Red Rock Corridor Plan Falls Apart Now Wants to be Called Route 363

Update 5-2018: South Washington County's Red Rock Corridor "Terminated"!



The Red Rock Corridor. A 30 mile Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor from Hastings to St. Paul Faces Delays as 7 Facts Become Undeniable, as one of our original articles state. In the article you see the corridor's planning history filled with evidence of attempts to manipulate the public's understanding of the corridor. Whether it's being deceptive on the cost of the corridor, to approving a plan to double the number of station stops in attempt to get ridership numbers to build on paper. This last ploy, was titled the "implementation plan" it cost tax payers $550,000 and apparently it's being thrown out the window for the latest change.

The newest plan ditches the 12 stop corridor plan and even the original 6 stop plan in favor of turning the Red Rock Corridor into a local bus route. Millions have been invested in planning and re-planning this "Bus Rapid Transit" corridor to try to make the plan work to gain coveted federal funding. But no matter how they twisted the numbers they weren't even close to the feds who'd like ridership over 2,000 riders a day. So now the new plan is to re-brand and look under any rock they can for funds to keep the corpse of this terrible corridor idea moving forward. (read on to see why it's so bad) The BRT plan is now a "long term" design for the year 2040!

At the  September 2016 Corridor Commission meeting they explain since they can't get the Red Rock Corridor built they should get funding for a bus route they can later rename the Red Rock Corridor: 

"The proposed Route 363 is a local bus route acting as a precursor to BRT implementation in this corridor."

Route 363:

By doing this the corridor, if you can call it that anymore, can apply for funding from all new sources that have no idea how bad the corridor idea is. The plan was set and they applied  to the Met Council for $5.9 million to go towards building the $7.8 million dollar route. On the application it is called Route 363 which is a bus route will run with existing express bus routes 361, 364, and 365 that currently serve the Cottage Grove area. This new Route is planning to have 1,200 riders a day and is a ridiculous prediction as route 361, 364, and 365 have a combined ridership of just 475 riders a day!  (sourced here under number 5 from Metro Transit's latest study)

Read more about Route 363 on the Metro Transit's Service Improvement Plan (SIP) just hit "ctrl + f" on the key board and search "363." It was such a bad idea that Metro Transit even passed up investing in it last year. 

Funding denied From Met Council:

On January 18th the Met Council denied the funding request for the route according to Elaine Koutsoukos head of the Met Council's TAB (Transportation Advisory Board). It serves an embarrassing failure to the Corridor planners who were hoping to pull off pushing the Red Rock Corridor forward in butchered down form. It marks the second denial from the Met Council to invest in the corridor after they were denied funding to build low income housing by the Newport Transit Station. You know a transit corridor is a terrible idea when the Met Council turns you down time and time again.

Newport Transit Station will hurt Route 363:

The least popular of the three routes is route 364 which has the longest ride time since it stops at the Newport Transit Station which is isolated and has no direct connection to the Highway. This evidenced in the ridership which is a dismal 37 rides a day or just 18 riders a day (same Metro Transit source as above). Route 363 will incorporate the unpopular Newport Transit Station. 

Ridership predictions we can't trust:

In the October 2016 Corridor Commission meeting they claim 1,200 riders a day will be using route 363. This ridership prediction is ridiculous as it's Two and a half times the combined amount of our 3 current express bus routes as stated earlier. We know ridership predictions from corridor planners are extremely off. In 2012, the year before the Red Line Corridor was built just 20 miles south, they predicted 2,250 riders a day OVER the express bus ridership... turns out they were 1,400 riders a day short! 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! 

But they're going to run all day service and have more buses they say. 

Surely if we simply send enough buses back and forth from relatively rural South Washington County all day long the ridership will multiply two and a half times.... False! We can say this with certainty because for 3 years the Red Line has been staring us in the face with the evidence of only 835 riders a day.

The Red Line in Apple Valley as evidence:

We know route 363 will fail because this experiment has already been tried with the Red Line Corridor. Finished in 2013 the corridor has just 835 riders a day according the latest 2015 MNDOT Guideways status report. This is Solid evidence because the population there is three times more dense, serving a road with twice even the 2030 volume of hwy 61 for route 363, and they have more concentrated shopping centers and housing down there. (sourced here under number 4)

$5.5 million a year to operate:

Worst of all the operating costs for Route 363 will be higher than the Red Line Corridor. Local tax payers will be on the hook to cover the $5.5 million a year to operate the bus line burning diesel. Not to mention the wear and tear on the local streets caused by the heavy buses. How much damage? Take the example of just one dump truck to operate in Washington County in our state they have to pay over $4,000 a year to city, state, and counties to cover road damage.

