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.
“We feel very disheartened that we feel the at-grade option wasn’t given real consideration,” said Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley.
The state also eliminated designs that would have expanded the highway.
Narrowing designs is challenging, said MnDOT Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger, and often leaves people disappointed.
“I strongly believe, with the designs we have selected to move forward, we can achieve real change in this corridor,” Daubenberger said.
There is currently no estimated budget for the project, nor has a funding source been identified. Construction would begin in 2030 at the earliest, according to MnDOT.
The four designs
Only two of the four designs moving forward would bring noticeable changes to the roadway, which currently has three to four travel lanes in each direction.
MnDOT is weighing these four designs:
- A highway reduction design would narrow the roadway to three lanes in each direction, two for general travel and one reserved for buses and drivers paying for E-Z Pass. The transit lane would create dedicated space for the Metro Gold Line, a bus rapid transit project connecting Woodbury to St. Paul along I-94 that will eventually expand to downtown Minneapolis.
- A second option would reconfigure the highway to include four lanes in each direction, three for general travel and one dedicated to buses and E-Z pass users.
- One option would mostly keep the highway’s current footprint, but would turn a westbound vehicle lane near Highway 280 into a shoulder space that could be used by buses.
- Another design is a no-build option required by federal transportation officials, which would just replace existing pavement.
Melissa Barnes, who is leading the project for MnDOT, said the agency narrowed the designs based on safety, mobility and improving the corridor for pedestrians and cyclists.
All designs would be compatible with the Reconnect Rondo project, which seeks to build a land bridge over the highway in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood, a historically Black community that was demolished to build the highway.
Highway removal dismissed
MnDOT rejected designs to replace the highway with an at-grade roadway because the agency believes it would negatively impact mobility and create more safety issues by putting more cars on local roadways where crashes are more common. Barnes said MnDOT’s analysis projects that the design would bring more vehicle pollution to residential areas. The Star Tribune first reported that MnDOT ruled out those designs in December.
“We also know this alternative would make air quality worse for more people,” Barnes said.
Replacing the highway with an at-grade option would also particularly stress crossings over the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and St. Paul, and would divert traffic onto other highways, Lake Street, Marshall Avenue and Washington Avenue.
Several elected officials said they wanted to see highway removal options move forward to the environmental analysis stage so that pollution impacts of that design could be evaluated. They pointed to a third party analysis paid for by OurStreets that found replacing the highway with an at-grade roadway would decrease pollution and change the behaviors of commuters.
“We just want our voices to be heard, and for a continuation to consider the at-grade option,” said state Senator Omar Fateh, DFL-Minneapolis.
State officials launched the Rethinking 94 project in 2015 with an official apology from then MnDOT Commissioner Charlie Zelle to communities destroyed by the highway’s destruction. Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley said she felt MnDOT should be incorporating the harms caused by the highway into the selection process for the future design, but she doesn’t feel that is happening.
“It feels like a continuation of what we’ve heard was a mistake,” Conley said.
Continuing to evaluate the at-grade options is important to envision a world that is less car-centric, Wonsley said. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Minnesota, according to a 2023 state report.
Elected officials decry MnDOT process
Local elected officials participating in the advisory group criticized the process and said they wanted a clear way to make their input noted in selecting designs. The advisory committee includes city council members, county commissioners and state representatives who represent the project area.
Those elected officials sit through lengthy meetings and provide verbal feedback to MnDOT. The group does not provide clear recommendations through a voting process, something members decried Friday.
Representative Samantha Sencer-Mura, DFL-Minneapolis, said she is questioning whether to keep participating in the advisory committee. She wanted the ability to cast a formal vote to record her opposition to MnDOT’s decision not to move at-grade options forward.
“We have heard loud and clear from our communities that they are upset,” Sencer-Mura said.
MnDOT officials told advisory committee members that they take thorough notes on their comments and try to incorporate them into their decision.
“It does not feel that way; it feels very disingenuous,” Wonsley said.
Fateh asked MnDOT if they would consider a process that would allow advisory committee members to vote on their preferences for the record, even if the agency has the ultimate authority over the design. Daubenberger said MnDOT will consider making that change.
