Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Does street design really matter that much?

You’d be surprised how much the design of a street can change human behavior. Studies have shown again and again - speed limits have little effect on driving behavior. People will drive at the maximum speed they feel safe to do so. By designing a street with traffic calming techniques, which have been proven to slow traffic, we can make a street that feels safer to walk and bike on, encouraging folks with “all ages and abilities” to explore their neighborhood.

For instance - look at the recent reconstruction of Johnson St NE from 18th to Lowry. It now has a dedicated bike path, narrower lanes to discourage speeding (along with a median at 22nd), and green space between sidewalks where a future urban tree canopy has already been planted. All of these improvements are good for businesses, neighborhs’ health, overall neighborhood quality/cohesiveness, and the environment.

Another thing to keep in mind, is that reconstructions only come every 50-60 years in the lifespan of a road (literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity). When 29th Ave was constructed in 1958, it preserved the understandings and values of that time. We have the opportunity in a street reconstruction to impart an updated set of values, informed by our lived experiences today.

Wait, did you say we had to pay for it?

That’s right - the city uses Special Assessments, applied to property taxes in proximity of the project, to help pay for these improvements. This means, after both resurfacing, and the eventual reconstruction after that, you’ll see an increased cost come tax season.

In some ways, these costs are unavoidable - the city has a responsibility to keep roads maintained, and already the cost of road improvements accounts for a majority of city spending. However, what we’re arguing is that we don’t want to have to pay for the street twice. A 2024 resurfacing will mean increases in property taxes for the next ten years - just in time to need a full reconstruction, which means a new special assessment will increase property taxes all over again. Reconstruction is the more financially viable solution when looking at your pocketbook.

So what would a street redesign look like?

We’d love to hear your thoughts on what you’d like to see! You can fill out a survey here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe4S9sjE-kO0sMMMXu9SY_yI7HuKc0YXjr7TqsYWvfA3uxN0w/viewform

Some things we’ve heard from our neighbors so far include improvements that would slow speeders, discourage truck traffic, encourage biking and walking, and plan for the future (which will have larger storms, longer droughts and hot periods, and fewer cars).

While the Audubon Neighborhood did produce a proposal with its 29th Ave Streetscaping Plan in 2008, much has changed since then, including who lives in the neighborhood, Urban Transportation design standards, and a renewed threat of climate change. If you’re interested in details, we recommend looking at the plan as a first draft - one that will be improved with your input.

Why did Public Works downgrade the project?

Public Works has cited a few reasons over the last year why they cut the full reconstruction plan. One example given was that the city is focused on equity in its reconstruction efforts, and that our demographics “didn’t flag.” While we wholly agree that the city should prioritize funding to right historic harms, we believe there are some factors that get missed in their calculations, including the fact that Northeast Middle School’s enrollment is three quarters students of color. It also doesn’t explain why our project continued to receive funding after Public Works updated its scoring criteria in 2018 to increase its focus on equity.

The more likely cause of being downgraded is their argument that the city is facing a budget shortfall. Unfortunately our project is unable to receive ARPA/stimulus funding because of how requests have to compete across the state of Minnesota; however, considering that Public Works is receiving substantial funding for other projects, we still have questions on why a general shortfall exists and why this wouldn’t free up funding opportunities within their budget.

We are continuing a dialogue with Public Works on this point.

What’s so bad about resurfacing, if that’s what the city can afford?

First, we have to ask ourselves who “the city” is - is it Public Works, or is it the people who make up the city? Public Works has indeed argued that a resurfacing is the most cost-effective option for stretching out the life of the street. That doesn’t make it the most cost-effective for the people.

First, a resurfacing project would actually cost residents more in the long run, by having to pay for two projects instead of one.

But more broadly than that, it would cost our neighborhood the opportunity to meet our TAP 2030 goals. The bigger costs to the people of our neighborhood would come in terms of lost opportunity for better safety, accessibility, and sustainability.

Wouldn’t speeding be solved if police enforced our existing traffic laws?

Currently, MPD is facing a severe staffing shortage that the city is struggling to correct. This has had many negative effects, including a general de-prioritization of traffic enforcement.

However, even if we had a fully staffed department, we still wouldn’t have enough police cars to make a dent in speeding. Studies have shown that a threat of being pulled over for speeding is not a deterrent, even after departments step up enforcement. Traffic cameras have been linked to positive outcomes - and is something that many of us would love to see more of. Ultimately, our main focus is on the design of the street because it can do the most good through a passive process for the next 60 years.

How can we ban trucks from 29th Ave?

Unfortunately, recent discussions with Public Works have revealed that there is no way to legally ban trucks from 29th, as it’s a Municipal State Aid (MSA) route.

That being said, there are still many things we can do. For one, we’re in talks with Shoreham Yards on how to encourage their operators to use designated truck routes. We can also talk with truck drivers directly (and with curiosity and compassion about their experience and needs - we’re all in this together!)

We can also design the street to be less enticing as a truck thoroughfare. Narrowing lanes and adding intersection medians would go a long way to fixing the problem without any sort of legal chicanery.