The Minneapolis City Council passed a resolution encouraging the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to study more options for the redesign of Interstate 94 (I-94).
In the resolution, the council members said MnDOT should review the report from Our Streets Minneapolis, a grassroots organization focused on transportation and infrastructure, before the scoping phase.
This resolution is part of the Rethinking I-94 project, which started in 2016 to improve the I-94 highway. Currently, MnDOT has 10 alternative plans for the highway.
MnDOT spokesperson Ricardo Lopez said that in the scoping phase, MnDOT will evaluate alternative design options based on criteria like environmental impact, feasibility and meeting project goals.
Additionally, the resolution recommends I-94 scoping decisions to choose a plan that will not expand the freeway.
One of the alternative designs would remove the freeway and dedicate one lane to bus rapid transit. Another option would be to rebuild the freeway to add a new lane for buses and carpooling.
Council Member Robin Wonsley (Ward 2) said in a statement that local residents want the I-94 project to focus on adding multimodal boulevards.
“The City of Minneapolis has the chance to rethink I-94, and my residents have been clear with me that they want a city that repairs the harms this highway has committed,” Wonsley said in the statement.
Joe Harrington, a transportation expert for Our Streets Minneapolis, said MnDOT’s evaluation criteria leave out important voices from the community. He said MnDOT needs to evaluate alternatives based on air quality, public health, walkability and sense of place.
“MnDOT’s process is advancing in a way that leaves the same voices out in this process,” Harrington said. “So, it really is thinking about how to improve the project’s evaluation process to more accurately measure and prioritize the impacts on adjacent neighborhoods.”
Yasmin Hirsi, advocacy coordinator for Our Streets Minneapolis said the resolution shows the city council is listening to those most affected by the project.
Lopez said MnDOT is listening to the input made by the city council and community members at large.
“MnDOT appreciates the continued interest from stakeholders in the broader community about this important transportation project. We’re working with partners from federal, state and local agencies to evaluate the alternatives,” Lopez said.
I-94’s racial history
Rethinking I-94 is part of a larger effort to reconnect predominantly Black neighborhoods after decades of highway construction in the mid-to-late 1900s that displaced Black communities.
When I-94 was built in 1953, the freeway first went through multiple neighborhoods in Minneapolis, according to MNopedia. The Prospect Park East River Association unsuccessfully fought to move the construction to 26th Street.
The freeway’s construction went predominantly through Black neighborhoods like Rondo in Saint Paul and Prospect Park in Minneapolis. According to MNopedia, around 430 houses were demolished and 300 businesses were destroyed.
Erin Que, the senior city planner in historic preservation for the City of Minneapolis, said Rondo never recovered.
“Especially in the Rondo community, we know that the interstate cut through the heart of this area that was home to a thriving Black community in Saint Paul, and it separated the north side of the neighborhood from the south side of the neighborhood,” Que said.
The highway still affects residents today. According to Our Streets Minneapolis report, residents near highways are 2.5 times more likely to be hospitalized with asthma.
Que said the Rethinking I-94 Project can help people remember what was lost while going forward.
“There’s a chance to recognize that history in an as-of-yet undetermined way, while we also imagine how we can better serve the people of our communities who travel this corridor, either on foot or bike or car or bus or train,” Que said.
Harrington said a successful redesign will help future generations flourish in the diverse and formerly devastated neighborhoods.
“We want to be able to uplift community ideas and amplify dreams and hold decision-makers accountable to make sure that the Twin Cities Boulevard vision becomes a reality so that future generations to come have cleaner air to breathe and climate impacts on predominantly low-income and communities of color are mitigated in a meaningful way,” Harrington said.
Corrections: A previous version of this article misstated when Rethinking I-94 was started. It was started in 2016. Other edits were made for clarity and accuracy.
Stephen T Hunt
Oct 5, 2024 at 11:43 pm
Another pie in the sky idiotic proposal from MCC. Do these members have nothing better to do than create fairy tale proposals?
We all have our “rights” stepped on by transportation construction. It’s a fact of modern life.
