For years Rochester and Olmsted County have been developing a bicycle masterplan.
Many meetings and opportunities for feedback have finally resulted in a plan that the city council got to review. For this to be implemented we will need your advocacy and support at the Rochester City Council and Olmsted County Board meetings. Even after we get these plans adopted we need to make sure that they are not ignored. There is so many good recommendations here that I encourage you to take the time to read this, write down your thoughts, and make sure your elected leaders vote to adopt and follow the plan.
To make this plan a reality we will need to spend about 2.5% of our transportation funding on this system. This SHOULD be an easy sell given the fact that:
12% of all trips in Minnesota are by walking or bike (higher in places like Rochester)
biking receives about 1.5% of federal funding
results in more than 9% of all traffic fatalities in Minnesota
the industry represents has more than 1500 jobs in MN
the industry contributes $145 million annually to the MN economy
And just in case you hear this nugget:
According to County Planner Phil Wheeler’s presentation to the city council, only 1.8% of transportation funding comes from the gas tax. So don’t buy that tired talking point. Biking is far more cost effective for taxpayers than more and bigger roads.
As many of you are aware, the city council sent a note to the County Board pointing out that Rochester now represents more than 5/7 of the county. As such it is our expectation the 5 seats be contained entirely in Rochester. Also we asked that districts be drawn fairly and respect neighborhood boundaries. Since we are asking the County to redistrict fair, we need to do the same. The plan that passed the council 6-1 does just that. We adopted what is called Option 8.
Note that Ward 2 is pretty much the same (as it should be). Ward 2 was actually the closest to the correct size of all 6 wards, and thus shouldn’t have changed much. Basically I pick up all of the Historic SW, including the urban village and the Parkway Neighborhood. I picked up all of Kutzky Park south of the river, which still divides Kutzky, but not as bad as previously. I also lose Salem Sound and Bamber Valley Estates which are outside of West Circle Drive. From a political standpoint I lose areas were I did well in 2008 (Salem Sound), and gain areas that I didn’t do as well (Kutzky Park). So why am I happy? Because the maps are fair to Rochester neighborhoods and that is what districts should be.
Edit: I also gain 3 areas with a population of 0, but I was willing to take more…
Edit 2: Upon further review looks like I didn’t take the urban village?
I figured I would mention this early because this is going to be a really awful year if you are a driver in the SW. I would encourage you to get you walking shoes out or that bike tuned up. Here is a rundown of the road projects scheduled for this summer. Access will be maintained, but expect some busy streets.
2nd Street SW full reconstruction between 6th Ave SW through 11th Ave SW – All Summer
2nd Street NW & 8th Ave NW new sewer line and reconstruction between Civic Center Drive and just past 12th Ave NW – All Summer
1st Street SW (probably from 6th or 7th Avenue to 11th Avenue) – Being studied, but an overlay would be a couple of weeks, reconstruction All Summer
4th Street SW, 1st Ave SW, 6th Street SW major sewer project and full reconstruction (4th and 6th won’t be closed simultaneously). – All Summer+
Yup, its going to be ugly, but these projects are overdue and should serve the area for the next 100 years.
There are two fundamental views of economic development. First you can try to be as cheap as possible with low standards, low wages, poor benefits, heavy subsidies, and no quality of life. Many southern states have tried this strategy and have poor education, environment, healthcare, and quality of life. It is a never ending race to the bottom.
The other way is to try to compete by being the best you can be and being a place where people want to or need to locate. This is perfect or Rochester because we have unique skills, resources, and businesses. One of the best ways to do this is a concept called placemaking. Read the rest of this entry »
Well I though that this part of my life was past, but I got to play designer with the folks at Public Works today. I am working on behalf of the neighbors in Kutzky Park on the design of 2nd Street NW between 8th and 12th Avenues. Read the rest of this entry »