News briefs, August 2008
Chowgirls to leave Dinkytown
In mid-August, Chowgirls Killer Catering plans to leave its Dinkytown digs at 1316 SE Fourth St., which the business has called home for two years. The girls aren’t moving far — to 1222 NE Second St., just a bit outside Bridgeland — but fans of the current Dinkytown lunch counter will have to eat elsewhere or plan a party; business has grown, and the new Chowgirls kitchen is focused 100 percent on catering. “We loved our stay in Dinkytown, but we grew out of space,” said Chowgirls’ employee Melissa Slachetka. For information about Chowgirls Catering, visit www.chowgirls.net.
Fatal scooter accident prompts talk of traffic safety
On Tuesday, July 15, 21-year-old Tommy Earl White died when the scooter he was riding collided with a semi turning off of University Avenue onto Malcolm Avenue in Prospect Park. According to police and witness accounts reported in the media, White — who was not a University of Minnesota student — appeared to try to race the truck and beat it through the intersection as it made a wide, right-hand turn from the left lane of traffic. White struck the side of the trailer and was killed.
Friends left a small memorial for him on a utility pole at the intersection.
The incident was not the first fatality involving a semi, the likes of which make regular use of the intersection. Prospect Park resident Charlie Betz recalled the death of his neighbor in 2001. The man was crossing the street at the crosswalk, said Betz, when a
truck turned quickly off of Malcolm and struck and killed him.
The July 15 accident sparked conversation on the Prospect Park e-list, with some saying the intersection is dangerous. John DeWitt, who chairs the Prospect Park/East River Road Improvement Association’s (PPERRIA) transit committee, said the intersection has always been somewhat problematic. “There’s so much truck traffic there, and the trucks are really long,” he said.
Right now, trucks have two lanes and a bus stop/right-turn lane, DeWitt said, noting that the construction of the Central Corridor light-rail line down University will make the intersection even tighter. DeWitt said he planned to package the comments from the e-list and forward them to Central Corridor staff, to make them aware of the issue.
DeWitt, a longtime transit activist who served on the citizens advisory committee for the existing Hiawatha light-rail line, said one option may be to make the corner a much broader turn, rather than the typical right-angle turn. “Then the problem is it becomes pedestrian unfriendly,” said DeWitt.
“The broader issue,” he said, “is why are trucks driving on these streets that weren’t designed for [them]?”
Public comment on Central Corridor closes Aug. 25
A Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) for the Central Corridor light-rail transit project is available for public review through Aug. 25. An environmental impact statement is a comprehensive study and document intended to guide local decision-making on a wide range of impacts related to large development projects.
An earlier Alternatives Analysis/ Draft Environmental Impact Statement (AA/DEIS) for the Central Corridor was published in April 2006; the more recent SDEIS is to “inform the public, resource agencies and local governments of changes proposed to the project” since that time, and to published “refinements proposed and analyzed during preliminary engineering,” according to the Central Corridor website.
The SDEIS offers a project summary, including proposed stations and key project elements, and it addresses the project’s history; key changes and refinements; social, environmental and transportation issues; agency coordination and community outreach; and next steps and actions.
The public has an opportunity to comment on the SDEIS and “participate in the decision making process.” An electronic version of the complete SDEIS (as well as a much shorter executive summary) is available online at www.centralcorridor.org. Copies are available for viewing at Hennepin County, St. Paul and Met Council libraries and at the Central Corridor offices in St. Paul. (Locations include the Southeast, Franklin and Central libraries.)
In addition, three public hearings will be held in August:
Monday, Aug. 4 at noon at the Wilder Foundation, 451 Lexington Parkway N., St. Paul An open house will precede the hearing, beginning at 11:30 a.m.
Thursday, Aug. 7, 6 p.m., at the Brian Coyle Center, 420 15th Ave. S. An open house will precede the hearing, beginning at 5 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 9, 2 p.m., at Goodwill Easter Seals, 553 Fairview Ave. N., St. Paul. An open house will precede the hearing, beginning at 1 p.m.
Comments can also be left by calling the Central Corridor LRT Project Office at 651-602-1645; by email to Kathryn O’Brien at kathryn.obrien@metc.state.mn.us; or by mail to:
Kathryn O’Brien
Central Corridor LRT Project Office
540 Fairview Ave, N., Ste. 200
St. Paul, MN 55104
last revised: August 11, 2008