Letter to the Editor: The Traffic Mess on Maryland Avenue

The following letter to the editor is from a letter writer named, Robert Oppelt.  He is a long time East Side of St Paul Resident.  This letter is published by the Pioneer Press on June 7, 2017.  We agree with the letter writer about this mess, using our tax dollars.  Feel free to complain about the experiment that Ramsey County is testing on Maryland Avenue on the link on our May 12th Post.

~~ Publius Jr.


Letter: The traffic mess on Maryland Avenue

I’ve lived within two blocks of East Maryland Avenue for most of the past 45 years, and never in all that time have I seen its traffic as badly messed up as it is now, with the exception of the amazingly frequent complete shutdowns for some silly project or another. But to change it from four lanes to two (yes, there’s an intermittent middle lane for left turners, broken up by what I assume will be pedestrian islands, but that only helps to a minuscule degree) is idiotic almost beyond belief.

It now takes two, or sometimes three, light changes to make it through an intersection during rush hours; and God help you if you get stuck behind a city bus! Every time they stop, you stop, causing traffic back-ups literally as far as the eye can see. Some businesses can now be accessed only from one side of the street, and even if you can get into one, it can take forever to get back out — especially if you want to turn left. The same problem faces those attempting to enter from a side street: right turns are difficult, left turns — impossible.

Perhaps we should just block off the street completely, plant grass and tell the businesses we no longer want them in St. Paul. It’ll save them a slow death. The biggest aggravation is that they’re using my tax dollars to inflict this on us. Whether it’s local, state or a federal “grant,” it was still taxpayer-earned money to begin with. I sure wish it were being spent to hire someone with university training in traffic engineering, rather than giving the task to the winner of a kindergarten coloring contest.

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