The City of Minneapolis will convert a low-traffic street in North Minneapolis to a greenway, which is a safe, accessible route for bicyclists and pedestrians. Now in the earliest planning stages, the greenway may become a bike boulevard (shared between bikes and cars but with traffic calming features), a full greenway with no motorized traffic, or a “half and half” with both a trail and car traffic. The greenway would be a north-south route starting at Victory Memorial Parkway on the north and passing the Crystal Lake Cemetery, Folwell Park, and North Commons Park.
In September the City began a process to inform people about the greenway project and collect input on what a greenway should look like and what route it should take. City staff collected community input with an online survey, at a community open house at Folwell Park on Oct. 16, over the phone and by email. City staff also attended several community events to gather input from residents. As part of the community input process, 452 people completed surveys either online or at the open house, including more than 240 people who live in North Minneapolis. Of the survey respondents who live in North Minneapolis, 121 live near or within four blocks of a proposed greenway route and 111 people live on a proposed greenway route.
Community preferences
Of the three design options, the respondents favored a full greenway – the linear park – with 71 percent of online survey respondents choosing this design option. The half-and-half design option was also popular, and the bike boulevard design was least favored. Participants said they liked the linear park greenway option because it would provide full separation from cars, increase green space, allow for extra amenities like BBQs and community gardens, draw people into the community, and be family-friendly. Although the full linear park design was favored, a small number of respondents strongly disliked this option. These respondents had concerns about cost, parking, access to homes, emergency vehicle access, safety, and maintenance.
Participants favored Route Option A over the other two route options. Route A is the most direct of the route options and would provide a fast way to commute and get to destinations, and would pass near or connect to several parks and green spaces, making it a good recreational route as well. Many online survey respondents living on Route Options A and B preferred that the route be on their streets. In fact, 100 percent of online survey respondents who live on Route Option A want the greenway to be on their streets.
What’s next
Based on the recommendations of the project steering committee, the City will work with its contractor (SRF Consulting) to identify a preferred greenway route and develop concept plans for the greenway design. At the same time, the City will conduct outreach to households along the route to share the greenway concepts and continue to gather input to use in planning. The City will also conduct outreach to cultural communities that have not been well-represented in the community engagement process yet. Staff will hold a second community meeting in late January or early February to present the concept plans and any additional input that has been gathered.
This project is supported by the City of Minneapolis through the Statewide Health Improvement Program, funded by the Minnesota Department of Health.
For info visit http://www.minneapolismn.gov/ health/ship/northminneapolisgreenway or contact Sarah Stewart (sarah.stewart@minneapolismn.gov, 612-673-3987). People interested in being added to the project email list may also email Sarah with their contact info. Also check out the last Camden News.