How bad is this Route 363 that will become the Red Rock Corridor? Here's all Seven massive reasons the corridor will be a failure and the evidence to prove it is sourced (I only shared two of seven):

 Red Rock Corridor Faces Delays as 7 Facts Become Undeniable

How do we know the Corridor will be so terrible? How about the fact none of the 40 planners can answer just One question:
Over 40 Red Rock Corridor Decision Makers Unable to Provide Answers About New Route

List of Tens of Millions in Pork in 2017 Bonding Bill

3/2017 update: Response from Legislators was not good:

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

2/2017 update: we've now testified 3 times now against the wasteful spending in this bill and not one cent or one wasteful project has been removed from this bill yet. Senator Senjem emailed me and stated "I appreciate your perspective.  There are projects in this bill that wish were not part of it."

okay, if you don't like parts of the bill than cut them. He hasn't responded. Please consider helping testify against the parts of this bill that clearly are not needed.

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Our letter to Senate Committee hearings regarding the Pork filled bonding bill SF210 that is being heard. Please read and consider attending the hearings. In the least please submit testimony and email and call the committee members. Worst of all is sending start up money to start more failed transit corridors. When you look over the list think to yourself "why would all the tax payers of the State be involved with funding this?"

This bill looks similar to:

List of the Tens of Millions in Pork in the Dec. 20th 2016 Special Session Bill

Also, many state reps including Nick Zerwas believe we have no business writing a bonding bill until a responsible budget bill is signed into law. Believing things will move far more smoothly for both.


Was heard in Capital investment committee in late January with no changes except adding more spending to some much needed road projects.  Bill authors refuse to respond. 

Dear committee members:

Sorry to be so frank but looking at the pork in SF210  I'm shocked:
http://www.senate.mn/committees/2017-2018/1002_Committee_on_Capital_Investment/2017%20Capital%20Investment%20--%202017%20Senate%20Omnibus%20Bonding%20Bill%20(SF210)%20--%201-19-2017.pdf

1.) Why are you even wasting time crafting bonding bill deals when the budget isn't passed? You can use the Bonding deal to leverage a responsible budget. "No fiscally responsible budget no bonding bill DFL."

2.) Pork for colleges that are not lowering tuition ($189.1 million total):
$27 million for yet ANOTHER building at UMD (Materials Science Building)
$4.4 million for a "Plant Growth" research building.
$25.3 million for Winona State "education village".
$18.5 million for St. Cloud State "Student Health" building renovation

$9.9 million to connect buildings at Hibbing Community College

3.) Red Lake school district with 3 to 5% reading proficiency according to schooldigger.com... you want to hand them a check for $14 million dollars to build a new school building?!!! If I was a Native American I'd be insulted that legislators think they can throw money at a problem that is directly related to an unaccountable school system... not the lack of a multimillion dollar fancy school.

4.) $1.5 million so Olmsted County can buy land for a "Dyslexia Institute of MN"

5.) $9.3 million so Polk County can add a garbage incinerator to handle burning garbage more info about these things here in Washington County and their harm to the environment and waste of tax dollars:
Washington/Ramsey County $170 million dollar Garbage Processing Plant, 6 Months In; Failing? Counties Refuse to Answer.

6.) $4 million for a "Minnesota Zoological Garden" at the MN Zoo

7.) $10.8 million for the Centennial Parking Ramp

8.) $1.9 million for a "Pioneer Public Television" station in the middle of nowhere Granite Falls?! (That's a State responsibility?!)

9.) ONLY $2.5 million for military support

10.) $1.1 million for Hugo's railway... a railway that is so short and useless it's just a cute addition to Hugo and White Bear!

11.) A $750,000 pedestrian bridge in the middle of nowhere Grand Rapids... if a precedent to fund every small town 3/4 of a million dollar pedestrian bridge was made the state would be bankrupt.

12.) $11.1 million to be given to for profit airports? Now $8.4 million as of March 8th

13.) $12.1 million to the unelected met council for the Orange Line
and $8.75 million to the unelected met council for the MOA transit station.
What part of not building anymore lines is hard to comprehend?

14.) $12 million to just pay for part of a Sea Lion habitat at the Como Zoo

15.) $57.6 million for a demolish and rebuild the "Security Hospital" in St. Peter (town of 12,000 people)

16.) ONLY $5,000 for Veteran "asset Preservation"

17.) $4.5 million for a dentist facility in Bemidji 

18.) $15 million for their "Steam Plant" renovations (why does all of MN have to pay for that?)

