A Minneapolis nonprofit is cheering more than a $1.6 million in federal funding announced by President Joe Biden's administration to possibly return Olson Memorial Highway (Highway 55) to it's ethnic roots.
The former 6th Avenue North was once teeming with successful Black and Jewish businesses and vibrant jazz clubs. So much so that it was even called the Beale Street of Minneapolis, referencing the famous musical stretch of roadway in Memphis.
That era ended in the 1930s when Highway 55 moved in and residents were displaced through racially-restricted covenants. The highway construction began in 1938 with all homes and businesses on the north side razed. It was widened again in the 1950s taking out homes and businesses along the south side. A further barrier for the area came in the late 1960s when Interstate 94 cut the neighborhood off from downtown and Northeast Minneapolis.
Our Streets Minneapolis Executive Director Jose Antonio Zayas-Caban says the money will be used for a feasibility study on reconfiguring a one-mile stretch into a multi-modal, walkable street.
"But it's also part of a larger effort for our organization to continue to address the harms of urban freeways all across the country," says Zayas-Caban.
He says right now, the area is unhealthy, unsafe, and a food desert for the economically disadvantaged people who live there.
The president's Reconnecting Communities Pilot and Neighborhood Access and Equity discretionary grant programs is part of the Investing in America Agenda. The funding is aimed at reconnecting communities that were cut off by transportation infrastructure decades ago. They say it left entire neighborhoods without direct access to opportunity, like schools, jobs, medical offices, and places of worship.
Originally, the 6th Street community had access to grocery stores, bakeries, entertainment, shopping, and more. Its numerous bars and music venues formed the heart of the Twin Cities jazz community.
The area was also a cornerstone of the Jewish community in Minneapolis.
Hundreds of businesses and homes along the route were completely destroyed and replaced with a wide highway cutting through the neighborhoods.
It's a similar story as Interstate 94, which cut the mostly Black Rondo neighborhood in two. MnDOT is currently in a period of exploration and getting feedback on how they will reimagine the stretch of I-94 between the two downtowns.
The Department has created a virtual story that spotlights communities’ stories, the historic context for the program, and the future it seeks through funding the reconnection of communities here.
In this round of funding for the Reconnecting Communities Pilot and Neighborhood Access and Equity program, Minnesota received three grants. Awarded projects include:
$1,600,000 for Bring Back 6th: Reconnecting, Restoring and Revitalizing the 6th Avenue North Corridor in Minneapolis – This project received a grant for a feasibility study that evaluates restoring and revitalizing the 6th Avenue North corridor. 6th Avenue North was once a vibrant, walkable, predominantly Black and Jewish commercial district once called the “Beale Street of Minneapolis.” With the goal of fixing a “blighted” neighborhood, planners routed Olson Memorial Highway (MN State Highway 55) through 6th Avenue North, demolishing hundreds of homes, businesses, and community institutions. The project aims to turn the current one-mile stretch of highway into a community corridor that reconnects the neighborhood, creating a healthier environment and new opportunities for residents to access affordable housing, healthcare, employment, parks, and more.
$1,800,000 for Duluth I-35: Community Access Revitalization Study in Duluth – This project received funding to improve connectivity across the interstate corridor, better integrate existing and future land uses, and remove barriers to economic development in areas of persistent poverty. Hundreds of buildings including 500 homes were destroyed to develop I-35. I-35 currently divides two crucial business corridors limiting social cohesion and reducing business activity. At present, there are only two pedestrian connections over I-35 along the study area.
$3,600,000 for Highway 55: A Community Partnership, A Roadway for All in Hennepin County – This project received funding for activities that are part of the larger study of the overall transportation needs of the Highway 55 corridor. Highway 55 does not meet the modern safety and mobility choice needs of the people who travel the corridor and businesses that rely on it. Over the years, Highway 55 has created and contributed to disproportionately burdensome barriers between neighborhoods and businesses as they have developed, contributing to social inequity. The project will complete Part I of the Highway 55: A Community Partnership, A Roadway for All and beginning Part II by extending studies into Golden Valley, Plymouth and Medina in Hennepin County, Minnesota.