Getting there from here

Star Tribune Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:08:58 GMT
Lakeville bus service deal is no free ride

A Met Council deal that would bring buses to the suburb has some excited, but an extra transit tax required in exchange bothers others. The Lakeville residents who want bus service to downtown Minneapolis range from a 79-year-old retiree who loves seeing plays at the Guthrie Theater to a commuter mom who doesn't have time to drop her kids off at school and still board the nearest bus to work. "It's something I've been waiting for since I got here three years ago," said Steve Weckman, who envisions riding his bike to a new park-and-ride proposed in Lakeville and taking the bus to his job in Minneapolis. Weckman's vision could be reality as soon as 2009 -- but only if the city approves a deal with the Metropolitan Council that would bring buses to Lakeville for the first time in exchange for residents paying an extra transit tax. That deal, which the City Council is slated to vote on Monday night, would come with well over $25 million in transit and highway improvements for Lakeville residents, including two park-and-rides and a high-occupancy lane extension in Burnsville that would relieve a major bottleneck where Interstate 35 splits. At an open house on Tuesday night, dozens of residents showed up at City Hall to learn more about the offer and weigh in, with many expressing interest in the Met Council's proposal. But support isn't universal: The plan would require the average Lakeville homeowner to pay an extra $36 a year, joining most metro-area residents in the transit taxing district that helps pay to build buses and stations.

[[keywords: LandUse;PublicWorks;PropertyTax;Metro;]]