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Loring Park resident urges Council to keep buses on Nicollet Mall, highlights riders with strollers and blind passengers
Summary
During public comment a Loring Park resident identified as Megan (resident of 1350 Nicollet Mall) urged the Council to retain bus service on Nicollet Mall, saying parents with strollers and blind riders rely on the routes and criticizing planning changes as politically timed.
A Loring Park resident who identified herself as Megan addressed the Metropolitan Council during the public comment period to urge the Council not to remove large buses from Nicollet Mall.
"I'm here to state my opposition to take the buses off the Mall," she said, noting the routes and vehicle numbers she referenced and giving her address as 1350 Nicollet Mall. Megan told the Council she had not earlier named two groups of riders and added, "One is parents with kids. I don't think I mentioned them. How could I forget all those strollers? And, blind people. We have a lot of blind people on those buses. So please add those to your list of needy people who take the buses on Nicollet Mall."
She framed her remarks as the start of continuing public input and criticized the Mall's redesign and prior spending: "A few years ago, dollars 50,000,000 was spent on Nicollet Mall...we got a road that's too narrow and sidewalks that are too wide." She questioned the timing of proposed service changes, asking why a change would be postponed for a year and suggesting the schedule might be politically timed.
Megan offered to provide a longer list of concerns to staff and said she planned to return to a future Council meeting. Council members acknowledged the offer and staff told her they would share outreach information and copies of her list with Council members.
Her comments were part of the Council's public comment period and did not result in immediate Council action at the meeting.
