behavior behind the wheel. Continue Reading
An associate of mine with a rich background in politics says his favorite characters in the movie “Lincoln” are the “fixers.” This motley band of bagmen procured, with federal appointments, outright bribery and Honest Abe’s acquiescence, enough votes in Congress to send a proposed constitutional amendment outlawing slavery to the state legislatures in the waning days of the Civil War. It was enacted as the 13th Amendment a year later.
Just as the City of Minneapolis is promoting a fourth public open house to present and discuss options for streetcars or enhanced bus service along Nicollet and Central Avenues, the respectable blog streets.mn has taken a hard shot at the economic wisdom of investing about $200 million in slow, shiny trolleys along two of the city’s major commercial spines. Continue Reading
Partly in the sense of the familiar Chinese curse, these are interesting times for America’s passenger railroad, Amtrak. Continue Reading
Overlooked in my article Thursday about Minneapolis’ burgeoning bikeway system was the Dinkytown Greenway, which celebrates its grand opening Sunday. Continue Reading
A Washington newspaper published an op-ed the other day Continue Reading
You’ve probably heard of transit-oriented development, the well known idea that jobs, retail and housing should locate along new transit lines whose improved mobility and access bring more people into the corridors. We see that in spades where the Central Corridor Green Line light rail will link the Minneapolis and St. Paul downtowns next year. It’s already drawn hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of development plans along once-rundown University Avenue. Continue Reading
Minnesota units of government from the state to townships spend $5 billion a year on transportation, the overwhelming majority of it on roads and bridges. With U.S. motorways now drawing only about half their financing from user fees such as fuel and registration taxes, at least $2 billion in non-user subsidies, largely from local property taxes, make up the difference in Minnesota. It’s welfare on wheels. Continue Reading