Green Fail

Oops:

A failed shot at making transit greener than green has some in Shakopee (MN) turning a deep shade of red.

Scott County's first transit station, which opened three years ago, was billed as "eco-friendly" for its paving bricks and rain gardens. It turned out to be a $50,000 "oops."

The porous pavers, designed to let Mother Nature cleanse pollutants in the soil rather than sweep them off into nearby bodies of water, sank under the buses' massive weight. And the rain gardens turned into a decaying, weed-infested mess.

Scott County's public works chief, Lezlie Vermillion, isn't mincing words. "We failed," she said.

"I learned from a professor at the U," she added, "if you are afraid to show the public your mistakes, skip civil engineering."

Liberal ideas always look so good on paper.