Star Tribune
Minneapolis Park Board denies Hennepin County right-of-way approval for ADA bikeway through the Soo Line Garden to the Midtown Greenway
After hearing for three years from dozens of gardeners opposed to the project, the Minneapolis Park Board on Wednesday night rejected a proposal by Hennepin County transportation planners to cut a bikeway through the Park Board-owned Soo Line community garden in the city’s Whittier neighborhood.
The county proposal “removes a central gathering place, it creates unsafe situations for children who are running back and forth between the two sections of garden that are now split,” said Park Board Commissioner Elizabeth Shaffer, whose district includes the Soo Line Garden.
“And it also is very unclear that Hennepin County understood our role as an elected body overseeing parkland around this project. … I am unclear if Hennepin County would be a good partner from the track record that we have seen the last three years.”
Hennepin County officials did not attend the meeting, and several Park Board commissioners expressed disappointment with the lack of communication. The fight has been brewing ever since the county floated the project six years ago.
A twist developed Tuesday when the discovery of polluted soil shut down gardening at Soo Line for the 2024 season before it had even begun. According to a Park Board news release, the area was once occupied by railroads and grain elevators, which may have left behind the diesel range organics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found in the garden at levels exceeding state pollution control thresholds.
Hennepin County planners say the Soo Line Garden, 2845 Garfield Av., is the best place to build a paved trail to the Midtown Greenway bikeway within the 1.25 mile stretch between Humboldt and Stevens avenues that currently lacks ADA-compliant ramps.
The county prefers building through the garden because it is publicly-owned green space without any buildings that stand in the way. Planners say the trail would reduce the plantable square footage of the garden by only 5%.
Many gardeners don’t buy it. They’ve argued that a paved trail would introduce chemicals and supplant the garden’s community gathering areas, which double as an outdoor classroom for children from Whittier Elementary School.
They also dispute the county’s estimation that most of the garden’s plantable square footage would be saved, saying that county planners improperly factored in areas not suitable for growing, such as the root-bound space beneath a mature tree and narrow strips of land between the proposed trail and an alley.
Cycling organizations have been split on the county’s proposal, with some calling for the bikeway to be built exactly where the county wants it to go and others asking planners to study a different route that doesn’t go through the garden.
The Midtown Greenway Coalition, Soo Line gardeners and several park commissioners have asked the county to seriously consider building an ADA bikeway through the opposite side of the Greenway trench from the garden, where the county owns a piece of undeveloped vacant land. County officials have been reluctant to study that property as an alternative because the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority has long set it aside for a future rail project, though no such project has ever been proposed.
Hennepin County has asked to extend the project year once already to improve engagement with the diverse residents of Whittier, where nearly one-third speak a language other than English. But at an open house event last November, gardeners criticized the county for failing to bring translated materials for the numerous Spanish-speaking families that grow food at Soo Line.
Park Board staffers also criticized engagement efforts, citing the county’s inability to discern whether the community really wanted the bikeway as the reason why they could not recommend that park commissioners vote for or against the project.
Commissioners Shaffer, Steffanie Musich, Billy Menz, Charles Rucker, Becka Thompson, Cathy Abene and Meg Forney voted down the county’s proposal. Tom Olsen and Becky Alper abstained after unsuccessfully suggesting the board postpone the vote. No one voted for the bikeway.
Hennepin County planners must submit their final construction plans, environmental documentation and right-of-way approval to the Minnesota Department of Transportation by April 1 to maintain $1.1 million of federal funding committed to the project. It’s unclear if the project can be extended again.
Regarding the contaminants found in the garden’s soil, the Park Board is working with a consultant from Braun Intertec to define health impacts and remediation steps. Assistant superintendent of planning Michael Schroeder said the Park Board’s foremost concern now is to remove the contaminants. “Gardening uses remain paramount in the space,” he said.
According to a Park Board FAQ about the developing situation, diesel range organics bind strongly to soil particles and aren’t easily absorbed by plants, but polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons can be taken up by plant roots and leaves. “Beyond that, the [Park Board] does not know enough to determine the actual hazard,” according to the FAQ.
Musich said she was heartbroken to hear people won’t be able to garden at Soo Line this year.
“From day one, I’ve really struggled to understand why Hennepin County would be interested in disrupting one of the few places in a very busy part of town where people can find respite from city life,” she said. “I’m very heartened to hear that we’re working to find ways for people to continue that activity, even if it can’t occur in this location this year.”
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and her daughter were among the throngs Friday as President Joe Biden delivered the apology that many Indigenous Americans thought would never come.
“I think he really said the things that people have been waiting to hear for generations, acknowledged just the horror and trauma of literally having our children stolen from our communities,” said Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. “It’s a powerful first step towards healing.”
