Your voice is needed to support a car-free Nicollet Avenue through the Kmart site.

UPDATE: The City Council Climate & Infrastructure Committee voted to advance a street design that would restore car traffic through the Kmart site. Take action before the full City Council vote on Thursday, May 9.

The City of Minneapolis is planning the future of Nicollet Avenue S through the Kmart site in South Minneapolis. View the project webpage here. This project is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reconnect Nicollet Avenue S to create a vibrant, car-free street that is prioritizes people walking, rolling, biking and taking public transit.

Last fall, Public Works presented four options for the new street, including one (option #4) that would keep cars off of Nicollet, reconnecting Nicollet for buses, bikes and pedestrians. Despite the car-free option receiving the most public support in the City's online survey, Public Works is recommending an auto-centric design that would run car-traffic through the Kmart site.

This would be a huge mistake. This decision is in direct conflict with City goals that aim to rapidly reduce driving and increase walking, biking and transit. Public Works is using flawed traffic assumptions and congestion fearmongering to justify this decision. The fact is that people have gotten around fine for decades without car access through the Kmart site, and would continue to do so with a new car-free street.

This project is also critically important for the future of Nicollet Avenue to the north and south of the K-Mart site. Nicollet’s design in these sections dedicates nearly all street space to automobiles, creating unsafe conditions and high crash rates. As a result, these sections of Nicollet are included in the City’s high-injury street network. If car traffic is permitted to cut through the K-mart site, it will exacerbate safety issues on the rest of Nicollet and ruin the character of a vibrant business district.

Ask Mayor Frey, Ward 10 Council Member Aisha Chughtai and project staff to keep cars off Nicollet.

We are calling on the City Council to:

• Reject the proposed car traffic design (Option 1) and select the car-free option (option #4) as the preferred design for the project
• Add automatic gates or bollards at both ends of the street to ensure that only buses and emergency vehicles can enter
• Use unique paving materials & asphalt art on the roadway to beautify the street and reduce urban heat