Community Corner
Simon, Winkler, Latz, Speak up!
An open letter to Representatives Steve Simon, Ryan Winkler, and Senator Ron Latz,
Last week, the St. Louis Park city council and school board unanimously voted to reject the Met Council’s latest plan to re-route freight trains through homes, schools and businesses in St. Louis Park. The re-route plan was recognized as unsafe, divisive, and wasteful during a recent joint school board/city council meeting. Community leaders noted that trains can simply remain where they are today on a safe, flat, straight track in Minneapolis utilizing any number of “co-location” alternatives drawn up by the Met Council.
Representatives Winkler, Simon and Senator Latz-we need you to stand up for your community at the State level as your city council and school board have locally. Minneapolis politicians recently held a rally promoting the idea that freight trains should leave that area and be re-routed to SLP. Their idea is to trade the “beauty of the Kenilworth Trail” (which already has freight trains running in it) for the safety and well-being of school-children on our playgrounds. They would have you sacrifice hundreds of SLP homes and several businesses so that they can be free of unattractive freight trains in an area that was once a freight rail yard. They would rather welcome disaster by putting freight trains up 20 feet in the air on curving berms and bridges through St. Louis Park than narrow their bike trail for a quarter mile.
Find out what's happening in St. Louis Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Betsy Hodges, City Council Member and Mayoral candidate, and Frank Hornstein, Minneapolis area state representative and Transportation Finance Chair, stood up at this rally and proposed that Minneapolis residents contact their elected officials immediately with their concerns because this decision will be “very political”.
Representatives Winkler and Simon, Senator Latz- Now is the time to support your residents, your businesses, and your school children from this ludicrous plan. Call a press conference, work your media contacts, speak up! Publicly, vociferously support us in St. Louis Park.