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Letter to the editor

After the bridge collapse, division

The governor wants it built in record time. Others want light rail.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published August 17, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS - It took all of two weeks for the political unity brought on by a deadly bridge collapse to unravel.

Even as divers continue to search the Mississippi River for people missing since the Interstate 35W bridge fell Aug. 1, political leaders duel over plans for a replacement.

The battle lines extend from disputed plans for light rail on the new bridge to suggestions that Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, is unnecessarily rushing the reconstruction to impress national Republican Party leaders, who will hold their presidential nominating convention in St. Paul in September 2008.

Pawlenty and his state Transportation Department have already unveiled broad plans for the new bridge and are urging that it be open in record time, by the end of next year.

But some state and local Democratic legislators are questioning the need for and safety of a rush to build a bridge.

Some called for provisions to allow light rail along the new span. Some called for a memorial for the victims. Mostly, they demanded to know: Why the hurry?

Pawlenty pointed to the economic damage happening each day without the bridge.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said: "There's a significant problem in not having a bridge, but there will be a more significant problem if we don't do this bridge right."

Fast Facts:

Two bodies found

The discovery of two more sets of human remains amid the wreckage has raised the known death toll to 11 and left only two more victims to be found. Navy divers continued to work the scene Thursday.

The bodies of Vera Peck, 50, of St. Anthony, and Christina Sacorafas, 45, of White Bear Lake, were recovered late Wednesday and early Thursday from two vehicles pulled from the Mississippi River, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office said. Peck had been in a car with her 20-year-old son, Richard Chit, when the bridge collapsed. His body was recovered over the weekend.

[Last modified August 16, 2007, 22:57:17]