Anyone caught in traffic jams that have developed on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis since MnDOT started a bridge repair project this month may wince at the notion of the freeway being replaced with a boulevard with at-grade crossings and lanes for transit.
The transportation advocacy group Our Streets has pitched the idea as part of a larger vision of creating a transportation system that is not centered on cars and addresses the negative long-lasting impacts from multi-lane roads running through the heart of the city.
Doug Gordon and Sarah Goodyear are the hosts of “War on Cars,” a twice-a-month podcast in which they deliver news and commentary about damage to communities wrought by the automobile.
The hosts noticed Our Street’s work and are stopping by the Cedar Cultural Center Thursday night to “highlight our efforts to dismantle the harms of the urban highways,” said Carly Ellefsen with Our Streets. “We work to build a people-first transportation system, one rooted in justice, public health and climate resilience.”
Our Streets has been advocating for Olson Memorial Highway — also known as Hwy. 55 — be returned to 6th Avenue N., which was a walkable Black and Jewish commercial district known as the “Beale Street of Minneapolis” until the late 1930s.
Filmmaker and housing advocate D.A. Bullock, John Edwards from Wedge Live and Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley, a champion of urban highway removal, will be part of a panel. State Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura, DFL-Minneapolis, who is among lawmakers sponsoring bills this year that would give communities more say over highway projects, also will sit on the panel.
“We’re thrilled to spotlight our community’s leadership on the national stage and honored to have ‘War on Cars’ amplify this important work,” Ellefesen said.
Gordon and Goodyear plan to spend time in neighborhoods talking with residents who could be affected by anything done along I-94, Olson Highway or a proposed expansion of Hwy. 252 in Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center.