19.) $5 million for a "center for the arts" in Hennepin County

20.) $8 million for a "Arrowhead Wellness Center" in Hermantown

21.) $5 million for a "Norway House" in Minneapolis "to celebrate the culture of Norway and American Norwegians"

22.) $3 million of a food bank in Crookston (there isn't a church that'd be willing to host it?)

23.) $4.5 million to refurbish a Performing arts Theater in Red Wing

24.) $13 million for st. paul Science museum

25.) $6 million for St. Paul Port Authority museum of American Art

26.) St. Paul - Dorothy Day Opportunity Center for homeless people $12,000,000  (they're tearing down the old center that is perfectly useful)

 $1.6 BILLION 2017 Bonding Bill. Legislators Say They Refuse to Cut Any Pork.GOP Senate Passes $5.8 Billion Transportation Bill with $180 Million to Met Council & Mass Transit a Huge RaiseVice Chair Rep. Petersburg Promises No Transit Bills in 2017 House Transportation Omnibus BillFour GOP Legislators are Silent After Attempt to Sneak Funding for Mass Transit in Omnibus Bill  Four Reasons Rep. Kelly Fenton was a Terrible Choice for a Republican Assistant Majority Leader  

3/2017 update:There was a small decrease in the bill amount due to about 3 adjustments. Likely requests moved to a different bill

Proposed Mahtomedi Ice Arena will Violate Purchase Agreement if Built on Former Dump Site

By: 
Shannon Pohl Bryant

NOTICE: To the taxpayers, community and Mahtomedi Hockey Parents, we the taxpayers of the Mahtomedi School District request you immediately STOP and cease giving any further donations to Rinc 2 Inc. to build a private hockey arena on the former Bellaire Sanitation Site, directly west of Wildwood Elementary. 

For one many taxpayers have many concerns about the safety of this site. But most important is the 2004 Sales Purchase Agreement between Seller Waste Management of Minnesota, Inc. and Purchaser Mahtomedi School District.
(here's a few pages of the 60 page document) 

The purchase agreement contains a "perpetual" and never ending restricted covenant on building ANY structure requiring footings or foundation over the "MMDA" Mixed Municipal Disposal Area, this is the exact location of the proposed hockey arena. 

Community members strongly feel that it is in the best interest of the taxpayers of ISD 832 to not get in to litigation with multi-million dollar company Waste Management, who did not end on good terms with this school district after the school district refused to give back their $400,000 escrow deposit. 

This group feels terrible for the hard working families that already donated significant dollars to this project. WE don't understand if this is ignorance on the part of Mahtomedi School District or dishonesty, as the school district is attempting to collect a $500,000 escrow deposit for this project. However, the lease for the proposed hockey arena to Rinc 2 Inc. was approved by the School Board in September. 

School Board Members Kevin Donovan and Judith Schwartz served on the school board in 2004 when this contract was executed and signed and should have known these important details. As current and former Zephyrs, it is in our best interest to honor contracts we made, not to risk health and safety of our children, and not to risk expensive litigation with Waste Management. Please share with other community members that have a vested interested in this school district

Seven Reasons Rep. Kelly Fenton was a Terrible Choice for a Republican Assistant Majority Leader

3/2017 here's a fifth reason: Representative Fenton's New Woodbury Lodging Tax Bill is a Slap in the Face to New Hotels and GOP

4/2017: here's a sixth: Four GOP Legislators are Silent After Attempt to Sneak Funding for Mass Transit in Omnibus Bill  

4/2017 here's a seventh: Representative Kelly Fenton's Proposal (HF463) Threatens Voting Integrity with "Alternative Procedure"
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As a fiscal conservative, not beholden to any political party: overall I can say I'm proud of the work from the 2016 Republican run house. For one: They listened to the voters to hold the line on direct funding for more failed transit lines by killing the bills in the house (like SWLRT). At least for the 3 terrible corridors being planned in Washington County. Unfortunately Met Council still got their $80+ million dollar blank check to back door fund whatever transit line their unelected hearts desire. But they were working with a DFL controlled Senate and Governor so they couldn't pass a dream budget that would impress fiscal conservatives.

Most fiscal conservatives understand that no politician can meet expectations 100% of the time. However, it doesn't take long to spot a politician that completely abandons you and even the party principles they promised to uphold. 

