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MnDOT won’t study removing I-94 as part of redevelopment plans (sahanjournal.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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State transportation officials on Friday narrowed down the designs being considered for the reconstruction of Interstate 94 between Minneapolis and St. Paul, eliminating options with strong community support that would have removed the highway.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is recommending that four of 10 designs, which were first introduced in 2023, move forward into an environmental review process. That review will determine the future of the 7.5-mile stretch of I-94 between Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis and Marion Street in St. Paul.

Notably absent were designs that considered replacing the highway with an at-grade roadway, an option supported by several environmental activists and the nonprofit, Our Streets. Several elected officials who sit on an advisory committee for the project and who were in attendance at the Friday meeting with MnDOT criticized that absence.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

So: I can understand why MNDOT blinked. If they went through with the at-grade option, they would probably face more backlash than appreciation, even if the people that were excited about this were REALLY excited about it. backlash is a very dangerous thing these days. But I still feel pretty strongly that the at-grade option would have been better for the metro overall in the long term.

I get this but I was hoping it could at least continue onwards. Especially because our streets had good estimates on lower traffic and emissions from their independent option. I get no one wants waves and removing any car dependency can be a problem. But the local support should have been enough