Frustrating as it may be, road construction is a fact of life and a sign of progress. Infrastructure gets old and needs to be replaced, and cities that can afford it devote resources into improving their streets and sidewalks. It’s not hard to find cities with threadbare budgets whose streets slowly degrade into oblivion. By contrast, Minneapolis can invest in its future.
One of the more frustrating lines of argument, though, is when frustrations over construction boil over into condemning any kind of change. It’s a talk radio staple to blame bike lanes or crosswalks for high taxes or congestion, increasingly so these days, both locally and across the continent. One local example, Adam Platt’s recent column “The Road Diet,” tried hard to paint street reconstruction as part of something akin to a “war on cars” in Minneapolis.
Instead, these plans are a smart investment in the city’s future, providing streets that better reflect its assets and strengths. Rather than chasing the phantom of suburban traffic flows and free parking, Minneapolis’ economic future depends on walkable streets and quality public space. Though the construction process can be frustrating, the city’s reconstruction projects over the past summer bring us much closer to that vibrant urban future, and better in line with the 21st century economy.
Take the county-led Hennepin and First Avenue project in Northeast Minneapolis. When these streets were last reconstructed in the mid-20th century, the city’s economic landscape looked a lot different than it does today. The entire downtown waterfront was still industrial, and both the North Loop and the Mill District were massive rail yards surrounded by surface parking and nearly-abandoned old buildings. Northeast Minneapolis was practically synonymous with industry and warehouses, and both Hennepin and First Avenues were designed as wide, concrete, one-way roads with plenty of porkchop islands to expedite trucking.
Today, there’s almost no trace of that economy. I remember one night years ago, staring in the open windows of Superior Plating, a 90-year-old factory that applied chrome exteriors to metal. It was a huge, dirty facility on the corner of First Avenue and University that seemed from out of another world. By the time it closed in 2011, it had only 12 employees left. Today there’s a pair of tall apartment towers on the site with 278 apartments, a salon, a gym and a restaurant. Now the only trace of the old economy is the fact that both Hennepin and First Avenues have long remained wide, industrial-scale roads with marginal sidewalks.
The county’s plans for redesigning and calming these one-way streets are common sense and good for both the local economy and the thousands of residents in the shiny apartment towers. Removing “channelized” turn lanes and adding bump outs will make the area safer and more walkable, boosting local businesses in the area and improve quality of life for the thousands of new residents. The future of Northeast and Central will look a lot different from their industrial past.
Hennepin Avenue South is a similar story, though with a different historical trajectory and a city-led planning process. (Unlike other parts of Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis “owns” this section of the roadway.) I wrote about this street reconstruction years ago, calling it “a deluxe version of a four-to-three conversion that will slow speeds and reduce crashes.” The new deign will be far safer for drivers, while dramatically improving the feel of the street for anyone on foot.
The jury is still out on whether the controversial Public Works “compromise” around part-time bus lanes will work. My gut tells me that, without aggressive enforcement, the lack of full-time bus lanes will turn into a “worst of both worlds” scenario, making the situation worse for both business access and transit.
Elsewhere in the city, the county-led reconstruction of Northeast Lowry Avenue, like Hennepin Avenue, represents a straightforward change making the street dramatically safer for people walking or driving. Lowry has long been a prime example of engineering malpractice, as four-lane undivided street cross-sections are the most dangerous ways to design urban roads. Because they multiply the number of conflict points, the streets cause daily havoc for people in and out of motor vehicles and jump off the city’s maps of crash data.
The new design will literally save lives and prevent countless crashes over its design life. Most businesses along Lowry will benefit from the calmer traffic and improved public realm, and with better business access provided by drivers turning left along the street. By far the biggest improvements will be on the sidewalks themselves, which will improve dramatically with bump outs and boulevard amenities. If anything, people should be worried about the rise in property values that comes with a more humane public realm.
But as they say, your mileage may vary. Changes to the built environment create winners and losers, and businesses like gas stations, car washes, or drive-thru restaurants that profit from volume, curb cut access and turnover will probably be worse off with the new designs. Instead, the new streets will cultivate walkability and connection, making Minneapolis most important public spaces connections between communities instead of dangerous barriers. That’s a good trade-off for the majority of businesses and residents in Northeast Minneapolis.
Having to drive a bit more slowly through the densest and most valuable parts of a city is no great cross to bear, and the economic tradeoffs are quite beneficial. Doing an errand the other morning, I got stuck behind a school bus along with a half dozen other drivers. The yellow bus was idling in the street with its red lights flashing, stopping traffic for what seemed like an eternity. I started to get frustrated.
But then I took a breath; that’s life driving a car in a city. We long ago made the collective calculation that faster convenience for drivers is not worth the risk to kids, and err on the side of caution around vulnerable people. The same logic applies to any of these major Minneapolis reconstructions. These have been the city’s most dangerous streets for generations, causing incalculable mayhem. The business case for road diets is solid, but this isn’t really a business question, it’s a moral one. Safer streets save lives.
Bill Lindeke is a lecturer in Urban Studies at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Geography, Environment and Society. He is the author of multiple books on Twin Cities culture and history, most recently St. Paul: an Urban Biography. Follow Bill on Twitter: @BillLindeke.
