South Washington County's Red Rock Corridor "Terminated"!

Red Rock Corridor

It's official, according to the latest MN Department of Transportation report to the legislature the Red Rock Corridor planning has been terminated on their end. Stating on page 11 of the report under "Terminated and suspended" the line has "been removed from future studies and/or consideration" Going on to say on page 54 "...it was determined that while bus rapid transit was the preferred option, a dedicated right of way was not cost effective at this time."

Countless millions of local tax payer dollars have been spent studying this bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor from south washington county up to St. Paul. Yet despite this massive set back the County corridor planners are still continuing to plan this line as if they never got the news from

the State. They still hold meetings, have a contract with Kimley Horn to design it, and still talk in meetings on the next steps. Granted, the last time they met according to their webpage was four months ago in January. According to this last meeting there are only 3 meetings scheduled for all of 2018 (p.7).

Before MNDOT stuck a fork in the transit line and called it dead the corridor planners spent $550,000 dollars to rebrand it calling it the " implementation plan" ... that failed. So they spent thousands more for another rebrand and tried calling it a local bus route, that too appears to have failed. Because members of the Red Rock Corridor Commission are dropping like flies. Dakota County abandoned them, Hastings left too, and now Minneapolis is calling it quits trying to plan this terrible bus corridor or route or whatever they want to call it. 

The County must know deep down in their hearts the mass transit corridor planning here is terrible because they go through a new mass transit corridor planner every year for the Gold Line and the Red Rock Corridor. Transit planner Andy Gitzlaff's last meeting was in July of 2015.   Lyssa Leitner took over as the primary transit planner from there but was let go or quit in August of 2017 as it was the last meeting that listed her as the contact for questions on planning (ie: the assigned transit planner). Next to take over was Hally Turner but her last meeting as contact for planning was November of 2017. And now the fourth project manager in less than 3 years is  Emily Jorgensen according to the "contact us" link for the corridor.

The problem isn't lack of transit planning skill or even funding (thanks to the deep pockets of the Met Council). The problem is how bad these transit line ideas are for Washington County. For example, the bus route planning experts of Metro Transit refused to even study the idea of a bus route like the current plan is, let alone fund it. (use ctrl "f" to find route 363 in  Metro Transit's Service Improvement Plan.) The Gold Line is such a terrible idea that the Metro Transit says the best idea is to simply expanding the express bus service:  

 Gateway Corridor vs Metro Transit: How State's $9 million Route Upgrade Could Replace the Gateway Corridor 

Yet with all the facts on why this Red Rock Corridor would never work the blind supporters in elected office are still trying to keep it going.  

Washington County DOUBLES Transit Sales Tax as Feds, State, and Local Funding Jump Ship

County Resorts to Propaganda Videos as Half Billion in Bus Corridors Continue Downward Spiral 

Representative Franke and Jurgens are looking to get $5.6 million for the line with their bill  HF2385. Even if the corridor funding request bill doesn't pass they still have the un-elected Met Council that will fund the corridor and keep it going no matter how bad it is. Last session the legislature gave the Met Council a jaw dropping $210.8 million dollars. Before the Met C took over funding transit corridors their budget was $100 million (2006). So they have over $100 million dollars to back door fund terrible corridors like the Red Rock and Gold Line. Last year Representative Runbeck led the house to pass a budget for the Met C of just $61.5 million, but the senate GOP thought otherwise and both chambers passed the $210.8 million for them. 

Until the Met Council's unheard of budget is limited or we can elect fiscally responsible County Commissioners, there is no end in sight for transit lines like the Red Rock Corridor and the Gold Line that is equally unimpressive. 

 Red Rock Corridor Faces Delays as 7 Facts Become Undeniable
Red Rock Corridor Plan Falls Apart Now Wants to be Called Route 363

Over 40 Red Rock Corridor Decision Makers Unable to Provide Answers About New Route

 Newport Transit Station, $6.45 million, No Riders, and No Surprise

 The Gateway Corridor, Big Promises, Little Evidence

Washington County DOUBLES Transit Sales Tax as Feds, State, and Local Funding Jump Ship

County Resorts to Propaganda Videos as Half Billion in Bus Corridors Continue Downward Spiral 

Lake Elmo Kicks Gateway Corridor out!

