Boatworks Residents Take Exception to Rush Line BRT

Life in the Boatworks is about to change for the worse unless we make our voices heard. The Rush Line BRT will potentially add an incredible amount of noise from (mostly empty) buses going by every 15 minutes for 20 hours a day, and a huge amount of construction disruption (& noise) for years, all right below the north side of the Boatworks building.
The Rush Line BRT is projected to cost at least $475 million dollars for a bus line with a protracted route from St. Paul, to Maplewood Mall to White Bear, falling short of it’s early promise to serve Forest Lake and Hugo, tearing up hiking trails and even adding a street just for a bus thru-way! The whole project is ill-conceived with many other ramifications that prove how wrong it is for White Bear. Bus ridership numbers from the area prior to the pandemic were dismal. And the effects on area ridership due to the pandemic have been severe, with bus lines defunded and shuttering elsewhere. Yet with the Rush Line BRT, this enormous, potentially permanent decrease in ridership has not even been addressed or taken into account. Overpriced, out of touch, & gravely consequential, The Rush Line BRT will irrepirably change our small town feel. And in the midst of a pandemic, it’s getting rammed down our throats! The town of Gem Lake voted against it. Vadnais Heights has yet to vote. I believe our voices can help to at least slow it down, if not halt this all together! What is our transportation future? After installing a $475 million dollar bus system, will this area be likely to also get light rail to Forest Lake?
Probably not! This project has so much momentum. Too much.
Let’s stop and take a closer look in (new) light of all that’s happened.
My plan is to take this petition to the White Bear City Council and present it as evidence of Boatworks residents sentiment against the Rush Line, because of the enormous impact this will have on quality of life for us here. I am so sure that majority of Boatworks residents will be opposed to this project that I’m actively pursuing a spot on their calendar!
Thank you in advance for your support!!
I’ve also created a more public petition on Change.org:
http://chng.it/6jxCHkt4
(please also sign!)
and a Facebook page with more information:
https://bit.ly/32MnZta