Ayd Mill Survey of Ward 1 Candidates

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From toumoua@hotmail.com Fri Mar 21 19:45 CST 2003
From: "Toumoua Lee" 
To: Hause011@umn.edu
Subject: questions & answer 
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2003 01:45:32 +0000


Re: answer for the Neighborhoods First! Question.

1. What should be the final disposition of the Ayd Mill corridor?

Answer: 
The decision should be include part of the input by the community.

2. What do you think about the Ayd Mill process?

Answer: 
I think that it should be based on the solution that the city 
council had discussed a few years ago or has been adopted before. 
If not then I think it should come with many designs from the 
traffic engineering with the final decision from the public hearing 
and the surrounding community.

3. As a City Council member, would you support Transit Oriented Development?

Answer: 
Yes, it depend on the need of the commuters and future growth of the 
City.

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Vic Rosenthal

1) What should be the final disposition of the Ayd Mill Corridor?

I don t believe the Ayd Mill Corridor should become the final 
connection from 35 E to 94.  

First, I don't believe this connection 
should be made through a residential neighborhood.  

Second, I don't believe the city or state will be able to provide 
the nearly $40 million it will cost to make the full connection.  
Third, I believe the decision about how to connect 35 E to 94 must 
consider the entire affected community.  Specifically, if Ayd Mill is 
not connected, then there is an increase in traffic along Lexington 
Parkway which increases congestion and pollution along that route.  
The most logical approach is to connect 35 E to 94 west in downtown 
St. Paul just as 35 E is connected to 94 east with early indications 
suggesting the cost is nearly half of the Ayd Mill connection.  
This avoids residential neighborhoods and is a much less expensive 
alternative.  Ayd Mill could remain connected but with one lane in 
each direction until the final connection is made downtown; this will 
reduce speeds, congestion and pollution.

2) What do you think about the Ayd Mill process?

The most important part of the process has to be input from the 
neighborhoods, both those along Ayd Mill and along Lexington.  Ward One 
is a very diverse community and therefore discussions about projects 
must include input from different neighborhoods.   More important than 
having input into the process is making sure that input is incorporated 
into the final plan.  While I believe in the current test being tried 
by the city to learn more about congestion levels and environmental 
concerns with Ayd Mill being temporarily connected, final disposition 
must ensure a great amount of public input and discussion.  I don't 
believe the final decision should be made by the Mayor or the City 
Council alone but should involve community residents through public 
hearings and the community councils.

3) As a City Council member, would you support Transit Oriented Development?  
Why or Why not? If so, what concrete steps would you take/support?

Yes, I would strongly support transit oriented development.  

First, the city should add additional bike lanes and routes to promote 
this form of transportation.  

Second, the city must work with Metropolitan Transportation Services 
and other transportation management organizations (TMOs) to increase 
state funding for transit in the long term that will be necessary to 
develop additional bus routes within the city of St. Paul and 
between the suburbs and the city to reduce single rider vehicles 
and congestion.  

Third, the city should work with the suburbs to determine additional 
locations for park and ride outside the central city borders and 
increase car pooling.  

Fourth, the city of St. Paul should work with the Met Council to 
implement light rail transit connecting St. Paul with Minneapolis 
along the University Avenue corridor.  This can be accomplished 
without hurting developing and well-established businesses 
and residences along University.  

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Johnny E Howard

From jhoward721@msn.com Sun Mar 23 23:22 CST 2003
From: "Johnny E Howard" 
To: 
Subject: Neighborhoods First Candidates  Survey
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2003 12:27:55 -0600

NEIGHBORHOODS FIRST
Ayd Mill Chapter

Candidates Survey St. Paul City Council, Ward One
What should be the final disposition of the Ayd Mill Corridor?
Without more information and further discussion it is difficult to 
say what the final disposition of the Ayd Mill Corridor should be. There 
are many factors that should be taken into consideration.

Ayd Mill Road is a city street if the connection is completed 
does it cross federal & county roads? If so is there funding in place? 
I am not sure if these discussions have taken place.

What was the cost of the current connection?
What would it cost if we were to disconnect the current connection?
Would the surrounding neighborhoods agree to the current connection with 
the Liner Park added as well as traffic calming address?

There are many other factors that must be looked at, environmental 
concerns, etc. Could connecting 35 & 94 downtown have gotten the 
same results?

2. What do you think about the Ayd Mill Process?

Somebody dropped the ball.

The original process was that of citizen participation Mayor 
Latimer brought Snelling Hamline, Lexington Hamline, Merriam Park,
and Macalester Groveland District Councils together to study and 
address this issue. This group was called the Ayd Mill Road Task Force. 
My understanding is that after numerous meetings this group began to 
run out of gas and the issue died for a while which is 
understandable (Dale Street was widened a few years ago, 
this widening took over 20 years).

The Ayd Mill Road issue resurfaced again in roughly 1992 or 93 the new 
Task Force met for quite some time and eventually made two 
recommendations to the City Council. Shortly after this recommendation 
there seem to have been a break down in commutation. Citizen participation 
was forgotten, the mayor and the council weren't talking and then Mayor 
Kelly without regard to all the hours and years given to this issue 
by volunteers made a decision to just open the road.

3.    As a City Council member, would you support Transit Oriented 
Development?  Why or Why not? If so, what concrete steps would you 
take/support?

I'm not sure how I would vote I would want to listen to my 
constituents and use those conversations as a base to began 
forming my opinion as well as considering environmental concerns 
and financing.

