Rondo was a flourishing and vibrant residential and business district in St. Paul that was demolished by the routing of I-94 straight through its heart.
Black communities here in Twin Cities. Like Black communities everywhere, experienced urban renewal as urban removal, the decimation of Black owned businesses and Black owned homes as public policy that thwarted wealth creation and political power in our communities.
The November 29th KFAI 90.3 FM broadcast of The Conversation with Al McFarlane was the second in a series of Virtual Town Hall meetings bringing attention to what can be different in today’s Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) Hwy 252/I94 project.
The project is looking at improving vehicle, cycle and pedestrian safety, as well as health and environmental concerns that come into play in the major highway transitway that goes through Minneapolis’ Northside from downtown to and through Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, communities with significant African immigrant and African American populations.
Citing Rondo, program guest co-host, Alfren Babington-Johnson (Babington) said African and African American people, regrettably and notwithstanding their significant presence, have not been part of the decision-making.
MnDOT is working with our community differently on this project, he said.
Describing an innovative relationship between Stairstep Foundation and MnDOT on the Hwy 252/I94 project, Babington said former MnDOT executive, John Tompkins, aware of the internal desire at MnDOT to have more engagement by leaders and members of the communities that are impacted the most, reached out to Stairstep.
“There was honestly an authentic wish on the part of MnDOT to have people at decision-making tables that hadn’t been there before,” Babington said. The result was an engagement of the His Works United Leadership Council, which consists of pastors and church leaders in North Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park under the direction of the Stairstep Foundation, in partnership with McFarlane Media Interests, Inc., owner of Insight News and The Conversation with Al McFarlane.
The November Virtual Town Hall was the second in a series seeking to ensure African and African American residents and interests are part of deliberations that impact their lives and livelihoods.
In the broadcast, Leadership Council member, Reverend Dr. Francis Tabla, Senior Pastor Ebenezer Community Church in Brooklyn Park said “MnDOT is a very vital state agency with over 3,000 employees and over $4 billion spent on transportation issues annually.” He asked how the Hwy 252/I94 project originated.
“It starts with identifying the layers of safety problems needing to be addressed,” said Aaron Tag, MN Dot’s West Area engineer. “Sometimes it might be hard for people to get around because there are lots of potholes or a bridge so old and in desperate need of repair. And yes, we’ve seen a long-term issue of people getting hurt or killed on Highway 252. Walkability and bike-riding access is difficult due to the heavy traffic. Further down on 94, we have large spaces where there is nowhere to cross.”
Project Manager, Jerome Adams said discussions and planning on the highway project go back 17 years.
“There are studies and actual environmental approval processes that are different. That’s where we get into the truth about environmental aspects of health, community environment, and race,” he said. “This background is important to understand what has brought us here today. Around 2014 to 2016, Brooklyn Center started a Corridor Study. They were looking at closing 70th Avenue and installing pedestrian walkways and safety features for getting from one side of the highway to the other. Brooklyn Center said ‘Let’s involve the public and show them the information.’ We’re going through that environmental approval process now,” Adams said.
“In 2017, the Metropolitan Council did a principle arterial intersection conversion study that had a bunch of disconnecting words and phrases. What they were looking at was where there were highway signals and stoplights, and whether they should again be replaced with a bridge or freeway ramps,” he said.
“In 2018, MnDOT did a MnPASS System Study, now called E-Z Pass. That’s the managed lane where if you’re in a high occupancy vehicle, you can use that lane for free. If you are the only person in a vehicle and you want to use that lane during rush hour, you would have to pay a fee.”
“Then in 2017 to 2020, Hennepin County started doing an Environmental Assessment resulting in the recommendation of converting all of Highway 252 to a six-lane freeway with E-ZPass lanes. And now in 2022, MnDOT is doing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS),” he said.
Adams explained that an Environmental Impact Statement is the most important document laying out a clear plan. “We are studying what the alternatives are we should construct to fix the problems Aaron was just talking about. We want to engage the public and ask them if they agree with our approach and recommendation. It also came to a point where all involved agencies like the cities of Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, and Minneapolis, the Metropolitan Council, Hennepin County, MnDOT, and the Federal Highway Administration had to decide to work together to fix all of Highway 252. Hennepin County was saying all the signals on 252 should get removed and it should be a freeway. Then the question emerged, “Well, if we do that, what happens to the surrounding network?” We did an analysis of 94 and determined our limits should be from Fourth Street North on I-94 in Minneapolis up to 610.”
He said the studies identify the complex nature of such an enormous construction endeavor. “We have a problem. There are crashes on this highway. Significant impact could be the taking of private property, demolishing a building, or perhaps poor water quality.”
Superintendent McKinley Moore, Pastor of Jehovah Jireh Ministries, Church Of God In Christ, in Brooklyn Center, asked for further clarification of equity and health figured into what people see as a concrete and pavement project.
Adams said things people take for granted, like, trees, parks, and boulevards make some neighborhood healthier while too often, in other neighborhoods industrial pollution in North Minneapolis mgh be causing high cancer rates.
Tag said the Equity and Health Assessment (EHA) is a pilot MnDOT is doing as a part of the Hwy 252/94 project, elevating the concerns of the underserved residents along the corridor.
Leadership Council member panelists included Bishop Richard Howell, the Diocesan of the Seventh Episcopal District at Minnesota Council of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World.
