Imagine Frogtown & Rondo Asks Community to Consider Rethinking I-94
The first of a new series of “Imagine” events begins in Saint Paul this Sunday with Imagine Frogtown & Rondo in Central Village Park from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event is hosted by Our Streets, a transportation advocacy organization that previously organized Open Streets Minneapolis. Billed as “more than just a block party,” the event aims to gain community input on neighborhood transportation issues.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is evaluating options for the future of a 7.5-mile stretch of I-94 adjacent to Frogtown and Rondo. The project’s outcome will greatly impact those who live and work in this area. Our Streets is advocating for Twin Cities Boulevard, a highway-to-boulevard conversion, an increasingly popular trend in transportation planning that addresses environmental and racial injustice.
Reconnect Rondo, led by MnDOT veteran Keith Baker, is also engaging the Rondo community around building a land bridge over a reconstructed I-94, a vision Our Streets says can be compatible with highway removal.
“We’ve been doorknocking in Rondo and Frogtown for over two years and have found no consensus around the land bridge. Many community members did not know that highway removal is an option,” says José Antonio Zayas Cabán, executive director of Our Streets. “Our goal is to provide people living along the corridor a complete picture of what’s possible so those most impacted by the project can better decide how to engage with MnDOT’s Rethinking I-94 project.”
The event includes musical performances, including a drag performance by Boi Apollo, a one-act play by Hawona Sullivan Janzen called Freeway Stories, and a performance from Heart & Soul Drum Academy. Attendees can also participate in family-friendly interactive art activities with local artists, including screenprinting with Courtney Cochran of Skoden Studio. There is free food from participating food trucks for Rondo and Frogtown residents, free seedlings from Frogtown Green, and other local vendors like Black Garnet Books and Inner Peace Fragrance.
“The Imagine event is an example of joy activism and a way to collectively co-create a better future with those most impacted by the harms of the highway,” says Ember Rasmussen, events manager for Our Streets. “The highway should never have been built through these communities. What do reparations look like to those who lost that opportunity for generational wealth and continue to endure the health harms of the highway?”
For more information about the event, visit https://www.ourstreetsmn.org/event/imagine-frogtown-rondo/.
About Our Streets
Our Streets works to lead the nation in putting people first by transforming transportation and infrastructure in the Twin Cities, the metro region and the state of Minnesota. We do this by making our streets places where people can easily and comfortably walk, bike, roll, and use public transit.