The City of Minneapolis held a community open house on Tuesday, February 12 to present its current design for a proposed greenway in North Minneapolis. The planned route, exhibited at the North Commons Rec Center, spans Irving Avenue from Shingle Creek Trail in the north to Plymouth Avenue in the south, connecting such locations as the Crystal Lake Cemetery, Folwell Park, and the Boys and Girls Club. Almost a straight pedestrian thoroughfare down Irving, the current design is the result of consensus taken from a community meeting on October 16, three subsequent steering committee meetings, and input from the SRF Consulting Group.
The meeting held on October 16 gave community members the opportunity to voice opinions on three initial route options, all of which were drafted down Humboldt Avenue North. Overall, residents responded most favorably to Route A—a linear greenway that excluded vehicle interruption with the exception of a few key cross streets. Upon further discussion, the City of Minneapolis, the steering committee, and the SRF Consulting Group hired by the City of Minneapolis, decided that Irving was a better option for pedestrian safety; select intersections on Humboldt were viewed as more dangerous than crossings on Irving.
Funds for the planning process were earmarked by the Minnesota Department of Health’s Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) as a part of an effort to reduce obesity and tobacco use. The North Minneapolis greenway project qualified for funding, in part, because a 2010 study conducted by Hennepin County revealed North Minneapolis residents to be 20 percent more obese than the overall population of Minneapolis. It has been proven that living near greenways increases physical activity and encourages biking and walking as more favorable transportation options among residents.
A greenway can take several forms. The current design for the North Minneapolis greenway is a full “linear park” that replaces car traffic with open green space and biking/walking trails. Another version of a greenway is represented by the RiverLake greenway in South Minneapolis. This type of greenway adds a bike boulevard to a low-speed road. A “half and half” greenway is a compromise of the first two options. The “half and half” design includes a biking/walking trail that runs parallel to a street but is separated from the street by a stretch of green space. Intersections in this design favor pedestrian traffic and cars are forced to drive around certain thoroughfares. Both the steering committee and the City are open to discussing a mixture of these three forms for the proposed North Minneapolis project. The final decision will go to the Minneapolis City Council.
Other examples of greenways in the Twin Cities include the linear-park greenway on Milwaukee Avenue in the Seward neighborhood and the 37 Avenue Greenway between Queen and Knox Avenues, which is more of a “half and half” design. Residents and interested parties may benefit from a trip to one of these areas to get an idea of how a greenway might look here in Camden.
Whichever type of greenway is ultimately chosen for North Minneapolis, greenways take a long time to see through to completion. The RiverLake greenway in South Minneapolis took 14 years from conception to completion. Execution of the North Minneapolis greenway may take that amount of time or longer, according to City of Minneapolis Health and Family Support Program Specialist Sarah Stewart. Securing funds will play a large part in the project timeline as well since funds available for the planning process are not guaranteed to extend into the construction or maintenance of the greenway.
The February 12 open house gave residents a chance to provide input on plan revisions that led to the Irving route. Representatives from the steering committee and Sarah Stewart were available for questions. Attendees were also given the opportunity to make specific suggestions on blown-up reproductions of the greenway design throughout its various segments. A suggestion box gave participants another opportunity for anonymity.
The design presented at the open house is not final. More public outreach and community discussions have yet to take place before this multi-year project reaches its end. The City’s next step is to continue outreach to individual homeowners in four designated zones, one zone at a time.
Program Specialist Sarah Stewart encourages questions and concerns be directed to her at sarah.stewart@ci.minneapolis.mn.us. More info on the project and upcoming meeting announcements can be found at www.minneapolismngov/health/ship/ northminneapolisgreenway. Info on greenways can be found at http://www.tcgreenways.org.