How Do We Stop The Rush Line BRT?

How Do We Stop The Rush Line BRT?

Started
October 26, 2020
Petition to
Mayor, White Bear Lake Dan Louismet
Signatures: 2,072Next Goal: 2,500
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Why this petition matters

Started by Kit Artig

The Rush Line BRT is all wrong for White Bear Lake, White Bear Township, Gem Lake, Vadnais Heights, Maplewood, and beyond. First of all, it's highly doubtful there's enough ridership to support this $475 million dollar project. Work patterns have changed, many now working remotely. Secondly, this represents a hugely questionable use of funds, considering even their own surveys. Thirdly, concerns over parking, traffic congestion, crime, and lack of NEED for this bus line in addition to introducing questionable elements, tearing up streets tearing up trails & tearing through neighborhoods that will forever change the character of White Bear. This pain will extent to Maplewood, Phalen Park, the whole Bruce Vento Trail area and route, with 82 buses going in and out a day. For something we don't even want or need. Please! Can we band together to stop this? (Can we buy it??)

FROM THEIR OWN SURVEY: (!!!) The Rush Line organization recently did its own survey to determine potential ridership. If you add up those who answered “Never”, (37%) “Occasionally” (25%) or “only for special events”,(18%) when asked who would regularly ride this bus, you come to a whopping 80% of those who responded. Think about the fact that only 20% of those who responded to the Rush LIne survey said they would ride “Daily,” (9%), “A few times a week” (7%), or “A few times a month” (4%).  There is no hiding from these fact. The White Bear Press published the results of the survey on October 21 on page 10A. Channel 5 news also recently did an extensive piece of how mass transit ridership has changed dramatically and may never come back to pre-epidemic level. (See their web-site.)
Does anyone actually think there is a need for "high frequency" buses every 10-15 minutes for 19 hours a day? More and more are coming out against this project and feel its being rammed down their throats. 
The other elephant in the room is the beautiful and beloved Bruce Vento Trail and the exact Rush Line Route, which with release of the EIR & fold-out maps, we've studied more closely. It turns out, basically the Rush Line is over taking over the entire Bruce Vento Trail, except for a small portion that runs behind the new Trails End Apartment complex building on County Road D. The route RUNS RIGHT OVER/next to 95% of The Bruce Vento Trail, effectively turning it into a bus line in what's little left of the woods that are there, and guaranteed destruction of this beloved woods, and perhaps one of the last green corridors in this whole area that people have come to love, use and enjoy. New plans call for a 100 ft wide corridor to be built up and down almost the entire Trail to accommodate the new 2 lane bus line and "refurbished" trail. Sad. Extremely sad right now. This Trail is so beautiful and it butts up to so many peoples yards and this is just unimaginable. I urge you to look more closely at this situation. Let everybody know.
The fact that there are existing streets with overpasses one block over (English Street) with a brand new bridge and existing routes makes this especially vexing-- why is Metro Council acting against voters? Because they are not voted in, they are appointed. 
Therefore, only if the public bands together in massive numbers will we be able to  dream of stopping this!! Please see more of the detail on our website www.NoRushLine.com . Please, everyone who has an opinion and wants to lend their voice, sign this, keep in touch, let us know if you want to help!
We need everyone to understand the enormous impact of this project, infrastructure, new dedicated highway bridges, a 2 story parking garage next to an elementary school, complete destruction of Bruce Vento Trail by building a 2 lane dedicated bus highway through the 7 miles of a beautifully wooded trail.
Finally, is there a good reason why this can't at least be postponed for several years until the effects if the pandemic and the shifts in ridership and public sentiment are truly measured?
Thank you so much for your support!

Regards,
Kit

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Signatures: 2,072Next Goal: 2,500
Support now
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Decision Makers

  • Dan LouismetMayor, White Bear Lake