COMMUNITY STREET PLAN

This layout is built to serve the needs of memorial, protest, community gathering, residential accessibility and thriving businesses

HOW THIS CAME TO BE:

When trying to create the best city design that will work for all in this community, we went to many in the community, and listened to everyone's needs and concerns. We worked to help people understand that it's ok to dream, while also helping the community reach a collective path forward. It soon became clear that the things which needed to be considered were safety , accessibility, lighting, bollards, coexistence between GFS and the pre-existing community along 38th street, accessibility to public transportation. The designs developed work with everyone’s needs and address the concerns of the community as a whole. They also leave possibilities for the future.

Thank you for visiting to learn more. We are all stronger together.

PROPOSED STREET LAYOUT

This plan presents a compromise between the so-called “flexible open” and “pedestrian plaza” designs put forward by the City of Minneapolis. At its core, the plan provides security for memorial space by raising the roadbed near the space reserved for memorial to George Floyd, Imez Wright, Daunte Wright, and other stolen lives while allowing for access to the intersection for southbound a substantially slowed vehicle traffic.

PLAN HIGHLIGHTS

  • 2 way traffic for much of the 3700 block of Chicago Avenue

  • Angled parking on Northbound side of 3700 Block of Chicago Avenue for Accessibility of Businesses

  • Raised street-bed and stop signs for entirety of memorial space on the far South segment of the 3700 block of Chicago Avenue

  • Southbound one-way traffic through memorial space on the far South segment of the 3700 block of Chicago Avenue

  • Metro D-Line Stops (North and Southbound) within 1 block of 38th and Chicago Intersection

  • Stops for the Metro 38 remain on Park Avenue for easing of congestion and safety through the space

  • Protected roundabout for central fist at 38th and Chicago Intersection

  • Traffic calming measures and additional green-space along entirety of 3700 block of Chicago Avenue

Stakeholders Consulted

We worked with all community stakeholders though regular public meetings, extensive street outreach, and proactive meetings. A non-exhaustive list of those consulted about this plan can be found to the right.

Stakeholders:

  • Monthly Public Meetings (3rd Saturday of the Month)

  • Neighborhood Association Outreach (CANDO, Bryant, Bancroft and Powderhorn)

  • 38th and Chi Business Association

  • Resident and Neighborhood Outreach

  • Protesters and Memorial Visitors

  • Rise and Remember

  • City Council Delegation for impacted neighborhoods (Ward 8 and 9)

Considerations:

This plan takes into account and melds portions of the two leading design concepts presented by the city while allowing for the community to be in a decision making role about the usage of the space going forward.

  • Existing plans were structured to either treat the space as entirely an intersection or entirely something new. This plan offers the community the ability to have both.

    • Creates a dead-end

    • No flexibility in future

    • We do not want to cut-off businesses and community from the rest of the city and transit

    • Continuous vehicle traffic presents a serious threat to pedestrian safety.

    • No space for gathering

    • Limited ability for direct community control

REQUIREMENTS:

We heard LOTS of feedback from community (across groups of stakeholders) on their requirements for the space however these were the largest ones.

  • Need for pedestrian safety for protesters, memorial caretakers, and visitors

  • Need for accessible parking and through-traffic for business accessibility and deliveries

  • Need for transit access in the intersection

  • Need for investment in businesses and the broader community through the implementation and funding of the 38th St. Thrive Plan

WHY THIS PLAN?

  • SAFETY IS PARAMOUNT

    This plan prioritizes safety for ALL in the space while allowing for accessibility of parking for businesses, through traffic for deliveries, and space for memorial.

  • Considers all perspectives and stakeholders

    Existing plans presented an un-necessary binary decision between what was and what could/should be. This plan found a path which takes into account the needs and future growth of everyone in the community.

    It is not perfect, but it is MUCH closer than other options presented.

  • Allows ability for change in the future

    Both other options were much more set in stone. Even the “flexible” option placed control over that “flexibility” outside of community control. This design allows for the needs of everyone today while simultaneously understanding that those needs will change with time.

NOW FOR MINUTIAE

SPECIFICS

Other Requirements:

While the topline design goals are paramount, they necessitate other considerations with regard to safety in the surrounding area, transit and accessibility.

VIEW CITY COUNCIL PRESENTATION DOCUMENT

  • The plan calls for retractable bollards at the end of blocks to allow for full closure of the streets for large permitted events and on either side of the raised South Bound traffic lane at the memorial for smaller community-led events.

    • Pedestrian and Vehicular Safety is the top priority

    • Have regular and comfortable benches for usage by community and visitors

    • No high curbs

    • Shorter and softer lighting to provide safety and comfortable viewing

    • Add speed bumps along 3800 Block of Chicago as well

    • Angled parking on northbound (East) side of 3700 block of Chicago Avenue

    • Parking along both sides of 3800 block of Chicago Avenue

    • Parking on 38th St

    • Parking on park Ave

    • Create opportunity for charter/large bus parking along Park Avenue for accessibility and safety

    • Metro 38 line stops remains on Park Ave and one block East permanently. Stops do not return directly to Chicago Ave.

    • D-Line to return to Chicago Avenue with at-least on stop on the 3800 Block of Chicago

    • Consider placement of Northbound D-Line Stop at 39th and Chicago (in front of Calvary Lutheran Church) to ease congestion at 38th and Chicago

    • Raise crosswalks on surrounding blocks of Chicago Ave and Elliot and Columbus Ave

    • Increase usage of stop signs

    • Consider addition of mini-roundabouts in surrounding neighborhoods to slow displaced traffic

    • Add flashing lights at crosswalks and raised memorial space on 3700 block of Chicago

    • Add drinking fountains as part of revamp of 38th and Chicago

    • Allow for public wifi accessibility in the space

    • Do not displace community lending library

It takes MUCH more than a street plan to heal historical wrongs

THIS IS NOT the end of this conversation

This Layout Only Works If There’s Followthrough In Other Spaces Too

Throughout our engagement process, it became abundantly clear that the needs of the community are not and never have been limited to “just” a design for the street corner. While much of this conversation came into public focus because the City of Minneapolis engaged in the public lynching of a man named George Floyd at 38th and Chicago on May 25, 2020, it did not start there. The disenfranchisement and dis-investment waged by this city against this neighborhood has been manifest for the better part of a century. It can be seen in the decision to bulldoze this community for the creation of I-35, it can be seen in the ways that “Operation Blood Drive” illegally took lives and funds from us, and it can be seen in the way that the intersection has been treated as a political football rather than as a place where people live and work to thrive.

As part of this process, the community visioning council is also calling on the City of Minneapolis to do the following:

  • Fund and implement the 38th Street Thrive Plan which was passed by the City Council prior to their murder of George Floyd

  • Make a decision with regard to the stewardship of the Peoples’ Way site at 38th and Chicago before December 31, 2025

  • Implement and support the plans of the 38th and Chi Business Association for a thriving Black Business corridor

  • Meet the 24 demands laid out as part of Justice Resolution 001

  • Fully fund and support our neighborhood associations

  • Stop killing our Black, Brown and indigenous neighbors and leverage city resources to stop those who are coming into our city to harm those neighbors