Four GOP Legislators are Silent After Attempt to Sneak Funding for Mass Transit in Omnibus Bill  

Washington County Institutes Their Own Transit Sales Tax as Feds, State, and Local Funding Jump Ship

The blinders the Washington County Commissioners have are thick and heavy. For every one perceived step forward there are two ignored steps back. In January they were quick to tell the media the Gateway Corridor/ Gold Line was accepted into the new starts program... But in February the news is that the parent program over the new starts, the capital investment grants (CIG) program is axing all MN corridors! Yes starting for 2019... but even for fiscal year 2018 no corridor in Washington County was going to get a cent from the feds. See the 2018 FY report from the FTA

So the "good" news that the Gold Line got into the smaller new starts program looks null and void because the larger parent program has recommended for all our corridors to receive nothing. It's like getting hired for a job by a branch manager on their last day of work. Then the district boss comes in and tells them they're out and so are most the projects and new hires they were working with are gone too. The new  management is in and they've announced they're going to fire the Gold line... but this major step back is going unreported just like most of the major steps back for the Washington County mass transit corridors. Who, by their own numbers, will relieve less than 5% of traffic off the highway they wind down the side streets next to on the slow ride to St. Paul. See:

Red Rock Corridor Faces Delays as 7 Facts Become Undeniable
The Gateway Corridor, Big Promises, Little Evidence 

The transit corridors in WC have been NINE YEARS in planning! The furthest along, the Gold Line, is only a year into the $25 million dollar Project development phase, with another 3 years until construction will supposedly start (p.12). In 2014 they told the legislature they'd be a year into construction by now! (p.49)

Transit planners are in the business of over promising and under delivering. The year before the Red Line they predicted 2,250 riders a day... they only got 850 and even less today as they assumed ridership would rise with awareness... it's been a stagnant 850 or so riders a year since it opened in 2013. The Northstar corridor predicted there'd be 9,500 riders a day by 2020 in the current Big Lake to Minneapolis layout in 2006 (p.27); but only has 2,500 riders on this design today (p.16)... They were off by 7,000 riders a day! 

Washington County Dumpster Fire

The transit corridors in Washington County are a dumpster fire of tax dollars. 

- It's on the third County lead transit planner for the line (Gitzlaff the first, Leitner the second, Jan Lucke the third). 

- The state hasn't directly funded a corridor with a dedicated bill since 2011; 

- The sole source of back door funding, the un-elected Met Council, has it's days numbered in failed mass transit funding business. 

-The County Transit Improvement Board (CTIB) that used to fund the corridors is disbanded. 

- And finally the feds have announced they're not interested in funding any of the corridors here. 

The County likely suspected this when the Trump administration said they were planning on redirecting funds from failed mass transit to roads and bridges in early 2017. So in June Washington County Commissioners voted to Institute their own the transit sales tax on residents to try and keep the quickly sinking ship a float. But they'll still be short hundreds of millions of dollars on this unsustainable track.

It seems there is no amount of pulled State, Federal, and local funding that would discourage the Washington County board, Representative Kelly Fenton, Franke, and Jurgens and the Woodbury Mayor Mary Giuliani Stephens, from saying enough is enough... We've wasted over $51,000,000 local Washington County tax dollars planning these horribly bad transit lines (the amount of money raised since 2008 from the county by the transit sales tax).

All 5 county commissioners have voted unanimously to keep it going full steam ahead. Don't be fooled by an isolated, and pre-arrange no vote from commissioner Fran Miron and Gary Kriesel for the tax. They've continued to vote to approve steps to move the mass transit projects forward before and after their isolated no vote.

