Latest news with #MegDuhr
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ramsey County Board gets feedback on projects to be funded by Riverview Corridor money
Ramsey County commissioners heard public feedback Tuesday on an initial list of projects that could be funded by money previously designated for the Riverview Corridor project. The county had allocated around $730 million for the project, but canceled the project in September. The 12-mile corridor was to connect downtown St. Paul to the Mall of America in Bloomington through a potential streetcar. A Transit and Transportation Investment Plan was presented to the county board last week and provides direction for how those funds may be reallocated. A vote on the projects is expected June 10. Specific projects, funding amounts and anticipated year of construction will be approved through the county's Transportation Improvement Program, which is adopted annually by the county board. Approval of the 2026-2030 Transportation Improvement Program is expected in the fall. Some community members at Tuesday's public hearing expressed concern that the Transit and Transportation Investment Plan does not include West Seventh Street, where the Riverview Corridor was to run. City projects and other investments in West Seventh had been passed over 'because it was always thought that a major investment was coming our way with Riverview,' said Meg Duhr, president of West Seventh/Fort Road Federation, a district council representing the West Seventh neighborhood. 'Individual community members and neighborhood organizations have spent years working for or against this project, wasting human capital and time while generating deep neighborhood conflict,' Duhr said. 'And now here we are considering a transit and transportation investment plan that details all the ways that the county will spend the funds previously allocated for Riverview without a single project in our community and no mention of the remaining critical needs on West Seventh itself.' Infrastructure conditions on West Seventh Street worsened as the area lost out on millions in infrastructure and transit investment, Duhr said. Metro Transit in 2014, for example, backed off of plans for a $28 million rapid bus line from downtown St. Paul to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the Mall of America. The change in plans came at the urging of St. Paul and county officials who were concerned that it might interfere with the Riverview Corridor. Others at Tuesday's meeting raised concerns with the plan's focus on roads rather than public transit and also called for county support of the New West Seventh Corridor, a transportation plan that includes the city of St. Paul, Metro Transit, the state Department of Transportation and other partners. Speakers included people from the Riverview Corridor's citizen advisory committee, Sustain St. Paul and Highland District Council's transportation committee. In its Transit and Transportation Investment Plan, the county identified five project categories focused on roadways, transportation network improvement projects, corridor improvements, Union Depot and railroad safety and access and other areas. Potential projects, categories and prioritization methods were identified during internal staff workshops held earlier this year. Community members can submit comments on the plan until 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. Ramsey County: Economic Development Authority to allow flexibility on housing projects Air quality alert extended to noon Wednesday throughout Minnesota 'An absolute privilege': Darts President Ann Bailey offers advice, reflects on 10 years in Dakota County aging services Charges to be dismissed in St. Paul sexual assault case Maplewood shooting: St. Paul man fired on car while kids cowered nearby, charges say
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
St Paul: Opponents rally against trash truck refueling station near West Seventh
With chants of 'Homes Not Trucks!,' some 30 opponents of a planned trash truck refueling station hoisted protest signs near the former Schmidt Brewery along West Seventh Street on a frigid weekday evening. Their goal was to call attention to a tussle with the city over the fate 540 Randolph Ave., a former tow lot poised to be converted into a capital city headquarters of sorts for FCC Environmental, St. Paul's newly-contracted citywide trash hauler. The issue is set to go before the St. Paul Planning Commission's zoning committee on Thursday. Texas-based FCC Environmental, which began servicing St. Paul's multi-family dwellings in November, has already begun to station some trash trucks there in advance of assuming most of the routes for the city's single-family homes and two-unit, three-unit and four-unit buildings in April. The lot, which sits two blocks off West Seventh Street toward the Mississippi River, could soon host a fleet of 30 trash trucks, a handful of service vehicles, fleet dispatch and maintenance operations and a compressed natural gas refueling station. FCC Environmental recently asked the city for a 'statement of clarification' offering assurance that a solid waste truck dispatch center and maintenance facility is similar to a public works yard, which is allowed under the lot's existing 'light industrial' zoning classification. The city zoning administrator issued the statement in January, effectively greenlighting the company to move forward. The West Seventh/Fort Road Federation responded with a formal appeal seeking a public hearing and zoning study. The zoning committee will review the appeal at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. West Seventh/Fort Road Federation Board Chair Meg Duhr said Thursday that St. Paul City Council Member Rebecca Noecker had urged city planners to consider finding an alternate site for the trash truck facility, but leaders of city Planning and Economic Development had recently shown no enthusiasm for the idea. Local News | Midway McDonald's is McDemolished Local News | St. Paul Board of Zoning Appeals blocks Highland Bridge 'strip mall' proposal 4-2 Local News | St. Paul: At Highland Bridge, Ryan Cos. seeks less height, density along Ford Parkway Local News | Neighbors oppose planned trash truck fueling station near St. Paul's Randolph and West Seventh Local News | In downtown St. Paul, Osborn Plaza to get complete remodel from new city sales tax
