Da Mayor

Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak has a blog up. I really don't know if he can keep up the pace, but he has already answered quite a few questions concerning mass transit and the local trail system.

At 7:23 PM, R.T. Rybak said…

Nick asked about a trolley on the Midtown Greenway. This idea really came out of the great community work being led by the Midtown Greenway Coalition...a really wonderful group of citizens who have created the vision that led to the conversation of what was once an abandoned rail corridor into a bikeway through the city. Now the idea is to have a streetcar on the dedicated right of way next to the bike trail. In my last budget I allocated money to move forward on this idea.
Think about how cool this could be: Take an LRT to the Greenway Streetcar, stop for lunch at the Global Marketplace at Midtown Exchange (the former Sears building), hop back on the streetcar and have dinner at Tin Fish on Lake Calhoun.
Better, take the streetcar to work at Wells Fargo Mortgage.

and

At 7:30 PM, R.T. Rybak said…

I forgot to add on the Greenway Trolley post the link it can be with the bus rapid transit route proposed on 35W.

I don't know how many people saw this last Friday but we won a big victory for bus rapid transit.

A couple months back the department of transportation wanted the city to sign off on an expansion plan for the Crosstown. We said we wouldn't do it until there was transit worked into the Crosstown, 35W area...a bus rapid transit line on 35W, I believe is the only way the roadway can work...If the vision was to just add car lanes, they would be filled at Day One and the road would be obsolete from the second it opened.

The good news is that--joined by---Sen. Scott Dibble and Rep. Frank Hornstein, CM Scott Benson and Robert Lilligren----we worked with suburban legislators and represenatives of Dakota County....and the Department of Transportation....and are coming to an agreement that could lead to bus rapid transit. Last Friday the Department of Transportation report said they, too , thought it was a good idea.

That's progress because I think this is the first time since my dad's drug store was torn down for 35W in about 1965 that leaders at the city and state have all agreed that there needs to be mass transit on 35W. That's progress.

and

At 7:37 PM, R.T. Rybak said…

Did anyone else just have the system crash on them? I think we had so many people on at once it did a hickup....anyway....
thanks for your comments about biking Brandon. Every year I do two budgets...the operation budget (this is where there is money for police, fire, administration, etc.) The other is the capital budget, which is for roads, bridges, etc.
I mention this because in each of the capital budgets we have been moving forward more bike trails. I really believe this is very important...not only for recreation...we are the number one bike communter city in the country.
This past year was espeically interesting because there was money for bike trails in northeast and north Minneapolis...two areas that have been underserved. In north Minneapolis we now have a community process to determine where the bike trails will go....That should be great because it looks as if we will have one from north to south....so people from neighborhoods like Camden and Lind Bohanan can get downtown to work...but also a couple east and west, to connect Wirth Park and the river.

Also kudos to the mayor for help in setting up an annual X-C marathon ski race in Minneapolis. You rarely find one of these held in an urban setting because of the logistics. Everything's melting, but still scheduled for this weekend, the City of Lakes Loppet.

Actually, now that global warming has set in, tracking on-line ski trail reports has become a necessity. Adelsman's Skinny-Ski site continues to amaze in this regard.