Not all public transit is bad. The express bus, park and ride, service with peak service during rush hours directly to and from the city is good. Metro mobility, that provides door to door service for elderly and disabled people is good. Even some local bus routes in Washington County are useful. No buildings to maintain, no service during the mid day and night where LRT and BRT run with largely empty (for express bus), lower operating costs, and no costly infrastructure to pay for and maintain other than the buses themselves.

For the over $50 million we've lost for nothing we could have built expanded express bus service in every major city in Washington County or better yet, fixed/expanded our county roads:  Gateway Corridor vs Metro Transit: How State's $9 million Route Upgrade Could Replace the Gateway Corridor

What the MN GOP can Learn From the February Special Election and Choosing a Candidate

Democrat Karla Bigham has beat Republican establishment pick Denny McNamara in the February 12th, Senate District 54 special election. It's an embarrassing loss for the GOP who saw Trump win by 6 points and two republican house members Jurgens and Franke also win in this district just over a year ago. It should have been easy to beat one of the most extreme left wing, tax and spend, democrats to have formerly been in office. Bigham, in her final year in the legislature, was one of only six democrats out of 87 in the legislature at the time to get a 0% lifetime rating by the non-partisan Tax Payers League.  Republicans could have offered a clear choice for voters by endorsing a fiscal conservative. But dropped the ball and instead picked the less liberal than Bigham moderate Denny McNamara. Moderate is putting it lightly, see: Fourteen Years of Broken Promises. No Problem. Denny McNamara Wins Republican Endorsement 

When will the Minnesota GOP realize that running candidates who are "democrat lite" is a sure way to lose to a democrat? They tried in district 23B to put an establishment moderate republican on the ticket for their 2/12 special election after delegates chose the more fiscal conservative Jeremy Munson at their endorsing convention: Speaker Kurt Daudt's MN Republican House Mafia Plans to Primary Against the GOP Endorsed Candidate. The delegate choice prevailed because he beat the democrat by 20 points! Munson campaigned on being against "wasteful government spending, high taxes, and over reaching government". For reference, District 23B is hardly a republican stronghold. In 2010 the democrat beat the republican by 13 points.

What the Minnesota GOP can learn from the February 12th special elections is to put up candidates like Jeremy Munson who support the party's core values and can communicate how that will improve the lives of voters over the opposing party's strategy of growing government and taxes. Whereas, candidates like McNamara who may say the same things; but have a record of growing government and taxes, but just not as much as a democrat, inspire no one (democrat lite). When these candidates are chosen they're easy to defeat when challenged by even the worst democrat. We all saw the massive amounts of ads against Bigham and her record of voting to raise almost every tax there is to raise. But it's all a waste when the opposing republican can't claim they'd do the opposite and propose legislation to lower taxes and spending. 

Four GOP Legislators are Silent After Attempt to Sneak Funding for Mass Transit in Omnibus Bill

4/14/17 update: Representative Petersburg promises these mass transit bills will not be in the house transportation omnibus bill. However, the bills could be snuck into the capital investment omnibus bills because it does not have a bill authorship deadline like the others. Stay tuned.
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Right now the Republican Controlled Minnesota Legislature is working to pass their many different "Omnibus" Bills from everything from education to road funding. These are pieces of proposed legislation with dozens of individual bills that are grouped together by similarity to be passed in one floor vote to save time. Last week we covered the House and Senate Transportation omnibus bills, which both passed:
GOP Senate Passes $5.8 Billion Transportation Bill with $180 Million to Met Council & 
Mass Transit a Huge Raise
Vice Chair Rep. Petersburg Promises No Transit Bills in 2017 House Transportation Omnibus Bill

The next step is for these house and senate bills to meet in reconciliation in order to work on matching. When they do they'll go to the Governor to be signed into law.

This article is about the mass transit bills (Light Rail and Bus Corridors) that four of our Washington County GOP State Legislators attempted to sneak into the Republican transportation (roads and bridges) omnibus bills in the House and Senate. They crossed the aisle and joined 29 democrats in this effort. Thankfully, for the tax payers, their efforts to pass one over on the voters by hiding mass transit funding into road and bridge funding bills failed. If they respected the legislative process they would have put their bills through committee, personally defended the need to be funded by the entire state, and put them up as stand alone bills on the floor. They attempted to bypass all these checks and balances and sneak them into an omnibus bill as is common practice by the opposing democrat party. They could still try to sneak their bills into another omnibus bill like the capital investment. But we'll see. 