Therefore, I don't take calling out a republican lightly. By their party definition they are supposed to be fiscally conservative too. One in my position should caution calling one out. Yet I will not abandon my promise to hold all political parties in check. All the volunteer moderators on Washington County Watchdog agree to this. With that, I must warn everyone about one of the newly appointed Republican Assistant Majorirty Leaders, Representative Kelly Fenton. She does talk the talk; but her brief record in the house absolutely doesn't reflect it (just finished her first term). Actually her record is the opposite; here are four facts from her own record:

1.) Fenton is anything but a fiscal conservative Republican. Simply print out the list of bills she's authored, cover up the name, and show it around and ask if it was a democrat or a republican's record... you'd be like the dozens of her delegates at the GOP District 53 primary convention I asked this very question... they all guessed democrat. Probably based on all her education bills (10 of them) to fund do nothing school programs rather than reform our broken school system or support school choice. Plus her eight bills on different election laws. Then there was only ONE bill to fund a road project that she hardly spent anytime fighting for. This road bill didn't even pass, to my knowledge it's tied up in HF622 that failed to pass in final moments of session. (more on that on page 2 of this report www.taxpayersleague.org/scorecards)

2.) Fenton was the chief author for a request for the Gateway Corridor (Gold Line) Transit Funding in 2015, meanwhile in her district she is nearly silent in comparison about THE MOST deadly freeway interchange in the state (694/494/94) that needs study, engineering and construction funding: 

At Her Own Crossroads: Will Representative Fenton Lead or Appease 

This corridor is a waste of a half a BILLION dollars to take AT MOST 5% of traffic off the I94 freeway:

The Gateway Corridor, Big Promises, Little Evidence

Worst of all there's a fiscally responsible option out there:
Gateway Corridor vs Metro Transit: How State's $9 million Route Upgrade Could Replace the Gateway Corridor

3.) Fenton is not a good supporter of small government. She was the Chief author of a bill last session to strip Economic Development rights away from cities and hand it over to pro-mass bus transit Counties like ours who can now supercede the will of it's cities (the bill passed): 

Representative Fenton's Bill to Give Washington County Final Say Over it's City's Economic Development

This strategic move was taken in response after Lake Elmo Kicked the Gateway Corridor Out because it requires "Transit Oriented Development" which they don't like in their small town.

4.) Early in the 2016 session Fenton refused to withdraw her carry over bill to provide $189,000 to a park that had already fully funded itself! Senator Housley listened to my request and she removed her name from the bill immediately:

Madison Place Playground, Fully Funded by Private Donors. 

Representative Fenton Refuses to Retract her Funding Request

Fenton is a great politician as far as doing anything it takes to get elected. She talked her way into office repeating the beliefs of her party. Small government, cutting taxes, responsible spending, roads before transit, pro-life, pro-2nd amendment, etc. As you can tell she authors bills to do the complete opposite in most of these fields. She has wrote ZERO bills to support the core things citizens in her party would strongly support. Sad thing is this list only scratches the surface. 

Hopefully House members will not be distracted by Representative Kelly Fenton's personal quest to grow government programs and fund half a billion dollar bus rapid transit lines that have all the evidence against them.

Representative Fenton's New Woodbury Lodging Tax Bill is a Slap in the Face to New Hotels and GOP
Four GOP Legislators are Silent After Attempt to Sneak Funding for Mass Transit in Omnibus Bill  

At Her Own Crossroads: Will Representative Fenton Lead or Appease

Exclusive: 8 local Republican Legislators Explain their Position on Transit

List of the Tens of Millions in Pork in the Dec. 20th 2016 Special Session Bill

Most of this Pork is in the 2017 bonding bill!
Check out the story and why it's important to get the ridiculous spending out:List of Tens of Millions in Pork in 2017 Bonding Bill

Response from Legislators was not good:
$1.6 BILLION 2017 Bonding Bill. Legislators Say They Refuse to Cut Any Pork. Call to Action.

Also:

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

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The Bill is the BILLION dollar HF622. It is now the infamous bill that failed to pass in the final moments of the 2016 session. The list below includes just some of the items we feel are ridiculous pork items in the bonding bill that have no business being in any State funding bill. Let alone a bill that would come from republicans.  

(correction: HF622 was not the bill the Governor recently almost signed. That bill was HF848)

we understand we need government spending. Roads, bridges, public safety, and all the functions of government included in our constitution... sure, you need to fund it. But parking ramps, dentist facilities, garden boards, sea lion exhibits, and little parks in cities we don't live in to name a few is insane... even for democrats who never say no.

Please review the list of things I am shocked came in this bill from our republican majority House... Given the fact they now took the Senate too perhaps they can take to their claim of being "fiscally responsible" and take a ton of this stuff out.

