Ask federal decision makers to support the Twin Cities Boulevard
The Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program provides federal funding to reconnect communities that were divided and disproportionately harmed by highways. This program is a critical opportunity to conduct a feasibility study the Twin Cities Boulevard vision for MnDOT's Rethinking I-94 project and evaluate solutions to repair the highway's historic and ongoing harms in the entire 7.5 mile project corridor.
There is an urgent need to conduct a boulevard feasibility study. The Rethinking I-94 project continues to advance and MnDOT is now moving forward with designing and narrowing down project alternatives.
Even if a boulevard conversion is included, it is unlikely that non-highway options will receive a fair analysis. While we are awaiting full versions of the new Rethinking I-94 Purpose & Need documents, the summary revealed at the September 26 Policy Advisory Committee meeting showed that MnDOT continues to prioritize high-speed car and truck traffic over repairing the highway's harms.
The Reconnecting Communities grant program is a critical opportunity to conduct a feasibility study to demonstrate how a boulevard conversion could work and debunk MnDOT's biased traffic assumptions. If this doesn't happen before the project alternatives are finalized, it will likely be too late.
The application period for the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program concluded on October 13. However, MnDOT & Minneapolis & Saint Paul city leaders chose not seek funding to study a boulevard conversion on the Rethinking I-94 corridor.
In response, Our Streets Minneapolis has submitted a planning grant application to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study of a highway-to-boulevard conversion on the Rethinking I-94 corridor, including a transportation access study and environmental and community impacts analysis.
Take action by emailing federal decision makers and asking them to support the Twin Cities Boulevard and funding for a boulevard conversion feasibility study on the Rethinking I-94 project corridor!
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