What's shocking is the fact that all four of these GOP legislators are from Washington County since there are 111 Republican legislators in the State.

All citizens benefit from state funded roads that are supported by Transportation omnibus bills. Not only for personal transport; but also delivery of goods and services. Mass transit (light rail and bus rapid transit) do not benefit the residents of the state. At best, mass transit only serves immediate residents along the short length of the corridors that are usually less than 20 miles long in Minnesota. They don't deliver goods and services and they don't transport you if you have more than you can carry in your arms. Generous estimates state that only 4% of just Twin City metro commutes are by Mass Transit. Statewide, less than a fraction of 1%. So why should tax dollars meant for roads and bridges go to fund transit lines that statistically very few people use? This is why republicans legislators do not allow transit bills to be hidden inside transportation omnibus bills. Yet four of our legislators broke with their fiscal conservative party principles and attempted to fund wasteful transit spending and worst, in this manner.

The bills and legislators are:

-HF2442/SF1767 - : $3 million for the Gateway Corridor/Gold Line Transit way funding. Senator Karin Housley, Republcan, 39B covering Forest Lake, Stillwater, and Lake Elmo has her name on the bill. (more on why the Gateway corridor is a bad idea here)
-HF2453 -: $3 million for the Gateway Corridor/ Gold Line. Representative Kelly Fenton, Republican, 53B covering Woodbury has her name on the bill. 

-HF2385/SF2260-$5,600,000 for the Red Rock Corridor transit way. Representative Tony Jurgens (R,54B,Cottage Grove, Afton, Hastings) and Representative Keith Franke (R,54A,New Port, Cottage Grove) have their names on the bill.  (more on why the Red Rock Corridor is a bad idea here)

The RINO (republican in name only) Representative Fenton, Senator Housley, Representative Jurgens (elected 2016), and Representative Franke (elected 2016) apparently do not understand the four mass transit corridors that have been built in Minnesota have cost tax payers billions yet have had no impact on decreasing road congestion or meeting expectations for job growth etc. 
we told them:"If you can't align with the party against failed mass transit it's easy to predict a repeat of 2011 when the GOP did nothing to reform wasteful transit spending, the un-elected met council, and actually did the opposite and funded horrible transit lines like the Red Rock Corridor and Gateway Corridor with direct funding as your bills this session request.... As you know the GOP lost the house and Senate the following year. When this session is again a failure to cut something simple as failed mass transit spending and Met Council reform we predict a similar defeat for the Republican legislature AND the Governor's seat." 

we asked them each four questions and gave them over a week to respond. All four refused to answer these questions (some worded differently depending on recipient):
For Representative Kelly Fenton1.) we see your name is on HF2453 to fund the $420 million dollar Gateway Corridor/Gold Line Corridor Bus "Rapid" Transit project $3 million tax dollars. Money that would keep this $420 million dollar, 9 mile bus route to wind down the side streets from Woodbury to St. Paul alive. That's $46.6 million per mile to make a negligible impact (if any) in congestion. Just 5% decrease if you use the corridor's 2040 ridership prediction with today's I-94 traffic volume. Retired MNDOT highway planer Frank Pafko has stated numerous times in the media that "it only costs $5-$10 million per mile to add a lane of freeway or highway." $10 million a mile for inner city freeway like I-94. In 2011 he and MNDOT had a plan to add a lane, a MN-Pass lane, it was tabled by Dayton and the DFL. Metro Transit has a $9 million dollar alternative to the Gold Line.  With all the evidence showing the Gold line will be another failed BRT corridor what evidence do you have to justify putting your name on a bill to fund this bus line rather than a more affordable and a more utilized added lane or Metro Transit line? (There is already an express bus route, regular bus routes, Metro Mobility, and other forms of public transit in your district.)