Please take this information and contact your state reps to say you want this pork out before the final language is set on December 16th. The special session meeting is on "about" December 20th according to: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/sessiondaily/SDView.aspx?StoryID=12333

see who represents you: http://www.gis.leg.mn/iMaps/districts/

The 12 republicans who voted no on the final reading of the bill should be recognized for honoring their party's fiscal conservative campaign promise :

rep.sarah.anderson@house.mn
rep.mark.anderson@house.mn
rep.bob.barrett@house.mn
rep.matt.dean@house.mn (Washington County)
rep.steve.drazkowski@house.mn
rep.steve.green@house.mn
rep.dave.hancock@house.mn
rep.tim.kelly@house.mn
rep.kathy.lohmer@house.mn (Washington County)
rep.jenifer.loon@house.mn
rep.marion.oneill@house.mn
rep.nick.zerwas@house.mn

(there were 27 democrats who also voted no, perhaps for not enough spending)

Only 9 Republican senators voted no on the senate version of the bill:
sen.bruce.anderson@senate.mn
sen.david.brown@senate.mn
sen.roger.chamberlain@senate.mn (Washington County)
sen.karin.housley@senate.mn (washington County)
Dan D. Hall (56, R) 
sen.david.hann@senate.mn
sen.eric.pratt@senate.mn
sen.warren.limmer@senate.mn
sen.dave.thompson@senate.mn

The numbers to the left of the item are the page you will find the item. in red are my comments

https://legiscan.com/MN/text/HF622/id/1410557/Minnesota-2015-HF622-Engrossed.pdf

more details on the bill:
https://legiscan.com/MN/bill/HF622/2015

 We hand out hundreds of millions to our colleges. They build ridiculous buildings and facilities with the money and sponsor outrageously expensive sports programs... and at the same time charge ungodly rates on tuition... Coincidentally the Government offers the loans and makes even more money on the credit card level of interest they charge! My wife and I's student loan payment is more than our mortgage payment!!!

2.10 Sec. 2. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA $81,567,000 

3.21 Sec. 3. MINNESOTA STATE COLLEGES $107,487,000

32.29 Subd. 8. St. Paul - Dorothy Day Opportunity Center for homeless people $12,000,000  

YET there's only $5 million in funding for VA facilities for our vets.

Why is the unelected Met Council getting tens of millions to build more failed transit lines in omnibus funding? How about we fund these ridiculous white elephants like many road projects in dedicated bills with a floor vote.

27.8 Sec. 17. METROPOLITAN COUNCIL 

27.12 Subd. 2. Metro Orange Line BRT $12,100,000

27.22 Subd. 3. Mall of America Station $8,750,000 For just ONE train stop!

37.32 Subd. 13. St. Paul - Science Museum of Minnesota Building Preservation $13,000,000 Why not raise the money from private donors like all the private owned museums do.

38.14 Subd. 14. St. Paul Port Authority - Minnesota Museum of American Art $6,000,000

28.24 Subd. 5. St. Paul - Como Zoo $12,000,000 for fancy new sea lion exhibit 

18.25 $4,000,000 To the Minnesota Zoological Garden Board

Why is government in the business of funding airports? If anything the local tax payers... not the entire State should be paying for their failed airports that can't apparently earn the money themselves.

52.29 (1) $4,985,000 for a grant to the city of Rochester for their Airport,

53.35 (2) $5,900,000 for the Duluth International and Sky Harbor Airports 

25.25 Koochiching County Airport Commission $3,000,000

35.7 Subd. 5. Bemidji - Regional Dental Facility $4,500,000 

35.20 Subd. 6. Hennepin County Center for the Arts $5,000,000

36.14 Subd. 9. Minneapolis - Norway House Event Center $5,000,000     These cities and counties should pay for their own unneeded crap

37.4 Subd. 11. Red Wing - River Town Renaissance Area $4,480,000

77.7 Subd. 6. Inver Grove Heights - Heritage Village Park $2,000,000

77.27 Subd. 12. West St. Paul - North Urban River Pedestrian Bridge $2,000,000

26.25 Subd. 9. Grand Rapids Pedestrian Bridge $750,000

20.16 Subd. 6. Granite Falls - Pioneer Public Television $1,950,000

19.33 Subd. 3. Centennial Parking Ramp at the capital $10,878,000

12.27 Subd. 6. Trail Development $11,490,000 Seriously look at the list of trails. they are trails from nowhere to nowhere mostly. Let the cities and counties build them if they want them so bad

15.12 Subd. 5. $9,250,000 for Polk County to complete a "regional integrated solid waste management system." 

A waste because it's a garbage burning system. These things are a HUGE waste of money and if we're bailing out all 87 counties that want to do this it's an unsustainable precedence. Washington County is going to hit the legislature up next... this just passed the county board last year:
The $170 Million Dollar Washington/Ramsey County Plan to Take Over Private Sector Garbage Processing

Not to mention the fact they are extremely harmful to the environment: