Gridlock!
On November 7, Minnesota voters will get the opportunity to vote on an amendment to the state constitution. No, the Defense of Marriage Act did not make it out of the Senate. This amendment is for "roads". At least that is what its defenders will tell you. However, if you read the wording of the amendment, you quickly realize that is not an accurate statement. The amendment reads:
"Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to dedicate revenue from a tax (MVST) on the sale of new and used motor vehicles over a five-year period, so that after June 30, 2011, all of the revenue is dedicated at least 40 percent for public transit assistance and not more than 60 percent for highway purposes?” (emphasis mine)
Gridlock (of the vehicular variety) is a hot button issue in the Minnesota Governors race. Governor Pawlenty has taken a lot of heat because a long anticipated reworking of the 35W/Highway 62 junction (commonly known as the Crosstown Commons) was put on hold due to a lack of funds. One very large reason for the lack of DOT funding has to do with something the state inherited from Governor Ventura...the Minneapolis to Mall of America light rail boondoggle called the Hiawatha Line! The state of Minnesota spent $840 million to build 12 miles of track. Much of that money was borrowed and we had to pay it back over the last 4-5 years!
There is talk now of building along the "Central Corridor" of University Avenue - estimated cost is $930m for 11 miles of track. Given that the Hiawatha line was orignally scheduled to cost Minnesota taxpayers $530m, you can safely add 1/2 again as much to the estimated cost of the Central Corridor line meaning, we are looking at an approximate cost of $1.4 billion dollars to build the Central Corridor line! Currently, 31% of the annual amount of MVST goes to paying for "mass transit". Considering that the proponents of this bill say that the additional revenue increase of this amendment will be roughly $300m, if you take that and every penny currently spent on mass transit (31% of $558m or roughly $173m) it will take almost 3 years of dedicating just that money to pay for the Central Corridor. None of the additional money would be available to go to bridges and roads!
Now I know that Governor Pawlenty has "promised" that this additional money would all go to roads and bridges, but the way this amendment is worded that is no guarantee. The amendment states that no more than 60% will go to roads and bridges! Conversely, that means that 40% must be spent on mass transit! I won't even go into the fact that this amendment guarantees that most of the MVST money will be spent in the Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul. Let's face it, I don't see much need for mass transit in Warroad, do you? In order to garner "fairness" to the whole state, you must take roads money out of the Cities (since we get all of the mass transit money) which puts us back to square on the Crosstown Commons Project.
Mass transit is NOT the answer to this states transportation woes. More mass transit will not ease traffic on 35W and 494 as long as the rail routes don't go where the people are. If you want mass trasit, build commuter rail lines that parallel the major interstate highways (like Chicago, Altanta and San Francisco). THAT is the answer to gridlocked Minneapolis roadways.
"Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to dedicate revenue from a tax (MVST) on the sale of new and used motor vehicles over a five-year period, so that after June 30, 2011, all of the revenue is dedicated at least 40 percent for public transit assistance and not more than 60 percent for highway purposes?” (emphasis mine)
Gridlock (of the vehicular variety) is a hot button issue in the Minnesota Governors race. Governor Pawlenty has taken a lot of heat because a long anticipated reworking of the 35W/Highway 62 junction (commonly known as the Crosstown Commons) was put on hold due to a lack of funds. One very large reason for the lack of DOT funding has to do with something the state inherited from Governor Ventura...the Minneapolis to Mall of America light rail boondoggle called the Hiawatha Line! The state of Minnesota spent $840 million to build 12 miles of track. Much of that money was borrowed and we had to pay it back over the last 4-5 years!
There is talk now of building along the "Central Corridor" of University Avenue - estimated cost is $930m for 11 miles of track. Given that the Hiawatha line was orignally scheduled to cost Minnesota taxpayers $530m, you can safely add 1/2 again as much to the estimated cost of the Central Corridor line meaning, we are looking at an approximate cost of $1.4 billion dollars to build the Central Corridor line! Currently, 31% of the annual amount of MVST goes to paying for "mass transit". Considering that the proponents of this bill say that the additional revenue increase of this amendment will be roughly $300m, if you take that and every penny currently spent on mass transit (31% of $558m or roughly $173m) it will take almost 3 years of dedicating just that money to pay for the Central Corridor. None of the additional money would be available to go to bridges and roads!
Now I know that Governor Pawlenty has "promised" that this additional money would all go to roads and bridges, but the way this amendment is worded that is no guarantee. The amendment states that no more than 60% will go to roads and bridges! Conversely, that means that 40% must be spent on mass transit! I won't even go into the fact that this amendment guarantees that most of the MVST money will be spent in the Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul. Let's face it, I don't see much need for mass transit in Warroad, do you? In order to garner "fairness" to the whole state, you must take roads money out of the Cities (since we get all of the mass transit money) which puts us back to square on the Crosstown Commons Project.
Mass transit is NOT the answer to this states transportation woes. More mass transit will not ease traffic on 35W and 494 as long as the rail routes don't go where the people are. If you want mass trasit, build commuter rail lines that parallel the major interstate highways (like Chicago, Altanta and San Francisco). THAT is the answer to gridlocked Minneapolis roadways.
posted by The Lady Logician at
1:31 PM
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