Light rail .. Transportation Planning or just a way to pay for Mayor’s visions

Light rail having any positive effect on relief of congestion has good solid evidence on both sides of the water cooler. However, the proof is in the putting. Just drive down Hwy 55 in south Minneapolis and you’ll realize it was a lot easier during the period between completion of the road improvements and the start of the choo-choo. I side on the relief of congestion is bunk crowd. The Minneapolis Shadow has been a supporter of the hub and spoke system of elevated rail transit for over a decade. That design would have taken care of all the issues on the transit table for many decades to come. But, of course, leave it to the political game players not to do the right and most logical thing. Instead we have a disjointed answer that is more about development around the transit corridors then it is about effectively moving people from point A to point B. Hence we are looking at getting a rail corridor down Washington Avenue. Remember it was the Mayor Speedie Rybak who has plans to turn Washington Avenue into a world-class tourist attraction. Of course the city budget wouldn’t allow that to occur, so he had to figure out how to get the state and federal government to contribute. Well here is how. I guess holding public office isn’t about serving the public’s interest, but building monuments to ones self. The Minneapolis Shadow isn’t against the idea of having a world-class attraction, however the city should pay for it on it’s own.