Title
Supporting the Rondo Land Bridge.
Body
WHEREAS, the community envision using active community engagement to reimagine and reconnect communities over, on, and around I-94; and
WHEREAS, the partnership of Rondo Avenue Inc. and the Friendly Streets Initiative and the City of Saint Paul aim to secure investments to create equitable outcomes, multimodal systems, and vibrant and livable places that support prosperity and cultural inclusion; and
WHEREAS, The Rondo neighborhood, a historically African-American neighborhood in Saint Paul, was decimated by the construction of Interstate 94 in the 1950s - 1960s; and
WHEREAS, It is well documented that communities of color, particularly African-American communities, were destroyed or disrupted in cities across the U.S. as a result of the interstate highway system. This resulted in displacing or “re-sorting” (as urban psychiatrist Dr. Mindy Fullilove puts it) of the people who resided in urban communities; and
WHEREAS, The Rondo Neighborhood, named for its vibrant commercial corridor, Rondo Avenue, was one such victim of interstate highway development; and
WHEREAS, On July 17, 2015, Mayor Chris Coleman of Saint Paul, and Commissioner Charles Zelle of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT), issued formal apologies for the role of public agencies in contributing to the destruction of Rondo; and
WHEREAS, Part of what is motivating community involvement in a Rondo Land Bridge project is the need to transform the apologies of public officials into actions and real, concrete changes; and
WHEREAS, Towards that end, the partnership of Rondo Avenue Inc. and Friendly Streets Initiative are aiming for the realization and future operation of a Land Bridge (or “highway lid”) over I-94 in what used to be the Rondo neighborhood to be built within a timeframe that is reasonable for community expectations and needs; and
WHEREAS, community engagement efforts led by Rondo, Summit-University and Thomas-Dale residen...
Click here for full text