Is Minnesota Public Radio now public enemy number one for transit advocates? 

Will MPR have the wherewithal to derail Central Corridor LRT by at least a year and add tens of millions of dollars to its cost because it believes the proximity of the trains to its studios and downtown historic churches is undesirable? No, says the Met Council, which yesterday rejected high-profile MPR pressure tactics to take planned trains off Cedar Street, where they will run within twelve feet of MPR's campus.

MPR wants the trains moved to another downtown street because it believes their horns and vibrations will render the majority of its studios "unusable." MPR cites an engineer at the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City who reports similar problems with an underground recording studio adjacent to that city's LRT line.

The Met Council and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman dismissed MPR's concerns with more than a hint of disgust this week. But I have the sense this is not over. MPR CEO Bill Kling doesn't air advocacy commentaries on all its local stations unless he's very serious.

It seems to me there are two questions here: What are MPR's options and impacts, and how legit are MPR's concerns?

MPR can sue, which would cause the project to drop in priority for federal funding due to a lack of local support and a likelihood it won't proceed as designed. The vast inflationary costs of construction mean that even a year's delay would add tens of millions of dollars to Central Corridor's tab.

As to the credibility of MPR's concerns--I don't always like "common sense analogies" (especially when Gov. Pawlenty compares running the state to running a household), but I do have to ask whether Europe's high-tech broadcast facilities have been laid-low by the dense network of rail vehicles that radiate out across most major cities? And are there no more historic churches in its major cities due to the deleterious impact of trams? (This churches stuff is a craven play for public sympathy by MPR, trust me.)

In Chicago, the "L" runs next to and under WLS-TV and radio's studios on State Street, from which various newscasts and live radio broadcasts emanate all day. I work in a building adjacent to the Hiawatha LRT line; I can see it from my desk. Its horn and bell are faint indeed, and I am on the fifth floor next to a window, not in a soundproofed studio or private office. I am struck by the lingering sense that this is less about vibrations and unmitigate-able damage than it is about an organization accustomed to being catered to and insisting on its way.

Could it be that MPR just doesn't want the bother of trains running outside its front door? It strains credulity that sound impacts from Central Corridor could not be mitigated for a fraction of the cost of realigning the route and delaying construction, scheduled for 2010. Is MPR merely laying the groundwork for a big check from the taxpayers?

As for the science of all of it, I'd be more willing to trust MPR and its consultants' word if it was more of a transparent organization. MPR's decades-long shielding of how it compensates its executives through webs of side ventures is one example of an organization that is simply not willing to offer the kind of public accountability incumbent on non-profits that solicit and accept public and member funding. So I'm skeptical this is what they say it is. 

MPR is a marvelous program service that becomes more integral with each passing year. There can be no argument with that. It is one of the few truly visionary media organizations of its era. But blackmail is blackmail, and I hope that's not where this is going.

It's one that bears close scrutiny.

[Conflict of interest note: An MPR subsidiary publishes Minnesota Monthly, one of this website's primary competitors.]