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BAO VANG RESPONSES

Candidates Forum:  
Thursday, March 27th at 7PM
Central High School Library
275 N. Lexington
5th Floor

Candidates Survey

St. Paul City Council, Ward 1
1) What should be the final disposition of the Ayd Mill Corridor?   

There should be no connection of the Ayd Mill Road to I-94 or I-35E.   We as a community need to come up with a solution to this issue that takes into account the needs of our neighborhoods and the overarching needs to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution, to increase our use of mass transit, bike lanes and pedestrian walkways and to preserve and increase green space in our urban environment.  As a city council member, I will work hard with the community to arrive at such a solution.  

2) What do you think about the Ayd Mill process? 

I am a firm believer that the voices, concerns and views of the people of St. Paul need to be heard and acted upon.  Any final action with respect to the Ayd Mill Corridor should take place in the context of community meetings, city council hearings and debates and input from the Mayor
s office.  This type of process is not happening now.   I take strong exception to Mayor Kelly
s unilateral imposition of the one-year 
test
 on Ayd Mill Road.  If elected to the City Council, I will raise my voice to challenge and question the Mayor on his actions.             

As a City Council member, would you support Transit Oriented Development?  
Why or Why not?  If so, what concrete steps would you take/support?

As a City Council member, I will support Transit Oriented Development.   
I believe that TOD would improve the quality of life in our community 
by building stable, mixed income neighborhoods.  TOD would help to 
reduce family transportation costs which in turn making housing more 
affordable.  TOD also would help to reduce environmental pollution and 
traffic congestion.   

I would take the following concrete steps to support TOD:
>Help to create a TOD Fund which would help to financially support 
TOD projects. 

>Work more closely with the Metropolitan Council and 
Ramsey County so that all parties have a common, long-term vision 
to support and plan TOD projects.   

>Have the PED establish TOD development area plans which identify key 
potential sites, devise an investment strategy,  set high design 
standards and include essential services such as day-care facilities.   

>Explore setting up a location efficient mortgage programs with private 
lenders.   These programs allow people who live in location-efficient 
areas to obtain larger housing loans because they have reduced 
transportation costs.  

>The proposed LRT in St. Paul provides the City with a unique 
opportunity to move to the forefront of transit-oriented development.   
It is crucial that we take up this challenge and make St. Paul a leader 
and model in this type of community development.  As a city council 
member, I will work hard to make this happen.  

From stuartalger@hotmail.com Tue Mar 25 18:27 CST 2003

CANDIDATES SURVEY:  STUART ALGER WARD 1 CITY COUNCIL

1. What should be the final disposition of the Ayd Mill Corridor?

I oppose connecting Ayd Mill Road to Interstates 35E and 94--either 
as a four-lane or a two-lane roadway--and I would oppose a final 
disposition of the Corridor that included such a connection. A 
connected Ayd Mill will almost certainly degrade the quality of 
life for people living in proximity to the corridor and will not 
relieve the traffic congestion on Lexington Avenue and other busy 
streets in the ward. 

The ongoing need to resist a connection has limited our ability to 
act proactively in making the 1.5-mile corridor a place that enhances 
the quality of life in our ward. I like the idea of the corridor as a 
mixed-use residential and commercial area, where the road would serve 
housing and shops, where green space, walk-ways and bike paths would 
invite residents and visitors to relax, exercise and connect with others. 
Not only would such a development give our residents an important asset, 
it would make the Corridor a revenue-producing rather than 
revenue-depleting area. 

A mixed-use development with green space is not the only disposition 
for the Corridor I would support. The bottom line is that the area should 
be used to serve the people who live here, not the people who drive 
through here. Mixed use development seems to have the most potential 
to provide such a benefit, but other beneficial uses are possible. 
I would work hard to move the discussion from whether or not we should 
connect Ayd Mill to the interstates to how we can develop the Corridor 
so that it serves the people who live here.

2. What do you think about the Ayd Mill process?

At least since 1987, when the Planning Commission first established 
an Ayd Mill Road Task Force, through today, citizens have spent 
countless hours working on the disposition of the Corridor. This 
effort has not been honored. It has been met by insufficient data 
gathering and analysis by the experts hired to conduct the scoping 
process and to draft the environmental impact statement and by 
nonresponsive decisions at the city council and mayor's office.

In particular, the Mayor's decision to connect the southern end for 
the purposes of a test was made without neighborhood or City Council 
input and did not honor the Task Force process. The test is 
problematic in many ways, including the lack of clear criteria for 
measuring the success or failure of the test, the fact that it is 
being conducted before the 35E bridge expansion project is completed, 
and the probable violations of our state environmental laws and rules. 

The decision-making process must turn toward the consideration of 
alternatives other than a connection, and that process must 
respect neighborhood participation.

3. As a City Council Member, would you support Transit Oriented 
Development? Why or why not?

I support Transit Oriented Development (TOD) because it provides 
a planning framework for housing and commercial development that 
supports transit choices, including walking and public transit. 
TOD is an excellent tool to help resolve problems connected with 
congestion, pollution, safety and sprawl that harm our quality of 
life. It promotes mixed-use development and the creation of public 
space, both of which will augment our ward's quality of life. TOD 
also tends to invite neighborhood participation in the planning 
process, which encourages citizen engagement in civic life.

If so, what concrete steps would you take/support?

First, I would support University United's effort to build 3000 
units of housing in the University Avenue corridor by the year 2030. 
Second, I would support TOD at the intersections of Lexington and 
University and Snelling and University. Third, I would support 
zoning changes that promote mixe