  2.) This year there are 111 GOP legislators in MN. You and only 3 others decided to leave the party platform of fiscal conservative values and author failed mass transit bills. Please read Representative Hertaus's comment:"I don't think it was necessarily the legislature's intent to provide an unlimited open checkbook to subsidize at an "unkown" number of rail lines at an unkown cost. Extending the current losses funded by the legislature to the six additional proposed MetC lines would suggest (by my own calculations) the current $55 million of losses would triple to $165 million. This promises to be an endless obligation and when shouldered up against the talked about 10 year transportation funding plan, this would be a $1.65 billion dollar funding shortfall, not to mention a likely $12 BILLION dollars to construct the lines. This totals by my estimation, $13.65 billion for LRT over the next 10 years compared to $6 billion over the same period for all of our roads and bridges statewide. This is more than DOUBLE the expenditure for less than 3% of total ridership assuming the LRT ridership doubles over the same period. Further, these losses will starve the general fund for other constitutionally mandated responsibilities such as education, transportation, judiciary and public safety and will ultimately lead to yet higher taxes." Why did you go against your party's pledge of fiscal responsibility to support this corridor? 
3.) In the time since you last authored a bill to fund the Gateway Corridor you found yourself challenged in the primary by a fiscal Conservative and Air Force Veteran who opposed the Gold Line named Steve Ellenwood. Also, Lake Elmo saw the corridor was so bad for them they kicked the Corridor out; coincidentally after we hand wrote to over 100 residents who attend city council meetings in the past. Nearby Oakdale residents also made it clear they don't want the corridor: http://alphanewsmn.com/oakdale-residents-speak-out-against-the-485-million-bus-route/ To be clear, for 60 people in opposition to show up when I've never seen more than two or three show up in support of any Washington County Corridor meeting is huge. Nearby Representative Lohmer stated the only people she is aware of supporting the Gateway Corridor are people who will profit from it's construction. So with all this open opposition and not one true fiscal conservative that we know of who supports this corridor with any facts...  Why do you fight your constituents so hard on this and continue to support it only during off election years? 
4.) The latest news is President Trump is killing the $100 billion left in spending for the new starts grant program. This program is how transit projects have been funded in the US. This would have funded half the money for the Gateway corridor and Red Rock Corridor and all the others in Minnesota. Why author a controversial bill to fund a terrible corridor that is circling the drain and having the federal funds pulled out from under it? 
For Senator Karin Housley (Only the questions that differ from the 4 above are repeated):3.) When you last authored a bill to fund the Gateway Corridor your last Constituent base with land touching the Gold line was in Lake Elmo. Since this time, they withdrew their support. Coincidentally after we hand wrote to over 100 residents of Lake Elmo the truth about the "pro-growth" corridor:  Lake Elmo has kicked the Gateway Corridor out. Afton (in your district) voted years ago not to allow the corridor on their side of I-94. So you no longer have constituents land that will be directly "served" by the corridor. One could argue your constituents oppose the corridor based on the fact they voted no to the corridor in their LPA. Representative Lohmer, who shares half your district, stated the only people she is aware of supporting the Gateway Corridor are people who will profit from it's construction. If you have bi-partisan constituents who are against the Transit Oriented Devolpment (TOD) that the Gold Line would bring and the Gold Line is out of your district now... why are you the author of this bill for the Gold Line?  
For Representative Tony Jurgens (Only the questions that differ from the 4 above are repeated):
1.) Before the election and even after you and Representative Franke have refused multiple times from multiple outlets to say whether or not you were for or against the Red Rock Corridor. In the final days of forming a transportation omnibus bill we see your name and Franke's is on HF2385 to give $5,600,000 to the un-elected Metropolitan Council who will funnel it to the nightmare Red Rock Corridor. (Red Rock Corridor Faces Delays as 7 Facts Become Undeniable.) Money that would keep what's left of this terrible idea alive. Seeing that the corridor failed to meet the minimum requirement for the feds to fund the corridor the County planners had to ditch the millions wasted on the original plan. Their solution was to go to Metro Transit's (Service Improvement Plan) book and pick out a rejected route they had for Cottage Grove, fund it, and call it the Red Rock Corridor. (Red Rock Corridor Plan Falls Apart Now Wants to be Called Route 363) A member of the Hasting's city council said they wouldn't even be alive by the time the corridor reached your district in Hastings (2040 earliest).  With all the evidence showing the Red Rock Corridor is a terrible idea, what evidence do you have to justify putting your name on a bill to fund this bus line that's not in your district rather than a more affordable and a more utilized added lane or leave it to the professionals of Metro Transit?
3.) Your predecessor, former Representative Denny McNamara (Republican) supported the Red Rock Corridor. It appeared to end his political career as he had filed to run for re-election; but for some reason found himself the day before the filing deadline handing the opportunity to you (campaign backers dried up?). Since this time, the Red Rock Corridor is going along with a Route 363 plan that will barely touch your district. The Red Rock Corridor has become nothing more than funding for a rejected Metro Transit Route 363, renamed the Red Rock Corridor. Why are you threatening support from your fiscal conservative base and all the bi-partisan constituents in your district who won't see the corridor reach them by the earliest estimation of 2040? There is already express bus routes, Metro Mobility, the Hastings Loop bus, and other forms of public transit in your district. 

