From downtown St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis, Interstate 94 is nearing the end of its functional life. What should replace it? Since at least 2022, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has taken a hard look at ways to upgrade, revamp or entirely redesign a 7.5-mile stretch of the 1960s-era interstate from Marion Street in St. Paul to Hiawatha Avenue/Minnesota 55 in Minneapolis. Instead of maintaining the deep highway trench that runs through the capital city, environmental and social justice advocacy groups have urged MnDOT to fill it in to grade level and reconnect the street grid with a “multi-modal” boulevard geared toward pedestrians, cyclists and public transit as much, if not more so, than trucks and cars. Four design ideas MnDOT has taken a dim view of the prospect of ripping out I-94 and starting over. Advocates for alternative transit say they have no illusions about an announcement likely to come Friday morning. During a virtual public meeting of the “Rethinking I-94” policy advisory committee, to be held on Zoom, MnDOT officials are expected to present four design ideas, but two previously-floated boulevard concepts will not be among them. State transportation officials are dropping at-grade “road diets” from the menu of 10 options first unveiled in July 2023. Instead, MnDOT consultants have pointed to the potential benefit of redesigning I-94 to be more consistent within the existing corridor, so the interstate maintains the same number of lanes from segment to segment — potentially two or more general-purpose travel lanes in each direction, as well as one “managed” lane in each direction for EZ Pass drivers and bus rapid transit. “Removing that at-grade boulevard option for that next stage (of review) feels like a real rug pull in the face of significant community support,” said Cole Hanson, president of the Hamline-Midway Coalition, one of the city’s neighborhood district councils. “It’s really favoring the suburban drivers — the suburban-oriented, high-speed oriented,” Hanson said. “It’s really not prioritizing what MnDOT has been hearing from folks who live directly in the communities affected by I-94. I used to live by Central High School, and I could hear I-94 in my sleep.” Advocates questions process Organizers with Our Streets and the Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America say they haven’t given up. The Minneapolis-based Our Streets organization, which argues for biking, walking and public transit-friendly road design, has publicly called MnDOT’s planning to date a “sham process to rebuild I-94” largely as is. “Their scoring process is really bizarre,” said Elizabeth Bonin, a spokesperson for Twin Cities DSA. “MnDOT has said the freeway would be better for walkability and bike-ability than either of the at-grade options. That doesn’t make any sense. Their model is skewed in favor of cars.” Twin Cities DSA and Our Streets, who are working together as members of the “Minnesota Communities Over Highways Coalition,” plan to host their own in-person community session from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday in a room at the Minneapolis Central Library. They’ve pointed to studies showing life-threatening asthma attacks are up to six times more likely in high-poverty neighborhoods along I-94 in Minneapolis than elsewhere in the state. “Removing the boulevard option would solidify MnDOT’s intent to spend billions of dollars rebuilding I-94, perpetuating for another 70 years the highway’s legacy of splitting neighborhoods in half, causing greenhouse gas emissions, and leaving residents with elevated rates of cancer and asthma,” reads their joint announcement. MnDOT’s remaining options Since July 23, MnDOT project staff have been evaluating 10 concepts to determine whether they meet the project’s stated purpose and need, said MnDOT spokesperson Ricardo Lopez. MnDOT officials on Friday will recommend that six concepts not move forward, including two that would expand the freeway with an additional travel lane, as well as the two at-grade options. That narrows the concepts down to four, including: • The “No Build” option: keeping I-94 largely as is. • “General Maintenance B”: upgrading the existing infrastructure to current standards with consistent road shoulders for bus access. • “Reduced Freeway A”: rebuilding the existing freeway by reducing it to three lanes, with one lane being a managed lane in each direction for bus rapid transit and EZ Pass customers. • “Reconfigure Freeway”: a reconfigured freeway that provides four consistent lanes in each direction, including one managed lane in each direction for BRT and EZ Pass. “Project staff conducted an extensive public engagement process and have received feedback from a wide variety of individuals and organizations across the state via letters, email and other communications,” said Lopez. 50 million vehicles in 2023 MnDOT hired traffic consultant Jaimie Sloboden to model existing traffic and how it might be affected by the concepts. Among Sloboden’s findings, the interstate — which hosted 50 million vehicles traveling between the two downtowns in 2023 — would see its capacity reduced to 12.8 million vehicles as a result of the two at-grade options. Those concepts called for two travel lanes in each direction, as well as one bus rapid transit lane, either in the center or toward the road shoulder. “It would just create a lot of congestion and worsen air pollution because it makes a lot of idling at intersections,” said Lopez, noting likely traffic spillover onto local roads. “The at-grade conversion, the big thing we would need to do is fill in that entire trench. It’s about 7½ miles long. It’s one of the most expensive options on the table, and it would take years to do. It creates a lot more collision opportunities, so safety is worsened, and capacity is reduced.” After taking the next few months to compare the remaining four options, MnDOT plans to publish a draft scoping decision in late 2025, and open a period for public comment. Public reaction Carly Ellefsen, a spokesperson for Our Streets, said her organization has taken issue with MnDOT’s evaluation criteria, which gave the boulevard options low marks for walkability and bike-ability. Under the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation has made federal money available for its “Reconnecting Communities” program, which aims to reestablish routes between communities that were cut off due to highway planning decades ago. On Dec. 23, José Antonio Zayas Cabán, the executive director of Our Streets, took his criticisms further in an email to Melissa Barnes, MnDOT’s project director for “Rethinking I-94,” which he shared widely with officials from both Our Streets and MnDOT. “You have consistently asked us to overlook you and your team’s blatant acts of racism, fraudulent processes and white supremacy,” he wrote. “Your racist and classist behavior is embedded into MnDOT’s decision-making regarding the Rethinking I-94 project. … Your decision to quietly eliminate the boulevard options, which scored the highest in MnDOT’s own community survey, reveals your cowardice, lack of integrity and total disregard for the communities most impacted by these decisions.” “What is the point of public comment or engagement opportunities when the most community-preferred alternatives are being stripped away behind closed doors?” he wrote. “You gaslight, mislead and actively turn your back on the most vulnerable communities in the Twin Cities, choosing instead to advance plans that will condemn tens of thousands of people to another generation of health and climate harms.” The email quickly made the rounds in public policy circles, taking some aback at St. Paul City Hall and elsewhere. Still, even some officials off-put by the tone of the message have urged MnDOT to continue to keep at-grade boulevard or parkway options, at least for a point of comparison to other concepts. In February 2021, the St. Paul City Council voted 7-0 to to send MnDOT the message that they opposed any efforts to add travel lanes or expand existing lanes, which they said would simply draw more drivers, as well as more environmental and health impacts. The Minneapolis City Council voted in September to oppose any plan that would expand I-94, and urged MnDOT to consider removing travel lanes. Related Articles Local News | Amtrak Borealis, ReConnect Rondo, Robert Street project among recipients of federal grants in east metro Local News | It’s a snowplow-naming smackdown in Washington County. Here are the finalists. 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