Midtown Bike Center makes "most outrageous federal spending" list
Photo courtesy of Freewheel
Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn released a report last week listing the country's "most outrageous federal spending" this year. Minneapolis's Freewheel Midtown Bike Center made the list and really pissed off some local bike enthusiasts.
The center is among a list that includes a mermaid mural, an unwanted blimp and search for aliens in outer space.
The bike center includes a cafe, repair shop, bike storage, and showers for bicycles and people. Coburn says federal spending for the center hit $560,000.
The Star Tribune has response from some locals:
"The senator from Oklahoma doesn't know reality in Minneapolis, where the opening of the bike station has created a literal traffic jam of bike commuters," said Mayor R.T. Rybak, who attended the grand opening of the Freewheel Midtown Bike Center in May.
"It's a good thing we don't have Oklahoma senators figure out what projects Minnesota needs to do," said John Schadl, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, who is chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and, like Rybak, a bicycle-riding DFLer.
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