For Representative Keith Franke (Only the questions that differ from the 4 above are repeated):1.) Before the election and even after you and Representative Jurgens have refused multiple times from multiple outlets to say whether or not you were for or against the Red Rock Corridor. In the final days of forming a transportation omnibus bill wesee your name and Jurgen's on HF2385 to give $5,600,000 to the un-elected Metropolitan Council who will funnel it to the nightmare Red Rock Corridor. (Red Rock Corridor Faces Delays as 7 Facts Become Undeniable.) Money that would keep what's left of this terrible idea alive. Seeing that the corridor failed to meet the minimum requirement for the feds to fund the corridor the County planners had to ditch the millions wasted on the original plan. Their solution was to go to Metro Transit's (Service Improvement Plan) book and pick out a rejected route they had for Cottage Grove, fund it, and call it the Red Rock Corridor. (Red Rock Corridor Plan Falls Apart Now Wants to be Called Route 363).  With all the evidence showing the Red Rock Corridor is a terrible idea, what evidence do you have to justify putting your name on a bill to fund this bus line rather than a more affordable and a more utilized added lane or leave it to the professionals of Metro Transit? Consider the massive failure of Newport Transit Station, $6.45 million, No Riders, and No Surprise in your district.
3.) In the next district over from yours, former Representative  Denny McNamara (Republican) supported the Red Rock Corridor. It appeared to end his political career as he had filed to run for re-election; but for some reason found himself the day before the filing deadline handing the opportunity to Tony Jurgens (campaign backers dried up?). Since this time, the Red Rock Corridor has become nothing more than funding for a rejected Metro Transit Route 363, renamed the Red Rock Corridor. Why are you threatening support from your fiscal conservative base and all the bi-partisan constituents in your district who see this corridor is a failure and a burden to tax payers? There is already express bus routes, Metro Mobility, and other forms of public transit in your district. 

None of them responded. If they do, we'll update the article here.

 -$1.6 BILLION 2017 Bonding Bill. Legislators Say They Refuse to Cut Any Pork.

-Speaker Daudt Blindsides Transportation Omnibus and Takes Out Met Council Oversight

-GOP Caves on Mass Transit, Offers Dayton Dream Budget for the Met Council to Continue Transit Lines
Seven Reasons Rep. Kelly Fenton was a Terrible Choice for a Republican Assistant Majority Leader  Four GOP Legislators are Silent After Attempt to Sneak Funding for Mass Transit in Omnibus Bill  

Red Rock Corridor Faces Delays as 7 Facts Become Undeniable

The Gateway Corridor, Big Promises, Little Evidence

Gateway Corridor vs Metro Transit: How State's $9 million Route Upgrade Could Replace the Gateway Corridor