Quote Originally Posted by mwilbert View Post
I wouldn't go that far, as I'm sure that there are multiple reasons, but it is sort of true. I think I understand the dichotomy now. The LP folks who oppose this seem to be looking at it as keeping bad things out, whereas I see it as making them more connected to good things, but if you think of I-375 as being a valuable buffer, of course you would want to keep it. Assuming downtown continues to improve and expand, they may change their minds, but by then it may be too late for this project.
Yep, they will oppose it and NIMBY the hell out of these proposals. Then when the eastern edge of Downtown has been built up/restored/etc and is flourishing, they will whine whine whine whine about how MDOT wronged them by leaving their formerly-precious freeway in place, how their property values aren't going up because of the evil State Run Things, etc.

Plus I don't think many outside of LP are against a plan that spends up to 50% less than a full rebuild while also helping make that end of downtown a bit more visually appealing. We can all agree I-375 and the Jefferson/375 exchange is ugly and not at all appealing as an "entrance to downtown".