MPR: Light Rail at the Brink

Light Rail at the Brink
by Michael Khoo
March 22, 2000

The Minnesota House has approved more than $400 million in new spending for state transportation projects. The bill is similar to one passed earlier this week by the Senate. But significant differences remain between the House, the Senate, and the governor - including the issue of light-rail.

THE CENTERPIECE of the House transportation package is a one-time infusion of $402 million into road construction. Republican Carol Molnau of Chaska, who chairs the House Transportation Finance Committee, says the money is evenly split between opening bottlenecks in the seven-county metro area and developing interregional corridors outstate. "This bill gives opportunity for next year, making transportation a major priority again," she said. "This bill gives dollars to greater Minnesota where they're needed for economic viability, to the metropolitan area for literally the same purpose."

"If you live at the edge of the region, you like open space, it's gone. It's just going to be replaced by miles and miles of traffic and new malls and new housing developments all over. That's what this is about. "

- Rep. Myron Orfield
DFL-Minneapolis

Only a day before, the Senate passed a slightly larger spending initiative totaling $625 million over three years. Both bills instruct the state transportation department to turn off ramp meters for a month to study their effect on Twin Cities traffic. Both bills also neglect a key initiative of Governor Jesse Ventura. Ventura wants to dedicate roughly half the motor vehicle sales tax revenues - about $300 million a year - to a permanent multimodal transportation fund. The other half would go to license-tab fee reductions. But the Senate and the House declined to establish an on-going funding mechanism.

DFL Representative Sharon Marko of Cottage Grove offered an unsuccessful amendment modeled on the governor's proposal that she says would be a dedicated fund that could be used for more than highways.

The House bill diverges from Ventura's transportation plan in another, significant way: the bill repeals $92 million in bonding money authorized for a light-rail transit line connecting downtown Minneapolis and the Mall of America. Minneapolis DFLer Myron Orfield says the bill shortchanged public transit and so-called "smart growth." He says the issue is sprawl. "It's about urbanizing lots of farmland, making lots of new cities," Orfield said. "If you live at the edge of the region, you like farmland, it's gone. If you live at the edge of the region, you like open space, it's gone. It's just going to be replaced by miles and miles of traffic and new malls and new housing developments all over. That's what this is about."

But Republicans note the bill does boost transit spending by more than $4 million. Representative Dan McElroy of Burnsville says Republicans prefer to invest transit dollars in new high-speed busways. He says such systems can be more technologically advanced than LRT.

The Senate bill keeps LRT funding intact, although that provision survived in the Senate bill by only two votes. Ventura has said he will oppose any reduction in funding for the project, which could make LRT a bargaining chip as the session heads into the final weeks.

	Sign up to receive e-mail newsletters

	Audio help

	Text: Sm : Md : Lg