"Commuters and suburban elected officials are fuming over the decision by planners to back away from the age-old compact in which the state tries to keep pace with suburban expansion.
Planners are instead embracing the idea of blanketing the inner metro area with a network of so-called 'managed lanes' -- what critics have long dubbed 'Lexus lanes' -- for buses and drivers who are willing to pay extra to skirt stalled traffic. Officials outside the Interstate 694-494 beltway say they see their hopes for new roads vanishing as a result, despite forecasts for major population growth."
Advocates say this is an effort to move away from vast but hard-to-build projects, and towards more easily implemented traffic reduction plans.
Comments
City and Inner Suburbs Vs. Outer suburbs?
Is that how it's playing out?
Most interesting!
Politically I noted,
"The clash features some unexpected opponents: On one side are state officials working for a Republican governor, along with transit advocates, environmentalists and much of the business community. On the other are many Republican-voting suburbs."
I wonder what the outcome will be....
Irvin Dawid, Palo Alto, CA
Editorial on MN 'Managed Roads' Proposal
Minneapolis Star Tribune Editorial: Revised road plan is a realistic approach; Met Council's strategic shift to "managed lanes" makes sense, Oct. 1:
"Managed lanes are a collection of tools to get more out of the dollars you're investing in transportation," said Lee Munnich, a transportation expert who is the director of the State and Local Policy Program at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute. "It's also a way to integrate transit with roadways. If you just use the transitway for buses, that's not using it as efficiently as you could."
Professor Munnich runs the congestion pricing listserv that many professionals subscribe to, as well as road-pricing advocates.
Irvin Dawid, Palo Alto, CA