Three Engineered Concepts Address Safety, Health, and Environmental Harms of the Current Highway and a Potential Path Forward
A new report from the Bring Back 6th coalition, a group of organizations that have been advocating for the removal of Olson Memorial Highway in North Minneapolis since 2021, unveils three engineered design concepts to consider for the future of the corridor. The concepts emerged from a community-led process in collaboration with Toole Design Group.
The report, “Bring Back 6th: A Collective Vision for Reparative Justice & the Future of the Northside,” is in response to the transportation corridor’s history and ongoing health, environmental, and safety harms. The highway was once the heart of a Black and Jewish neighborhood. This vibrant commercial corridor was destroyed by the construction of Minnesota’s first highway in the late 1930s. Today, it tops the City’s Vision Zero high-injury street network and sees less traffic than segments of West Broadway Avenue.
The roadway design concepts demonstrate different uses for the approximately 12 acres of land that will be made available by the proposed changes: one that offers a linear park, another dedicated to mixed-use development, and the third a tree-lined transitway. The report emphasizes these roadway designs should be paired with anti-displacement policies to protect existing and low-income residents from experiencing additional displacement and gentrification, and that, “components can be interchanged to eventually reach the one design alternative that best responds to the needs of adjacent neighborhoods.”
Both Our Streets, the transportation advocacy organization leading the Bring Back 6th Coalition, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) received federal funds from the Reconnecting Communities Program to support their respective work on Olson Memorial Highway. MnDOT is evaluating options for the corridor’s future, in tandem with Our Streets, and has committed to incorporating the design concepts into its process.
“We’ve long worked with neighbors and community leaders to build a shared vision for a reconnected 6th Avenue—one that centers healing, mobility, and opportunity,” says José Antonio Zayas Cabán, Executive Director of Our Streets. “It’s about repair and about honoring the right of community members to shape their own future.”
The coalition plans to continue refining these concepts based on community feedback and work with MnDOT, Hennepin County, the City of Minneapolis, and surrounding municipalities to advance their vision for Olson Memorial Highway. The Minneapolis City Council passed a unanimous resolution in support of highway removal in 2023.
Our Streets is working with the following community partners: Harrison Neighborhood Association, Heritage Park Neighborhood Association, Urban Strategies, Green Garden Bakery, Summit Academy OIC, Phyllis Wheatley Community Center, and The Lao Center of Minnesota.
The report’s technical partners include Toole Design Group, NEOO Partners, Smart Mobility, and the New Urban Mobility Alliance (NUMO).
About Our Streets:
Our Streets puts people first by transforming transportation and infrastructure in the Twin Cities, the metro region and the state of Minnesota. Our Streets makes streets places where people can easily and comfortably walk, bike, roll, and use public transit.
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