The District 1 Board and about 13 residents heard updates from officials on the city recycling program and about the Gateway and Red Rock Corridors. Here is a summary of what was presented.
Presentation
by Anne Hunt (Policy Director for Mayor Coleman on Sustainability). Ms. Hunt introduces Kris Hageman
who is the Environmental Coordinator of Public Works. Ms. Hunt presented a
summary of research conducted by Wilder Research on the recycling habits of St.
Paul residents. The city undertook this research because recycling rates have
leveled off or fallen over the past 5-8 years. Some of this may be due to
changes in packaging, some to the recession, and some to alternative means to
dispose of recyclables, but there are demographic differences in recycling
behavior that the city wants to address.
7000
surveys were distributed to investigate recycling habits and needs and 18.4% of
the recipients responded – a very high response rate. In addition, all 7 wards
were well-represented and all (major) ethnic groups were also represented. They
also held 6 focus groups and additional stakeholder interviews. The results of
the survey were that people wanted to see:
- More types of
plastics able to be recycled
- Simpler process
for recycling (e.g., single stream – everything in one bin – Mpls had a
57% increase in recycling when it went to single stream)
- Bigger bins with
lids and wheels
- More information
about what can and cannot be recycled
60%
of residents in Ward 7 (which includes District 1) wanted to have organics
recycling at yard waste sites and were willing to pay up to $3 more per month
to have that service.
Dumping
of bulky items (such as illegal dumping along Battle Creek Road…) was seen as a
problem, but 81% of the respondents in Ward 7 were aware of community clean ups
as a way to get rid of these items. The city is interested in making it easier
to get rid of these items and will be rolling out changes to the community
clean up process in the coming year. (More later on this…) Now, the City spends
about $300,000/year on collecting stuff that is illegally dumped on public
property.
People
were also interested in improving trash collection in the City and cost and
customer service were what is most important to them (other cities have
significantly lower average garbage hauling rates than does St. Paul…).
All
this research set the City up with 6 goals – some for the short term and some
for the longer term:
- Educate everyone
about and promote the program better
- Expand and
simplify plastics recycling (1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 plastics, and their caps)
- Go to single sort
system in wheeled carts
- Allow for
source-separated organics recycling (the County has just announced that it
will have kitchen scrap recycling sites at each of its yard waste sites
next year, including the Totem Town site)
- Diversify how
bulky items can be recycled
- Coordinate trash
hauling with an incentive program
For
next year (besides the County’s organics program), the City will go to a single
sort system (using the same blue bins) and will increase the types of plastics
it accepts. It will also make changes to the community clean up events (more
information in the coming months). In the following year, new wheeled carts
will be available for recycling. Longer term changes will be dealt with during
the bidding process for the recycling contract currently held by Eureka
Recycling (2016 is the end of Eureka’s contract).
Presentation
by Lyssa Leitner – Washington County. Ms Leitner presented updates on the Gateway and Red Rock
Corridor Transit projects. The lead agency of these projects is Washington
County, although Ramsey County and the City are partners.
Interesting
background facts: Transportation costs are the second highest expense for
families after housing costs. Building transit projects is half as costly as
building new roads (and is more effective at relieving congestion). People who
take transit get on average 13 minutes of the recommended 30 minutes of
exercise simply by the additional walking that accompanies transit use.
The
Gateway Corridor (along I-94) will see an increase of its population by 90,000
people by 2020 and an increase of 30,000 jobs in that time. Transit results in
increased development along a corridor. An investment of $4.4billion in a
transit project will result in the direct creation of 30,000 full-time jobs and
an additional 36,000 jobs in supportive commercial enterprises (such as coffee
shops, retail, etc…).
The
alternatives analysis that was done last year looked at both LRT and BRT in
this corridor, and two main alignments – along I-94 on Hudson Road, and
partially there, up White Bear and along E. 7th. That analysis eliminated
the latter alignment because of cost and disruption. The federal government
received some comments that this elimination was unwise and asked the Gateway
Commission to do a more thorough study of the White Bear- E 7th
route. That study has now been completed and the Commission and the entire
eastside community is in agreement that this particular alignment should be
eliminated from further consideration. At this time, the assumption is that the
alternatives to be further considered are BRT vs LRT but with a routing along
Hudson Road only.
In
January a scoping document will be released with this information in more
detail and a public comment period will be opened. At that time, the public and
interested parties are encouraged to submit comments about things they would
like to be considered in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. These
considerations can be along any natural, historical, social or economic lines.
District 1 expects to have a copy of the scoping document in its office, and other
public places will be sites for the document as well. It will also be available
on line.
The
Red Rock Corridor (along Highway 61) is a lower priority project because it is
expected to serve many fewer people (about ¼ the number that Gateway would
serve, and 1/16 the number that Central Corridor is expected to serve). Two
years ago, there was an extensive planning project for Red Rock around the
proposed station areas (Hastings, Cottage Grove, Newport and Lower Afton). At
that time, the expectation was that in the near term efforts would be made to
increase ridership by improving the commuter bus service with the expectation
that ultimately a commuter rail system would be put in place (similar to
Northstar – NOT light rail). Since that time, a freight rail use study has
taken place, Northstar performance has been less than expected, the political
and economic landscape has shifted and so the end goal is being reconsidered.
Surveys
of current park and ride users, and potential users have been made and there is
clearly a demand for all day service to all the cities along the route. But the
projected ridership doesn’t warrant considering commuter rail, which would
severely impact growing freight rail service. Likewise, light rail is not
warranted because of the cost and the lack of new available right of way. So
the current expectation is that the best alternative would be BRT (bus rapid
transit) with the buses running on the shoulders (not in a dedicated lane as is
proposed for Gateway). The proposal would still include moving the current
Lower Afton park and ride to north of Lower Afton, and would include upgraded
stations with improved loading and unloading of passengers. But the timeline
for this project is very much in the future – later than Gateway and probably
not til 2020 at the earliest.
Still
current improvements will continue, including the building and opening of a new
Newport park and ride in about 1 year from now.
If you have questions, please contact our office - district1council@aol.com or 651.578.7600.
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