Hundreds of boarding schools operated in the 19th and 20th centuries, separating Indigenous children from their families and forcing them to assimilate to European ways. Many children were abused, and at least 973 died, according to a report from the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Other Minnesotans reacted similarly to Flanagan, saying they welcomed the apology but that additional action is needed to help Indigenous people move forward.
Anton Treuer, a professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University, wrote in a newsletter that the apology was “a welcome first step on the journey to healing.”
“There is no way to truly right historical injustices for the children buried at Carlisle, Haskell, and other schools, but these words set a new tone for the country and will help heal the anguish so many Natives have carried for so long,” Treuer wrote. “It gives me hope that we can come together to reconcile and heal our troubled nation.”
Sen. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton, the first Indigenous woman to serve in the state Senate, called Biden’s apology encouraging.
“This recognition of past wrongdoings is an important step towards healing relationships between the United States and the sovereign nations affected by these past systems,” Kunesh said in a statement. “This dark period of American history must be remembered and taught.”
“I have done everything in my power to remedy this situation, and it continues to get more and more violent by the day,” Moturi wrote. “There have been numerous times when I’ve seen Sawchak outside and contacted law enforcement, and there was no response. I am not confident in the pursuit of Sawchak given that Sawchak attacked me, MPD officers had John detained, and despite an HRO and multiple warrants — they still let him go.”
On Friday, five City Council members sent a letter to Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara expressing their “utter horror at MPD’s failure to protect a Minneapolis resident from a clear, persistent and amply reported threat posed by his neighbor.”
Council Members Andrea Jenkins, Elliott Payne, Aisha Chughtai, Jason Chavez and Robin Wonsley went on to allege that police had failed to submit reports to the County Attorney’s Office despite threats being made with weapons, and at times while Sawchak screamed racial slurs. Sawchak is white and Moturi is Black.
The council members also contend in their letter that the MPD told the County Attorney’s Office that police did not intend to execute the warrant for “reasons of officer safety.”
At a Friday afternoon news conference at MPD’s Fifth Precinct, O’Hara said police had been working to arrest Sawchak since at least April, but “no Minneapolis police officers have had in-person contact with that suspect since the victim in this case has been calling us.” The chief pointed out that Sawchak is mentally ill, has guns and refuses to cooperate “in the dozens of times that police officers have responded to the residence.”
O’Hara put aside the option to carry out “a high-risk warrant based on these factors [and] the likelihood of an armed, violent confrontation where we may have to use deadly force with the suspect.” The preference, he said, was to arrest Sawchak outside his home, but “in this case, this suspect is a recluse and does not come out of the house.”
ROCHESTER – The Federal Transit Administration has green-lighted an $85 million grant supporting the development of the city’s planned Link Bus Rapid Transit system.
The FTA formally announced the grant on Friday during a ceremonial check presentation outside of the Mayo Civic Center, one of the seven stops planned for the bus line. The federal grant will cover about 60% of the project’s estimated $143.4 million price tag, with the remaining funds coming from Destination Medical Center, the largest public-private development project in state history.
Set to go live in 2026, the 2.8-mile Link system will connect downtown Rochester, including Mayo Clinic’s campuses, with a proposed “transit village” that will include parking, hundreds of housing units and a public plaza. The bus line will be the first of its kind outside the Twin Cities — with service running every five minutes during peak hours.
“That means you may not even need to look at a schedule,” said Veronica Vanterpool, deputy administrator for the FTA. “You can just show up at your transit stop and expect the next bus to come in a short time. That is a game changer and a life-transformational experience in transit for those people who are using it and relying on it.”
The planned Second Street corridor is already one of the busiest roads in Rochester, carrying more than 21,800 vehicles a day, and city planners have talked for years about ways to reduce traffic congestion in the city’s downtown. Local officials estimate that the transit line, which will rely on a fleet of all-electric buses, will handle 11,000 riders on its first day of operation and save eight city blocks of parking.
Speaking to a crowd of about 100 people gathered on Friday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar said the project shows Rochester is thinking strategically about how it handles growth.
“If you just plan the business expansion, and you don’t have the workforce, you don’t have the child care, the housing or the transit, it’s not going to work very well as a lot of communities across the nation have found,” Klobuchar said.
Politics, once a first date taboo, is now more important for daters. A relationship expert shares tips.
She was in pain for years, but doctors had no answers. A rare condition was to blame.
Tracking the hours before a young Minnesota woman became a murder victim
Politics, once a first date taboo, is now more important for daters. A relationship expert shares tips.
She was in pain for years, but doctors had no answers. A rare condition was to blame.