Current MnDOT plans call for widening Interstate 94, but city leaders from Minneapolis and St. Paul want to see more space for public transit, walking, and biking.
Minneapolis city leaders are calling on the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to replace portions of Interstate 94 through the city with smaller roadways as part of its Rethinking I-94 reconstruction project.
According to an article by Andrew Hazzard in Sahan Journal, “The City Council unanimously approved a resolution Thursday announcing that it strongly opposes any expansion of Interstate 94 in Minneapolis. City leaders said they support designs embracing highway removal and lane reductions as the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) weighs the future of the urban interstate.”
The as-yet-unfunded Rethinking I-94 project has been in the works since 2016 and would rebuild the highway between Minneapolis and St. Paul’s downtowns. The Minneapolis resolution calls for more space for transit, walking, and bikes and supports replacing the elevated highway with an at-grade roadway that includes multimodal transportation.
In 2021, St. Paul, where most of the Rethinking I-94 corridor is located, passed a similar resolution that discourages highway expansion and calls for accessibility improvements.
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