Minneapolis staff to unveil George Floyd Square reconstruction plan
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More than four years since Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, city officials say it’s time to step in and start road construction at the intersection where he died — a site that continues to draw protests, community gatherings and visitors from around the world.
On Tuesday evening, city officials will announce a street redesign plan for the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, the product of years-long rounds of community engagement and city analysis. Construction is slated to start in 2025.
Some neighbors agree that the street needs work. But critics say it’s still too soon for the city to interfere.
The streets have been open to traffic since 2021, when the city removed barricades at the ends of the streets. But a group of neighbors still meets twice a day outside the old Speedway gas station, now painted over and dubbed the People’s Way. The group keeps up resources like a free clothes closet, community events and artwork.
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City services, like trash pickup and emergency vehicles, still run here; the city also owns the People’s Way. But the day-to-day upkeep of the square is mostly run by the community.
Neighbor Tina Gouty-Yellow helped unload groceries on a recent afternoon to offer to passersby. She said it’s a unique place.
“This is what community looks like, us coming here and taking care of this area, taking care of each other,” Gouty-Yellow said. “We want people to have access to clothes when they don’t have money. We’ve got free coffee in the mornings.”
Now, the city said it's time to step in with street construction.
Plans have been in the works since before May 2020 and stalled for years after Floyd’s murder. The roads are aging, and there are lead pipes underneath. City planners want to change that.
Alexander Kado is the city project manager leading the work at George Floyd Square. He knows construction could spark backlash, but he said it’s needed.
“Some people want George Floyd Square to stay exactly as it is. Some people want it to go back to what it was like before his murder occurred, and the reality is that neither of those kind of polar extremes are really tenable,” Kado said.
Kado said the city needs to make sure it can provide basic services here, like access to homes, businesses, driveways and sidewalks.
The city is considering a few potential street designs, which staff unveiled at a community meeting earlier this year. One idea is to limit the street to local traffic and buses; another suggests building a pedestrian-only plaza on the 3700 block of Chicago Avenue, blocking car traffic in front of the place where Floyd was killed. Another plan would restore all traffic in both directions.
All the plans include green space on the streets, improved sidewalks and space for community gatherings. Kado said that’s based on feedback from the public.
The city has solicited community feedback in several rounds. This past summer, five engagement meetings brought about a hundred attendees each.
“We as a city have always tried to honor the way community has used that space, but we’re fundamentally trying to provide basic service,” Kado said. “It’s unique in that we’re trying to maintain basic access, but still honor the way this space has been used.”
Staff are thinking ahead to the logistics of the construction. Kado said they’ll plan to avoid disrupting the square on May 25, 2025, which will mark five years since Floyd’s murder. They’re also working on plans to preserve the artwork. The square is home to murals, the iconic fist statues at the entrances and center of the square, and a list of names painted in the road of people killed by police — a list that the artist still adds to.
The road design is part of a broader vision for George Floyd Square that the city has developed through community engagement.
The People’s Way will also eventually be rebuilt. The city is currently accepting proposals from organizations interested in redeveloping the lot. Those proposals are due this November. City staff said they’ll consult with neighbors and choose an organization to partner with in reconstruction.
The city is looking for a group that will preserve a green space and space for the community to gather; the organization selected by the city will make more detailed plans in collaboration with the city and the community.
A memorial is in the works, too. The Floyd family is working with the organization Rise and Remember to plan one for the intersection.
Kado said all those steps are ongoing and will likely take years. Street reconstruction is the city’s next step.
Some neighbors agree that it’s time for reconstruction. Many residents and business owners in the square want to see their tax dollars reinvested here through better infrastructure.
Victoria Lauing is the founder and executive director of the Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center, an arts workshop in the square. She said it’s not fair the city has left the streets without improvements for so long – even before Floyd’s murder.
“This intersection — 38th and Chicago and the 38th Street corridor — has a long, long history of disinvestment, and also has a long, long history of many, many people putting countless hours into sharing their visions and their dreams and making plans,” Lauing said. “It is time to make that investment.”
But organizers of the square's ongoing protest said they don't want that money spent on roads here. They would rather see it put towards mental health or housing services or invested in construction elsewhere on the 38th Street corridor.
Gouty-Yellow has attended city engagement sessions, and she felt staff didn’t hear her input. She worries that staff aren’t heeding feedback from people who say it’s too soon to interfere.
“The city knows what it wants to do, and they’re just ramming it through,” she said. “And it’s extremely inappropriate for them to be talking about anything like that, because they’re the ones that did the damage.”
She points to a list of 24 demands, compiled by organizers through doorknocking and community engagement in the summer of 2020, asking neighbors what they wanted to see change in the city to bring about justice.
Demands range from funding for housing to criminal justice policy changes. Some of those have been met; others, like ending qualified immunity and firing staff at the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, have not. City staff say some of those unmet demands are out of their hands.
Marcia Howard lives in the square and helped compile the 24 demands. She said they are not negotiable.
“This is a protest,” Howard said. “If anyone thinks that new asphalt is providing recompense, then you're mistaken, and until people clearly understand what the point of the occupation is, we must still stand and we must still educate.”
Kado said the city will hear more feedback at Tuesday’s session; the city has its reconstruction concept set, but staff can still make changes before they finalize the plan. Then, staff will present the concept to the Minneapolis City Council on Nov. 12.
