The virtual Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting last month showed a massive disconnect between community feedback and the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s (MnDOT) recommendation to remove boulevard conversion, or “at-grade,” options from the Rethinking I-94 project. Elected officials expressed concern and frustration on behalf of their constituents. A public comment period lasted hours, with over 150 people signed up, the vast majority asking MnDOT to listen to the community and restore boulevard options.
MnDOT has obfuscated whether this recommendation is a final decision. When elected officials asked for clarification, they assured frustrated PAC members that it is not a final decision and the agency welcomes public comment. To be clear, this decision is not final, and there is still time to restore the boulevard options in MnDOT’s Rethinking I-94 process.
Support by elected officials and community members for continuing to study the at-grade boulevard options was nearly unanimous.
The meeting did not go well for MnDOT. Nearly all elected officials and community members who spoke during the meeting and subsequent public comment period called on MnDOT to restore the at-grade boulevard options for further study and pointed out severe flaws in MnDOT’s evaluation and community engagement process.
Elected officials on both sides of the river expressed support for continuing to study the boulevard options. Russ Stark, Chief Resilience Officer representing the office of Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, shared that the Mayor “does support an at-grade option moving forward in this process.”
If our community cares about this so much, and just wants the opportunity to move through the process, to fully vet it, why can’t we do that? Especially given the history here of being completely ignored.
State Senator Clare Oumou Verbeten
The public comment period, which was removed from earlier meetings and restored at the request of PAC members, went on for multiple hours, even after MnDOT cut speaking time from two minutes in half. Many representatives from Saint Paul and Minneapolis neighborhood organizations were among the numerous community members who waited hours to speak, sharing their support for restoring the at-grade options.
The PAC meetings have been virtual since the last in-person meeting in July of 2023, isolating the ability of the public to engage in the project and elected officials. In response, dozens of residents attended a PAC meeting watch party at the Minneapolis Central Library, co-hosted by Twin Cities DSA and Our Streets. Council Members Jamal Osman and Robin Wonsley, both in favor of studying boulevard options, tuned into the meeting from the watch party and allowed community members to use their computers to testify on video.
What you are proposing is ultimately a continuation of what we’ve heard is a mistake. If we are rethinking this now, it needs to be the opposite of what placed those freeways there in the first place.
Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley
Considering the meeting was held during a time that is inaccessible to many and was sparsely advertised by MnDOT, this is a huge testament to the public support for the at-grade options. It is worth noting that before public comment was over, MnDOT had already sent out an email summarizing the meeting.
MnDOT Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger and project staff continue to refuse to allow PAC members to vote on their preferred option.
The Minneapolis and Saint Paul elected officials who serve on the PAC repeatedly called out MnDOT for ignoring their feedback and removing the at-grade options despite repeated asks by PAC members to retain them for further study.
While Governor Tim Walz, Minnesota’s Legislature, the MnDOT Commissioner, and the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) have the ultimate say over which project options will ultimately be built, PAC members have requested to vote on resolutions that would formally document the advisory committee’s opinion. MnDOT staff, recognizing that it would be a bad look for the agency to ignore the will of elected officials who were democratically elected to represent the communities impacted by the highway, have attempted to deflect and delay any meaningful response.
A heated discussion began before Melissa Barnes, MnDOT project manager, could begin the presentation on alternative analysis.
“The response from MnDOT is, ‘we will note, duly noted, or we are taking notes.’ We are asking you to not just write down everything we said and put it on your administrative record,” said Saint Paul City Council President Mitra Jalali. “We want the alternatives to reflect what our communities are asking for. Come back with action.”
Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley, Minneapolis Council Members Robin Wonsley and Jamal Osman, States Senators Omar Fateh and Clare Oumou Verbeten, and State Representatives Samantha Sencer-Mura and Katie Jones expressed support for the continuation of the at-grade options in the process and demanded committee bylaws to allow PAC members to communicate their position formally.
“There should be some formal way for PAC members to register that we are not okay with not moving forward with continuing to study the at-grade options,” said Representative Sencer-Mura. “I don’t really feel like I’m able to represent my constituents if there is a formal mechanism for my voice to be heard.”
Following tough questioning from Senator Fateh and other PAC members, Commissioner Daubengerger said the MnDOT would “give further consideration to the format of the PAC.”
Corporate interests line up behind a rebuilt freeway.
The few speakers who spoke up against the at-grade options included representatives from the freight industry, the Chamber of Commerce, and a handful of suburban residents. The old proverb, “Show me your friends, and I’ll tell you who you are,” seems adequate to describe the coalition advocating to rebuild the freeway.
During the public comment period, a lobbyist who represents the Minnesota freight industry spoke about the importance of the freeway for trucking companies and closed by saying, “There is nothing without freight.”
Despite this claim, there are much more efficient and sustainable ways to move goods than running trucks through highly populated cities. This line is even more objectionable when one considers the residents of diesel death zones whose lives are deemed an acceptable cost for the enrichment of trucking companies. A public commenter said it best when they responded that “there is nothing without clean air.”
Project staff admitted that the traffic model used to justify removing the boulevard options has major shortcomings.
MnDOT staff repeatedly cited their traffic models to stoke fears about congestion and justify removing the at-grade options. However, as other traffic engineers have pointed out, the traffic model that MnDOT is using is outdated and does not reflect reality. During the meeting, a traffic modeler from the Metropolitan Council admitted to two key limitations of the model:
- The model does not account for mode shift (in other words, it assumes that everyone who currently drives will continue to drive just as often)
- It does not account for short-term or long-term land use changes (this includes the highway land that could be repurposed for new housing and businesses and the long-term reduction of urban sprawl)
The model is useless without accounting for these factors, and predictions about future traffic scenarios should not be taken seriously.
Make no mistake; this fight has only just begun.
Our Streets will continue to organize in the coming months to raise awareness about the Rethinking I-94 project and to pressure MnDOT to restore the boulevard options. There is still time, and ultimately MnDOT must be accountable to the elected officials who control their funding. Send a personalized message to MnDOT staff and key elected officials.
Contact Governor Walz and ask him to restore the at-grade options for Rethinking I-94.
Learn more about Twin Cities Boulevard.
The most responsible option for the future of the Rethinking I-94 project is a multi-modal boulevard that returns the surrounding land to neighborhoods and fulfills calls for reparative justice along the corridor. The Twin Cities Boulevard will create healthier air, much-needed economic opportunity, and accessible, affordable, and sustainable transportation access to places all along the corridor.