Tax First Ask Questions Later
Posted by Andy on August 19th, 2007
The Minnesota Majority has a new YouTube video that is must see.
No special session!
I just saw the DFL Chair on TV this morning talking about how the debate is over, and there is a consensus on the need for more money and tax increases. Brian Melendez is trying to capitalize on the tragedy just like the DFLers he represents as their party chair. Their ideas were rejected last session, and now they are trying to force Pawlenty to calling a special session so they can just go ahead and repass everything that didn’t make it last time.
All of which are issues that they did not run on last cycle. Yep the DFL is just trying to take the tragedy that is the 35W bridge collapse and use it to blame Pawlenty and Molnau, and guilt them into abandoning their principles.
Don’t call a special session. Don’t give the DFL another chance to force Big Government nanny-state laws upon Minnesotans. There’s plenty of money to fix this bridge.
And as I noticed last night on my way home from the Twins game. there’s no room for a light rail option. Where would it go? There’s already NO extra room where the 4 lanes north and south of the river go. And the new bridge is planned to have 5 lanes each way…. so where do the social engineers plan to run the never before dreamt light rail?
Don’t let the Democrats anywhere near the taxpayer’s wallets.
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August 20th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
“And as I noticed last night on my way home from the Twins game. there’s no room for a light rail option. Where would it go? There’s already NO extra room where the 4 lanes north and south of the river go. And the new bridge is planned to have 5 lanes each way…. so where do the social engineers plan to run the never before dreamt light rail?”
hey Andy, ever been to NYC?
ever ridden the Subway into downtown… say over the Manhattan bridge… ever notice where the train goes over that bridge?
ever driven the Bay Bridge in San Francisco?
*shakes head*
August 20th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
actually i might be thinking of the Williamsburg bridge, the Manhattan might run them alongside traffic….
August 20th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
but my point still stands…
build it underneath. as a civil engineer myself, the design has been used 100’s of times succesfully and is actually more stable than those bridges which run rail alongside traffic.
August 21st, 2007 at 6:20 am
Or, you could just run BRT in an HOV lane with NO extra cost, and NO costly rails to be installed.
August 21st, 2007 at 7:45 am
If we had millions and millions of people who headed into a fixed or centralized point (like EVERYONE worked in downtown Minneapolis) then mixed mass transit would make sense. BUT
Since we have a population that lives in all corners of the Metro and outlying areas, and works in all corners of the Metro area, having a train that goes from point A to point B makes no sense….. unless of course we’re trying to dictate how and where people live.
Due to our split urban cores, we have a split economic engine, and huge suburbs that employ lots and lots of people.
There are other bridges over the Mississippi. there will be more built. Why ‘up’ build the 35W bridge, when there is no space for it to output north and south of it on a whim? The 35W corridor north and south is crammed in, and I happen to know of a few die hard liberals who wretch at the idea of taking more space along that part of ‘their’ city.
Are you saying we could make it a subway heading up? Or are you talking about an “L” style train? OK, if you are, what about all the bridge crossings of 35W on the north and south sides…..
Are we going to build a super sky train that towers over all these?
If regional planning via rail is the motive, Highway 65 is your key. Not that I am advocating.
Oh and as for your little ‘he’s never been anywhere so he is too stupid to know how to …’ meme. We have unique transportation needs that can’t be solved by mimicking what other cities have done.
We can’t wait for the social engineers to figure out how to deal with us NE sprawlers. The entire Twin Cities is suffering from this bridge being down.
“bridges in America don’t just fall down” I’d add to that, why they heck are we dragging our feet in rebuilding the dang thing?
The only real and sensible way to provide mass transit in the twin Cities are busses. But nope, the MTC and Met Council folks make it harder to commute on busses.
Oh and as for your under idea, that means the 35W highway bridge would need to be built higher, as you have road and rail lines that pass underneath it.
If you want the option to put LRT to the North, why don’t you figure out the details on where the train needs to run, then propose a real plan for doing it.
Just because you, the civil engineer says it can be done, doesn’t mean it should be done.
August 21st, 2007 at 9:25 am
i didn’t say it should, but building the bridge to SUPPORT LRT options in the future won’t cost much at all, certainly when you consider how much it’d cost to retrofit a solution later.
i’m for 2 lanes of BRT too, but that doesn’t even seem to be on the table at this point…
also, i’m gonna be pretty bummed if they at least don’t build a pedestrian lane on both sides. that would take up virtually nothing in terms of space and cost.
August 21st, 2007 at 9:26 am
basically people like myself don’t want them to just quickly throw up a replacement bridge that’s gonna last another 40 years either, regardless of what options it has on it.
sure i want it up by the end of ‘08, but i’d rather they not skimp either, look where that got us (not a political jab either, it’s the truth)