presentation on the proposed 35W expansion to the Roseville Public
Works and Transportation Commission, he looked more like he was
auditioning for a job at MnDOT than representing the interests of
Roseville residents and businesses.
http://webstreaming.ctv15.org/viewer.php?streamid=2039
Mr. Culver described the $200M+ project of lane additions and bridge
replacements to accommodate the additional lanes as comparable to the
years of road construction mess that recently took place on 35E
through Little Canada. If the City of Roseville is being asked to
consent to a project similar to the one that recently happened on 35E,
wouldn't you think the Public Works Director, the Public Works and
Transportation Commissioners, and the City Council would at least ask
whether or not the folks in Little Canada, St. Paul, and others who
live and work in the area surrounding the recently expanded freeway
are pleased with the results of the highway expansion project? What
benefits of the additional lanes could conceivably be worth the 100s
of millions of dollars spent, years construction disruption, and miles
of additional pavement to maintain when maintenance the existing
roadway is sub par, to say the least?
Who decided spending $200M+ adding more lanes and building bigger and
wider bridges is a good idea? Apparently, the âpreferred alternativeâ
was concocted by consultants from SRF Consulting Group who received a
lucrative contract from MnDOT to âstudyâ the road repaving project.
Coincidentally, SRF Consulting Group is the former employer of
Roseville's Public Works Director, Marc Culver
.
http://www.srfconsulting.com/news/projects/i-35w-northbound-managed-lanes-study/
http://www.cityofroseville.com/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=909&ARC=1448
As usual, and not too surprising, rather than recommending the
necessary $76M road reconstruction, the consultants determined that a
$200M+ road expansion was the best option. Obviously, there's a lot
more work/loot for the âengineeringâ consultants on a $200M+ highway
expansion than on a $76M road rebuild.
Clearly, a $76M project that replaces the existing pavement is much
better than a $200M+ project that adds more pavement, years of
horrible highway construction, higher speed and higher volume traffic,
and more crashes and maintenance costs to the already overbuilt and
unsustainable highway. The proposed highway expansion also landfills
another couple acres of wetland, something apparently everyone on the
planet but the Highway Department and its allied interests realizes is
not a good thing.
Rather than rubber stamping another looney-laned, asinine concrete
project like the one that recently happened on 35E, and like all other
asinine highway projects, will never be completed, the City of
Roseville should tell MnDOT âenough is enoughâ and deny municipal
consent to another expansion of 35W.
Sheldon Gitis, Roseville