Home | Projects | Reference Center | About Us | Image Bank
Direct Design Assistance: 38th Street, Minneapolis, 2003
Over several weeks in January and February, the Design Center participated
in a series of public meetings on the reconstruction of 38th Street,
between 23rd and 30th Avenues South, in the Standish Ericsson neighborhood
of Minneapolis. The street—a former streetcar route—currently
supports a mix of small-scale industrial uses, auto shops, commercial
structures, restaurants, single family houses, and a neighborhood
niche at the former streetcar stop at 23rd Avenue. Several projects in
the area suggest that 38th Street is a corridor in transition.
A light rail transit (LRT) stop is currently under construction at the intersection of 38th Street and Hiawatha Avenue, on the eastern end of the reconstruction area. The addition of the LRT stop is going to make 38th Street a more significant east-west transit route within the city. The street may regain the significance it once had as a streetcar line. On the western end of the reconstruction area, at 23rd Avenue, the Minneapolis Public Library Board has proposed construction of a new Roosevelt community library as part of a mixed-use project that may include housing. That project is the first of a number of new development projects that are sure to accompany the development of the LRT station. What was initially intended to be a simple road reconstruction quickly emerged as an opportunity to set the stage for future development and evolution of the corridor.
The Minneapolis Department of Public Works conducted the meetings in cooperation with the neighborhood board, including participation by the Center for Neighborhoods. Out of a series of discussions that solicited comments from the local community and businesses, emerged a plan that added planted boulevards and sidewalk bumpouts at two high-intensity intersections.
The Design Center produced a series of boards that showed the visual impact of that plan on the overall design character of the corridor, at three critical intersections. Presentation of the images was part of a discussion of the consequences of the design choices presented, which required reclaiming public property that had been encroached upon by private land owners.
In a meeting on February 6, the community task force approved the plan, and Public Works is in the process of completing its design. Public hearings on the reconstruction were held in May, and construction is scheduled to begin in July, 2003. Project updates from the City of Minneapolis Department of Public Works
Beyond the Public Works project, the Design Center participated in a series of meetings throughout the spring, attended by representatives from public agencies, neighborhood organizations, and members of the community. Within the context of the road reconstruction project, LRT station area planning, and other development, the meetings worked to find ways to coordinate such projects, and work productively with the community.
Download:
(Please note that these drawings represent
one point in the process of citizen engagement, and do not represent
plans for the final project, to be built over the summer, 2003):
- 23rd Avenue Intersection (1.9 MB)
- 24th Avenue Intersection (1.8 MB)
- 26th Avenue Intersection (2.3 MB)
 |
1 Ralph Rapson Hall, 89 Church Street S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455, |