History and Context
State Highway 55/Olson Memorial Highway was once a vibrant, predominately Black-owned business corridor called 6th Avenue North. Often referred to as the “Beale Street” of Minneapolis, 6th Avenue North was home to a vibrant cultural and music scene. The area was also a cornerstone of the Jewish community in Minneapolis and was one of the few neighborhoods that was open to immigrants and people of color. Construction of the highway was approved in 1933 and by the end of the 1930’s, hundreds of businesses and homes along the route were completely destroyed and replaced with a wide highway cutting through the neighborhoods. The highway was then expanded in the late 1950’s, further displacing homes, gathering places, and neighborhood businesses. This destruction displaced hundreds of homes and businesses and destroyed generational wealth. The highway was followed by continuous disinvestment in the North Side. Nearby neighborhoods continue to face economic hardship, soaring rent prices, and lack of transportation options.
Today, the highway divides the Near North community and presents a safety risk with its 6 plus lanes of vehicle traffic. Unlike other highways on this list, this route is a very wide surface highway often called a “stroad” because the highway is not separated from the street grid and the numerous high-speed intersections make it prone to deadly crashes. As a result, the corridor is included on the high injury street network and the intersection of Olson Memorial Highway & Lyndale Avenue N has the city’s highest rate of incidents. In the past decade, there have been dozens of crashes on Olson Memorial Highway that have resulted in death and severe injury. The Bring Back 6th campaign is a grassroots movement that seeks to remove the highway and restore 6th Avenue N along an area that stretches a little over a mile from Lyndale Avenue to Upton Avenue.
Proposal
The Bring Back 6th campaign launched in November 2021 as a partnership between the Harrison Neighborhood Association and Our Streets Minneapolis. The campaign is working to design plausible solutions for the corridor in two phases. The first phase is near-term safety improvements that can be implemented immediately by MnDOT and the City of Minneapolis and the second phase is a full reconstruction of the walkable amenities, culture, and economy that used to exist along 6th Avenue North.
Phase 2 addresses the long-term racial and economic harms of the highway. Two-thirds of renters in the Harrison neighborhood are cost burdened. Many community members speak about how they have to leave the neighborhood to access a grocery store, restaurants, or entertainment. The Bring Back 6th campaign aims to repair the historic harms and restore these walkable amenities. The community benchmarks would ensure that the necessary policies are implemented to ensure that this transformation does not result in displacement and that the benefits are prioritized for existing community members.
Current Plans
The broad public support behind the Bring Back 6th campaign has resulted in the Minnesota Department of Transportation announcing a reconstruction of Olson Memorial Highway in 2027. In fall of 2022, MnDOT installed some temporary safety improvements and has committed to making additional safety and multi-modal improvements in 2023. Restoring 6th Avenue N will reduce ongoing maintenance costs and produce benefits that far exceed the increased construction cost associated with highway removal.