Do you know where the new restaurant Enjoy! is? That’s part of it. It’s also near Culver’s.

And I could have sworn that Cedar was 8 lane once you hit the stoplights, but you’re right, I was probably including the turn lanes.

As for Cedar Ave. itself, something needs to be done, there is no question. I have to take issue with a couple things barryS said. First of all, there are no “8-lane” roads in A.V. Cedar Ave. has 3 lanes each way through part of town, but that’s it. There are no other roads with more than 4 total lanes. 42 & 46 SHOULD be 6 lanes, but alas they’re not. barryS must have been counting turn lanes as lanes.

Also, there are more than a “few” stoplights in A.V. Whether it be on Cedar, County 42 or cty. 46, there are lights at nearly EVERY intersection. In fact, I’ve e-mailed the City sarcastically asking them to change the name of the city to Stoplight Valley. That seems to be their solution to traffic: put up a stoplight. Never mind the gridlock that ensues.

As for what to do for the future, this is just typical MN lack of any foresight whatsoever. What did they think would happen when they built a 6-lane freeway that morphed into a stoplight-riddled surface street? There should have been land set aside for future freeway expansion or some sort of moratorium on what could be built and how and where.

To be heading south on Cedar at 70 mph and suddenly see signs saying 45mph, and then cresting the hill to see a sea of stoplights and brake lights ahead is a sight that never ceases to have me scratching my head. What were they thinking? They weren’t.

Just the other day I walked a mile from the light rail stop on Lake Street with a suitcase on wheels in tow. The most dangerous thing I encountered was trying to navigate the ice/water puddles at every corner without geting my suitcase wet.

I don’t think you need to worry too much. I regularly walk Lake Street and its environs between I-35 and Hiawatha without incident. My partner in life does as well and she would be considered an “easier” target for mugging than me.

Eyewitness news, et al. would have you believe that a walk down Lake Street is a dangerous proposition, due to criminals and criminal activity. They would be wrong. The biggest danger to pedestrians on Lake Street are the too numerous automobiles.

This is some truly awful political theater. McCollum is attempting to extract political rents from Pawlenty in the form of support for widespread congressional pork-barreling.

For his part, Pawlenty is being two-faced by using his spokesperson to condemn earmarks while simultaneously seeking them out. He cannot argue that the projects he seeks federal earmarks for are “merit-based” while also attempting to circumvent the evaluation process.

The congressional Democrats are right to argue that the Republicans were profligate earmarkers during their 12-year run, but at the same time they have done nothing to curtail this practice, despite much hot air during the 2006 elections. Any claims from McCollum or Ellison about “accountability” ring hollow.

BarryS, you’re probably right that McCain wouldn’t veto every bill containing earmarks, but that does not need to be the standard. Any movement in the opposite direction that Congress is currently heading would represent an improvement.