Rethinking I-94 WEST

April 29, 2023 – I support MnDOT’s Rethinking I-94 planning effort. In particular I support the Rondo community in St. Paul and their vision of healing the damage caused by the construction of I-94. Realizing this vision should be a planning and funding priority. See Reconnect Rondo

When funding is secured for the Rondo community project, it is my hope that MnDOT will adjust the scope of the Rethinking I-94 process so that it once again encompasses the west side of Downtown Minneapolis (it was removed from the scope in 2018 or 2019). In the meantime, Minneapolis should continue its work of re-envisioning its own freeway damaged city – and not just that portion that falls within the current Rethinking I-94 scope.

Serving in a variety of community leadership roles in the Loring Park neighborhood over the last twenty-plus years, I have been part of multiple efforts that have focused on the I-94 corridor. The purpose of this website is to share a record of that work, and, to share my own vision. My hope is that this will contribute to a dialogue that will lead to real change. Additional Thoughts

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Additional Thoughts -Home page Introduction

I remain skeptical of the proposal to replace I-94 in St. Paul with a boulevard. Examples of freeway removal that I am aware of seem to involve secondary sections of freeway that connect one freeway to another around or within a city core. I-94, on the other hand, is a high-volume primary route to and from the city cores of both St. Paul and Minneapolis.

If it were simply a matter of the communities around the freeway determining what was best for them, I can surely see where replacement of the freeway with a boulevard could be seen as the best direction. Unfortunately, when the cities sold off their land (and communities) for freeway construction it was a multi-generational deal. The new auto infrastructure was given to the entire metropolitan area and the entire state to own. It is my strong sense that the broader Twin Cities community would not be prepared to support abandoning of this stretch of freeway. Decking over the freeway, on the other hand, is something everybody could and should support. This is the vision of the Rondo community.

There are places like Duluth and Minneapolis’ North Loop where removal of freeway infrastructure makes sense, but I think we need to make a deal regarding the freeway infrastructure that remains. No additional land should not be allowed to be taken for freeway use. And, MnDOT should be mandated to coordinate planning with the each city to encourage public and private development that repairs the urban fabric damaged by the freeways. Showing how this might be done is the purpose of this website. Back