Written by Peter Bennett, City of Minneapolis Public Works Transportation Planner
Peter Bennett recently answered a few questions from the Camden Community News about the Northside Greenway project.
Do you have an update on the project since the October open house?
Engagement update: The events last fall (open house, pop-up tabling, online survey) were very helpful in understanding the community priorities and concerns on the Northside Greenway project. The project team generated a lot of possible street design ideas from these interactions. A summary of the engagement is currently being prepared, and will be available before the next round begins. The next round of engagement is where we plan to share a concept for the whole project corridor, with options. The events haven’t been scheduled yet, but we anticipate having a big event open house, pop-ups, and smaller block specific groups or door-knocking. Tentatively, I expect them to be in April. These will be posted on the project engagement website: zanassoc.mysocialpinpoint.com/northside-greenway.
Why is the greenway route on Irving Avenue instead of staying on Humboldt Avenue?
Route choice: A few ideas here. The current project was funded and has had the name Northside Greenway for its time with Public Works. I’m aware that the name Humboldt Greenway was used in the past, and is used north of Victory Memorial Parkway. When the project received grant funding, the route maps from studies and reports from 2014, 2017 and 2019 were referenced. These show the Greenway on Irving Ave south of 36th Ave N. The demonstration project in 2016 had some mixed feelings, but that isn’t the only factor in choosing the route. And in our latest engagement in October, we started some conversations about what block design ideas would work well on Irving Ave. In our current concepts, we anticipate using the park trails in Folwell Park and Jordan Park, so the segment of Irving Ave does connect between them as well.
Find more info on the project at minneapolismn.gov/government/projects/northside-greenway-project/.