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Recently a friend invited me to fill out a Minnesota Department of Transportation survey for Rethinking I-94. When I went to the website, I was puzzled because it didn't identify an actual problem that needed to be solved. It was an apology for the stupid decision to run the highway through Rondo. (In 75 years, will there be an apology for the stupid decision to wreck Summit Avenue with raised bike trails that are unsafe, especially for the disabled?) The survey lists several rebuild scenarios that increase in complexity, cost and confusion about unknown consequences.

None of their proposals go far enough! So I conjured my own utopian scenario for Interstate 94. Minnesota was originally the bottom of a prehistoric sea. I believe I-94 should be excavated down to the water table to return it to its original seascape. This would dovetail nicely with the native plant movement. DNA obtained from fossils could re-establish ancient seaweed plants. We could also bring back the original inhabitants — see "Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer" from "Saturday Night Live." After the excavation fills with water it will essentially be "at grade." An at-grade seascape would function much like a canal. Millennials could opt to commute in wooden sailing craft instead of gas-guzzling vehicles or bicycles made from materials manufactured with carbon-based energy. (Put on your Go-Pro, bro!) Paths alongside the sea-canal accommodate pedestrians, wheelchairs and donkeys. Donkeys or mules can tow the barges delivering food, etc., between the two cities. The donkey/mule droppings can be composted at City Hall and distributed to homeless encampments for community gardens (equity).

Too bad we can't travel back in time to fix stupid decisions. Maybe it's best to learn from the past and not enable more stupidity such as hiring cronies instead of experts, spending tax dollars on idealistic fever dreams before taking care of basic infrastructure, removing healthy ash trees when there isn't any money to replace them, destroying trees and tree roots with antiquated road construction practices, raising the sales tax in St. Paul and misrepresenting its use, etc., etc., etc.

Alice Gebura, St. Paul

I was glad to hear over 20,000 speeding tickets were issued in July through the state's enforcement campaign ("20K ticketed as speeding hits red zone," Aug. 11). But I was disappointed not to hear more urgency about the increasingly dangerous state of driving in Minnesota, especially on freeways. Speeding is part of it, but in recent years I've also seen big increases in tailgating, cutting others off, swerving between lanes and other kinds of very aggressive driving. I see it now almost every time on the highway, and it's not just speeding.

Neighborhood safety is properly a concern, but safety while driving on the freeway seems to be off the state's radar — except maybe in July. Mike Hanson, director of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Office of Traffic Safety, says that "Unacceptable is not a strong enough word" to describe the epidemic of speeding. But he goes on to say, "We can't enforce our way out of this" and cites the state's plans to tackle the problem through surveys, focus groups and outreach.

Where can I vote for more enforcement and fewer focus groups? It's not really that hard. It's happening here because the state hasn't made dangerous driving an enforcement and resource priority. I see far more dangerous driving enforcement in other states, and it appears to work as a deterrent. Unmarked cars can be especially effective in spotting dangerous driving that speed traps and marked cars are likely to miss. We need a dangerous driving enforcement campaign that lasts several years to reset current behavior, not just one month.

John Klein, South St. Paul

I am so sick of hearing Kamala Harris described as "incompetent" or worse. When was the last time you heard about any vice president's accomplishments? Go ahead, think about it; I'll wait. You haven't heard about them because VPs are not supposed to steal the spotlight from the president, so they work quietly, behind the scenes. So, has Harris actually accomplished anything? The fact is, she has accomplished a lot.

Think about the border. Illegal border crossings are down by as much as 70%, thanks to Harris' work securing over $4 billion in local job-creating commitments from 47 major companies in Central America, on the understanding that a better economic outlook there will reduce immigration here. Additionally, Harris worked with Microsoft to give millions of Central American homes access to the internet, and she worked with Mastercard to help small businesses there set up payment systems. Also, Harris met with more than 100 foreign leaders and secured promises of hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for Central America from Ireland, Finland, Japan and South Korea.

Harris worked to protect women's private medical information following the Dobbs decision, she helped bring more funding to universities and colleges to provide more education opportunities, and she has been involved in every policy decision made by the Biden administration.

So, why is Harris denigrated so much more than any other VP in recent history? I have a theory about that: She's a woman, and even more to the point, she's a woman of color.

Joyce Denn, Woodbury

A most appreciative thank you to the Star Tribune Editorial Board calling for Republicans to stop attacking government ("GOP must stop attacking government," Aug. 12). The argument was strong and accurate. I would like to add a little more to it.

As a retired state employee at the Minnesota Department of Health, I experienced the attacks by people who were led to believe that government workers are a waste, that they offer little or no value to the population. Unfortunately the people leading these attacks know exactly the value of government employees and make their attack for political purposes.

More unfortunately, too many of the people who believe them have probably not thought much about the value provided by governments and their employees. Among the things not considered that are provided by government (but by no means a complete list): the ability to turn on your water faucet and not worry about what is going to come out of it; getting on an elevator and not worrying that it may not operate correctly, that it may even fall; standing in the check-out line of your food store and not wondering if the scales are correct; filling up at a gas station and not worrying about whether or not the amount of gas you pumped was accurate; becoming injured and knowing an ambulance will be able to transport you a hospital where trained staff are there to help you; calling 911 and knowing help will come; knowing your road will be plowed, even if not as quickly as you want it to be; using parks and recreation sites in your and other communities; knowing there is free schooling with certified staff in your community; knowing that a pothole that just appeared in the street will be repaired — and so much more!

Are these things you really don't want or need? Please think about these things and more, including being able to live in a country that operates under the rule of law and where despots cannot just remove freely elected leaders at will!

Next time you want to follow the lead of political candidates who tell you how bad government is, please think about the things government provides and what you would only notice if you didn't have them!

Jay Jaffee, St. Louis Park