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By Don Heinzman
The veto of the Central Corridor Light Rail project by Gov. Tim Pawlenty is a setback for the metropolitan region, not just the city of St. Paul.
Suburban community leaders long have believed that the health of the entire region depends on the economic life of the core cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
The Central Corridor light rail system is vital to keeping both cities economically healthful.
By eliminating the $70 million for the Central Corridor from the state bonding bill, the state could lose $450 million in federal aid for transportation. The project could be set back a year at a cost of $40 million.
The governor’s decision has been criticized roundly because he is the one who suggested the $70 million for the bonding bill in the first place.
With that in mind, the Metropolitan Council went full steam ahead in the planning and particularly in cutting the central corridor to meet federal requirements.
This Central Corridor project would be funded half by the federal government and half by the state and Hennepin and Ramsey counties. The two counties already are prepared to spend the money.
Peter Bell, chair of the Metropolitan Council and appointed by the governor, says the Central Corridor is his number one priority. He said it’s the key element in the long-range transit plan.
The rubber hit the road when the bonding bill sent by the House and Senate, controlled mostly by the DFL, came in over the guideline set by the governor and without two of his recommendations, one for a state park at Lake Vermillion and another for the nursing home at the Veterans Hospital in Minneapolis.
The governor line-itemed the bonding bill by taking out 13 percent of the projects including the Central Corridor.
What’s more, he infuriated the St. Paul delegation, mostly DFL, by vetoing most of the projects in St. Paul, including the Central Corridor.
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman in an Op-Ed piece in the Star Tribune wrote that the Central Corridor light rail project could bring about $1 billion in investment, and has the potential to attract 11,000 new rental units and 3000 owner-occupied units, more than 5.5 million square feet of office space and 1.15 million square feet of retail space.
The Metropolitan Council estimates that 120,000 people live in the corridor connecting the two downtowns and there are 280,000 jobs in the corridor.
Sen. Norm Coleman, former mayor of St. Paul, said he is very supportive of the Central Corridor project and will ask Gov. Pawlenty to rethink his decision.
It is coming down to what’s possible politically. Some suggest that the $70 million be part of a new bonding bill to be part of the budget-balancing bill.
Brian McClung, spokesperson for the governor, said resurrecting the bonding for the Central Corridor light rail and approving it could depend on how the DFL deals with that budget and how it addresses other state priorities.
For the good of all in the region, the $70 million in state bonding for the Central Corridor light rail should be brought back, differences should be worked out and it should be passed.
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