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Is I-35 expansion another Rondo?
By: Isaac Peterson, III
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
online at http://www.spokesman-recorder.com/news/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=24256&sID=4
Originally posted 3/20/2003
Some residents oppose tearing up the neighborhood
for the convenience of suburban commuters
Do the urban planning and economic development policies used in
planning the I-35 and Lake Street expansions in South Minneapolis
contribute to racial injustice in Minneapolis? Do those plans alleviate
problems for African Americans and others of color, or add to them?
We have previously reported on the dimensions of the planned expansions
of Lake Street and I-35, and who is involved in making those plans
(Spokesman-Recorder November 7 and 14, 2002). The plans, as described,
would widen Lake Street, add a “flyover” ramp that would
increase access to Abbott Northwestern Hospital and the Wells Fargo
facility formerly owned by Honeywell, and add areas planners claim
will beautify the area (called “mitigation” and “enhancement.”).
But will expanding access to that area be beneficial to residents
in the long run? The debate still rages. Supporters of the project
claim that it will help “revitalize” the area, while opponents
say that the area is already being revitalized by residents and
new businesses started primarily by people of color.
Opponents also object to the planned demolition of area homes that
expanding the roadways would entail.
Some area residents believe that all one needs to do to appreciate
the potential impact on residents is to remember the experience
of the Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul when I-94 was constructed.
The Rondo community was a thriving business and cultural center,
a vibrant Black community that was decimated when I-94 was built.
The Rondo community was a cultural magnet for the Upper Midwest
and was home to many influential people and businesses, and it was
devastated by the freeway construction. Many were forced to move
to other parts of the Twin Cities.
Rebecca Polston owns a home in the Lake Street area that will
be affected by the expansion. “I bought my home when I was
24,” Polston says. “I planned to live here for the next
decade or two. I wanted to stay in the neighborhood. But if I knew
what I know now, I probably wouldn’t have bought this house.”
Polston says that area residents have turned around a neighborhood
that was once among the worst in Minneapolis for criminal and disruptive
activity. “We’ve worked hard in this neighborhood. The
prostitution and other problems around here are gone. This is a
great place to live now; we’ve worked too long and hard to
sacrifice our neighborhood for corporate interests.”
Minneapolis City Council Member Gary Schiff, who has a background
in urban planning, says that the road expansions will cause property
owners on the north side of Lake Street to lose their homes and
businesses. He says those homeowners will be paid for their homes,
but probably at the assessed value rather than the market value,
which would be higher.
Schiff expresses his concern about “who the winners and losers
are in economic development decisions,” and he seems skeptical
that the winners will be the affected neighborhoods. He says that
the project will, as all such projects do, “impact land values;
the effects of a freeway can jack up land values or ruin people’s
property values.”
The McDonald’s on Lake Street at I-35 and adjacent homes are
slated for “mitigation and enhancement.” The plan is to
replace the buildings with trees, flowers and plants, and other
fixtures to make it into a “green area.” Schiff says that
“local government would have to maintain the ‘green space’
that’s been promised, but they’re going through budget
cuts. Local government can’t pick up the cost... The park board
would have to.” But with the budget cuts currently making the
rounds, “they can’t afford it either.”
Schiff believes that the McDonald’s location and the area around
it will more than likely end up as parking lots rather than as beautified
park land.
Tom Johnson of the Smith-Parker law firm, who is heading the public
aspects of the project, disagrees with these assessments. Of the
relocations, he says, “Homes and businesses will be acquired
on the basis of appraisals depicting fair market value... Factors
are location, transportation accessibility, age, condition, setting,
etc. All relocation and moving costs, direct and indirect, will
be paid with project funds.”
And he says that the mitigation/enhancement aspects are still yet
to be determined. “Mn/DOT [Minnesota Department of Transportation]
will maintain within the freeway right-of-way. Outside of the Mn/DOT
right-of-way, the city, park board and county will need to develop
a maintenance agreement. As of now we haven’t started to discuss
such an agreement, but the Project Advisory Committee has stated,
by resolution, that it must be in place prior to the start of construction.”
Polston echoes the concerns of some homeowners and neighborhood
groups like STRIDE when she says, “What they’re proposing
is not going to help the quality of life. I don’t believe these
are wise transit decisions being made. Foot traffic is essential
to the quality of life of the people in this neighborhood.
“They want to tear up the neighborhood to make it easier for
people coming from the suburbs. But every single person here knows
each other — that’s not something you can recreate through
city planning; you can’t manufacture that. It’s priceless.”
While Polson sees similarities between the proposed I-35/Lake Street
project and the fate of the Rondo neighborhood, she also cites another
example of disrupting a neighborhood closer to home: the construction
of Highway 55 in North Minneapolis, which she characterized as “splintering”
the neighborhood.
Homeowner Muriel Simmons has a more hopeful outlook. “We as
a community need to partner with these projects rather than fight
against them. At least that way, we can have some say in the direction
they go.”
Isaac Peterson III welcomes reader comments to ipeterson@spokesman-recorder.com
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