John Hathway
Oct 5, 2024 at 10:32 pm
Just more ignorant stupid out of touch politicians. Who forget their tax money comes from our businesses and from those who use the only viable freeway to get from East to West. Destroy this arterial roadway and you will go down in history as the biggest political idiots of all time.
Scott Hultin
Oct 5, 2024 at 2:17 pm
It was obsolete when you finished it when it was completed you should have thought of all this before a house housing prices are up land prices are up and all the material that you would need to build it up and the inconvenience you’re going to cause to all the commuters is greatly not appreciated but you should do is make the buses wait in traffic like the rest of us
Rigatoni Danza
Oct 5, 2024 at 8:47 am
MNDOT is incompetent. Look what they did to redesign 52 at the North end at East 7th Street, the redesigned 35E N & 94 W interchange & the entire redesign of the 94/494 interchange.
Philip
Oct 4, 2024 at 1:38 pm
I guess my only question to all of you is what about all the truck traffic that feeds your lives? The business and industry in Minneapolis and St. Paul only has 1 major artery, 94 to get from East to West, if you remove this, you will destroy the fabric of your cities and the businesses you rely on for your cities. Adding alternative lanes will expand the road and destroy homes and businesses along it. The best option would be to augment the alternative routes already available rather than damage what you already have. You can’t role the clock back, and trying to do so will only damage what everyone currently relies on. You need to think with facts and reality not with emotions and ideologies because half measures will only cause more misery.
S J Parker
Oct 4, 2024 at 11:49 am
My job requires me to drive to many different spots throughout the Metro area, and I-94 is a vital artery for my employment. The “bus only” proposal is just plain stupid and impractical unless all you do is travel from Minneapolis to St Paul on a regular daily schedule. The construction of I-94 created enough misery, why compound that misery with more idiocy? I mean, when was the last time any Minneapolis City Council member used one of the numerous new bike lanes they created to get to work? In the winter? Please stop trying to make us the Portland of the Upper Midwest.
Bob
Oct 4, 2024 at 6:11 am
I-94 isn’t safe or healthy to live near.
The highway is loud, polluting, and causes barriers for anyone without a vehicle. It is a convenience for those who can afford a car to get from one side of the metro area to another.
As it is, people drive 70-80mph, often weaving through traffic and the State Patrol isn’t able to keep up. That is why there should be alternatives.
We deserve a safe and healthy way to get around.
Dean
Oct 4, 2024 at 4:50 am
The removal of I94 is at the top of the list of being the most idiotic idea ever presented at council. Just plain stupid.
Dwayne Morton
Oct 3, 2024 at 3:14 pm
I agree with David Blackweod. All of these “community” organizations can push their agendas and ideas, but none are based in reality. I’ve volunteered in Minneapolis and St. Paul for 20+ years – in various capacities. In this time, I’ve witnessed proposals that in NO WAY reflected the best interest of the areas served, but rather the boards’ “personal” ideologies which, most often, are based on emotion rather than fact and data. Anyone making or offering a decision on the good of a community should have an extensive background education and real world experience in that field. They CANNOT be someone plucked from the community who believes they have the answers. Thomas Sowell has spoken of this often.
David blackweod
Oct 3, 2024 at 12:28 pm
Thank God, the city council doesn’t run the entire state ;you’re gonna get rid of 94 how myopic can you get ?all these cars are gonna go where on side streets with bike lanes give me a break 94 is a fact of life. What a nonsensical approach ,virtue signaling off the charts, the mayor just slap them down for playing with peoples money but they have no right to touch. I say perhaps the Minneapolis city Council should be brought down to one lane or no lanes.
Jeffrey Goetz
Oct 3, 2024 at 6:52 am
I believe in the long run removing I94 from both Minneapolis and St. Paul would help the cities grow and become more livable. That is a lot of real estate tied up in transportation only. replace it with a well designed light rail system and knit back the fabric of the cities. We already have 2 bypasses around the cities so through traffic infrastructure is in place. Portland, OR removed a highway from along its riverfront and created livable space for humans. The age of cities hacked up by car transportation is over. Cities are for humans.