The city of Minneapolis is looking at two options to reopening the intersection of 38th and Chicago, the site where George Floyd was killed in police custody and now home street art and memorials that includes a circle of flowers and a large Black Lives Matter fist smack dab in the middle of the cross-section of what have long been heavily used uban traffic arteries.
Two options were brought before the Minneapolis Policy and Government Oversight Committee on Thursday.
Both call for the opening of traffic only on 38th Street, an east-west roadway in south Minneapolis lined with businesses, homes, and places of worship that also provides a major link from the Mississippi River to the Chain-of-Lakes area.
“We want to provide space for mourning and reflection and demonstration, this will require changes for parking,” said Robin Hutcheson, director of the Minneapolis Public Works Department.
“Second, we want to preserve public art. The artistic expression in this intersection… it’s a beacon to visitors,” she said.
One of the proposals features a roundabout that would preserve the artwork where the streets cross.
As of now, there are no roundabouts within the Minneapolis street grid.
“The interim design will help preserve space now, that can be translated into a more permanent design, in conjunction with community visioning,” Hutcheson said.
The option that does not include a roundabout would move the intersection memorial north on Chicago.
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