A recent court ruling favoring the Canadian Pacific Railway ended St. Paul's dream of building an extension of the successful Midtown Greenway bicycle-pedestrian route. But advocates tell the
Twin Cities Daily Planet that the federal funds that would have gone to that project will likely be used to beef up the local bicycle infrastructure elsewhere:
"In August of last year, the city tried to use eminent domain to gain the right of way--but Judge Franks' June 17 decision shot down the attempt.
"The city could pursue other legal avenues, but it's not likely to do that, [Ward 4 Council Member Russ] Stark said. A second ruling in favor of the railroad could set an unhappy precedent for other municipalities pursuing similar 'rails-to-trails' projects. That's not a risk, Stark said, that St. Paul wants to take.
"Now the city has to forfeit millions of dollars in federal transportation funds, making the total amount of money awarded to and lost by the project nearly $7.5 million. But on a brighter note, Stark added, the returned money will likely be funneled into other regional biking or walking infrastructure projects."
Read the full article
here.