In the blocks north of Broadway, Quincy Street’s occupants like how its bumpy patchwork of asphalt and puddle-gathering ancient pavement depressions makes drivers slow down. And they like the original pavers’ look.
But the city of Minneapolis has no brick street maintenance program, and while new pavers have been installed in some areas of the city, this does not meet criteria to warrant that treatment, so they’ll likely have to go. There might be ways to incorporate the relics in a nod to the past, as crosswalk borders or artistic touches, say city planners.
These are among the many topics and questions addressed at a Logan Park Neighborhood Association meeting March 20 dedicated to street reconstruction due to happen in 2026-2027 on several streets including Quincy. Public engagement on the $9.5 million project is just barely beginning. Of the budget, $1.1 million would be funded through special assessments to property owners, $7.8 million through “transfers,” $603,652 through bond activity, according to the project’s finance document.
The project’s mission is to “improve the right-of-way for all people in all ways that they move around.” Increased housing and business density was noted, and a goal of accommodating the area’s status as a destination – something not everyone wanted. The document says, “Broadway St NE and Central Ave NE serve an estimated 120-330 people walking, 90-330 people biking, and between 15,700 – 19,700 people driving per day.”
The next meeting will likely be in July but planners are even now trying to contact affected parties individually to get opinions on what’s most important to keep or do during the renovation. The project map includes portions of 12th, 14th, Van Buren and Jackson west of Central and 14th, 13th and Tyler east of Central. Tyler between 13th and 14th has been repaved recently but might be able to be altered a bit to fit with whatever is done in the rest of the area. Lower Northeast Neighborhoods, which include Tyler, had the “Logan Park Industrial” project, as its called, on their agenda March 21.
Owners of the Q.Arma and Q.Armalita buildings, Indeed Brewing and Earl Giles Distillery were among building and business owners attending. Hillcrest Development, which plans a parking ramp to serve its 807 Broadway building, Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association and Northeast Minneapolis Arts District sent representatives. With neighbors, about 40 people in all packed the room. LPNA staff brought copies of a document generated by the Quincy Street Task Force in 2018 calling for a new designation of “Legacy Street.” A task force member asked if that could be added to the city’s website. (Answer: Perhaps linked, probably not posted because it is not a city-generated document.)
Katie White and Andrew (Drew) Schmitz from the city fielded questions and accepted information. White said they are close to having a contract with an outside consultant firm that will help talk with property owners and the public. She indicated that some of the firm’s people live close to the project site.
Among the other observations/questions/comments: Ways to prevent parking on the east side of Quincy where now people ignore signs and put their cars at risk of damage when west side parkers pull out. With loading docks and nose-in parking, there are 85 spaces on the west edge of the street. What about diagonal parking? Sidewalks are few and inconsistently placed. People and cars currently interact well without incident, observers said. Planners have preliminary parking use counts – one of which was taken during Art Attack in November.
Could Quincy be made a one way? Other solutions to calm traffic if the pavers go away? What about a mobility hub where all kinds of transportation modes meet? What about rail, a potential fill-in station for the Northstar line? Rain gardens and grassy boulevards are city standards, but probably won’t work here. Many of the topics broached are “within the scope” that the project can look at, a few are not.
White assured the group that construction activities, once underway, would be timed to accommodate Art-A-Whirl® weekend. Last year, Quincy Street was closed to cars between 15th and Broadway during the mid-May event.
The Northrup King Building, which plans massive changes including stormwater management, owns vacated streets just north of the project area. Stacy Malbon, building manager, watched the meeting streaming online.
“We’re hoping for a Spring 2024 closing on the development project at NKB, with construction beginning soon afterwards,” Malbon told the Northeaster. “The stormwater project in the lots would be one of the earlier parts of the development. Not guaranteed, as always, but still a pretty good chance.”
That chance increased when a city council committee on March 26 approved an Affordable Housing Trust Fund award extension for Northrup King Residential of $1,920,000 until December 31, 2024, with an expenditure deadline until December 31, 2028. (One of the pieces needed to do their project, which has faced rising costs and interest rates like other housing projects.)
For more information on the roads project go to https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/projects/logan-park-industrial/
—Article by Margo Ashmore, published in the April 3 Northeaster.