SENATE DISTRICT 42
REPUBLICANS BLOG
REPRESENTING EDEN PRAIRIE AND SOUTHERN MINNETONKA

HEAVEN IS . . . LIGHT RAIL?

Larry Piumbroke (the interviewer): Recently I reviewed another cable TV show that's done in our district and your opponent was on and he described transportation for people who live in our district as “Transportation Heaven.” --

Maria Ruud: (laughter)

Piumbroke: -- and being a commuter myself in the Cities and being around the Cities a lot, I don't often feel like I'm in Transportation Heaven.

Ruud: No, no . . . .

Piumbroke: That's not to say we don't appreciate the lane improvements on 394 and the sane lanes and the new lanes on 494 --

Ruud: Right, right...

Piumbroke: But what are your thoughts on that as we go forward in terms of transportation because we've got a kind of benign neglect for the past 20 years and a long ways to go. What's your thinking in a nutshell on transportation.

Ruud: I would say there's general agreement that we haven't paid enough attention to transportation. That is another top issue at the door. It's those bread and butter issues that people really are concerned about. It's education, it's healthcare, it's transportation. And roads are great. I'm thankful that we have that additional lane on 494. I work in Brooklyn Center and we have the same additional lane on 694.

Piumbroke: (interrupting) So you're not in heaven either then.

Ruud: Well, I'm not! (laughter) So now instead of two lanes of bumper to bumper traffic on Friday afternoon, there's three. And so it's part of the answer, you know, but I really think we have to be looking at other alternatives and the more we can do to get people off the roads in general, the better it's going to be. And it's not heaven yet (laughter).

Piumbroke: I don't think so either. If this is what heaven's like, I want to stay here a little longer.

Ruud: (laughter)

Piumbroke: But we need more forms of transit in your mind in addition to the automobile. Because clearly we're not advocating doing away with the automobile.

Ruud: No, no.

Piumbroke: But what you're saying is just add to the mix.

Ruud: We need to just add to the mix. You know, we don't have those natural barriers like the mountains or the ocean so we've tended to sprawl in Minnesota. And so we have reverse commutes going so it's trickier for us to address this with maybe mass transit but we're doing it, and we're doing it, you know, a little at a time, and we HAVE to do that. If we don't address it, it will be a parking lot to Minneapolis by 2030 and maybe even before that.

Piumbroke: Maybe before that according to some of the things that I read.

Ruud: Yeah.

Piumbroke: So that's good to know. I thought I was the only one who thought I wasn't in heaven.

Ruud: (laughter) Anybody who has any kind of commute outside of our district , they've seen the traffic and that's a concern for our businesses. That's a concern for family time ...

Piumbroke: That's true. Was it the last session that the Minnesota Chamber -- obviously a business group -- came out in favor of an increased gas tax.

Ruud: Yes, m-hmm.

Piumbroke: I know there are companies that are having trouble getting goods to the airport and to market.

Ruud: Yes. So it really is an economic issue not just a quality of life issue. It's certainly that as well.

Piumbroke: It becomes an economic development issue.

Ruud: Yes, absolutely.

To read more about Larry Piumbroke and his radical views, click here.

Tim Erlander (One of the two interviewers): Ok, you’re out there in Eden Prairie and Minnetonka. I-494 must either go through your district or fairly close to it. What’s your feeling on transportation issues right now?

Bill Cullen: I think in a sense we’re living in transportation heaven here. I-494 is going to be done soon. Highway 312 is coming along nicely. I-394 was done 10-15 years ago and it has some bottlenecks already but really we’re in transportation heaven from an automobile driver’s point of view. I think the focus on the automobile should continue primarily because the proponents of transit systems are losing track of the fact that this is primarily about moving people and product in the most cost effective and efficient manner. The train that we put in down on Hiawatha is very expensive. It’s nice and successful in many ways but the cost is much more than running a bus system.

Mark Sullivan: I think it's about $66 million a mile.

Cullen: That's amazing. I'm all for cost effective transit, okay? But “cost effective” has to be the key.