In Review: A Year of Coalition and Community Building

This year, Our Streets advanced transportation justice in Minnesota in ways that felt both historic and urgently necessary. Across campaigns, coalitions, classrooms, and corridors, we demonstrated what it means for community members—not agencies, not consultants—to define the future of their neighborhoods. And with every step, we proved the core belief that guides our Grand Vision: when people most impacted by infrastructure decisions lead, the solutions are smarter, more just, and more transformative.

Bring Back 6th: A new national model for community-first planning

The Bring Back 6th campaign reached a major milestone with Design Week. For the first time, state agency staff, elected officials, technical experts, small businesses, elders, and residents spent a full week designing a corridor together, right in the neighborhood it will serve. No remote hotel ballroom. No closed-door technical charrette. This is what real participatory planning looks like, and it should become the standard across the country.

MnDOT employees joined Toole Design on a bike tour of Olson Memorial Highway to see the dangers up close.

Group photo of Green Garden Bakery youth giving showing their gardens to the Communities Over Highways conference attendees.

Attendees were able to share feedback with Toole Design in multiple ways.

We heard from many people and organizations throughout design week on their experience along Olson Memorial Highway and what they’d like to see in their neighborhood in the future.

An attendee is looking at hand-drawn rendering of what could be on Olson Memorial Highway.

Attendees chat with Minnesota House Representative Esther Agbaje, District 59B.

Design Week proved that our community’s vision is grounded, feasible, and deeply supported. The upcoming public comment period will be a crucial moment. Community pressure is working. We are closer than ever to a future without a highway dividing Near North, and we will be calling on supporters to get involved.

Coalition-building for community power

Our coalitions grew in size, strategy, and solidarity. This year, we released a major report outlining a path to reconnect neighborhoods harmed by highway construction and disinvestment. Community ideas, cultural memory, and policy analysis are woven together—an example of how Our Streets combines public history, organizing, and policy development into a single, powerful approach.

From left to right: Sarah Goodyear, Minnesota House Representative Sencer-Mura, John Edwards of Wedge LIVE, Minneapolis Councilmember Robin Wonsley, D.A. Bullock, and Doug Gordon speak at The War on Cars live at the Cedar Cultural Center.

Twin Cities Boulevard supporters with protest signs outside the MnDOT public meeting.

Our Streets staff sharing community visions for Olson Memorial Highway at Heritage Park National Night Out.

Twin Cities Boulevard supporters watching the live Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting in January with Minneapolis Council Members Robin Wonsley and Jamal Osman.

Our Streets staff doorknocking in Saint Paul.

People gathered at the Home is Here event, talking about anti-displacement strategies in their neighborhood.

94 Stories Time Machine emcees, Nicole Smith (left) and May Lee-Yang (right) speaking.

Audience member experience public history of the 94 corridor through puppetry, poems, and music at 94 Stories Time Machine.

Across all the corridors where we work, our supporters showed up to rallies, PAC meetings, and petitions. The message is clear: our communities are ready for real alternatives, and we will keep showing that a better future is possible.

Streets for People: Long-term wins, long-term commitment

Street projects often take years, sometimes decades. This year reminded us why persistent advocacy matters. Lowry Avenue would not look the way it does today without Our Streets pushing for safer design, calmer traffic, and community priorities. We will continue to fight for complete streets across the region.

On Lyndale Avenue, our advocacy will expand to include riders waiting in the cold for buses sitting in traffic. With millions invested in improved transit service, it is unacceptable for those buses to remain stuck behind car congestion. We will continue pushing for a dedicated 24/7 bus lane that reflects the needs of people who walk, bike, roll, and ride transit.

Stopping the 252/94 Expansion

AMBER GRAVES SPEAKS ABOUT THE 252/94 PROJECT AS IT RELATES TO BROOKLYN CENTER

We will also be ready for any proposal that further expands highways, including on 252 and 94. Our legislative agenda and coalition work ensure that Minnesota continues to move toward climate-resilient, people-first transportation systems.

Municipal Sidewalk Plowing: Building momentum for a fundamental shift

The Minneapolis sidewalk plowing pilot has made clear that accessible winter mobility is a basic public service—not a privilege. Awareness is rising, and so is support. Our role will continue to be essential in ensuring that Minneapolis moves toward a modern sidewalk maintenance system that prioritizes seniors, disabled residents, and anyone who moves without a car.

Legislative Leadership: System-level change to support every campaign

Our 2025 legislative achievements and the priorities we carry into the next session are part of a long-term strategy to move Minnesota toward transportation systems rooted in health, housing stability, racial justice, and climate resilience. These policy changes strengthen every campaign we lead—from Bring Back 6th to sidewalks to highway removal—by addressing the systemic barriers communities face again and again.

Transportation Academy: Growing a statewide movement of advocates

We held our second Twin Cities Transportation Academy, training community members to advocate for equitable transportation in their own neighborhoods. While funding for 2026 remains uncertain, the enthusiasm and engagement from participants reaffirm that this work is essential. We hope to continue building the knowledge, skills, and confidence of the next generation of transportation justice leaders.

Navigating obstacles, building for the long term

Many of you know that we faced delays in federal reimbursement for our Bring Back 6th project, despite meeting every requirement. This challenge has been significant, but it has also proven the strength of our organization. We have been transparent, persistent, and unwavering in our commitment to steward public dollars responsibly, even when systems make it difficult. We will continue to push for timely, fair processes so that community-led planning does not get held hostage by administrative barriers.

At the same time, we continued refining our Grand Vision: a 20-year, community-led strategy to transform how infrastructure, public space, and public history intersect. From our theory of change to the newly published essay in The Human Toll, we are helping shape a national conversation about what it means to repair harm, reconnect neighborhoods, and build a future where people—not highways—come first.

Your support makes this work possible.

This year showed what is achievable when community voices lead and when organizations like Our Streets have the resources to support them. Every campaign, every coalition, every moment of public pressure works toward the same goal: building a more connected, equitable, and just region. And setting a model for the country.

As we step into 2026, we invite you to renew or increase your support for Our Streets. With your partnership, we can continue to push back against harmful expansions, advance visionary alternatives, train new advocates, and ensure that Minnesota leads the nation in community-driven planning.

Thank you for standing with us, believing in this work, and helping build a future where our streets truly belong to the people.