Thank you so much Laura!! The feeling is mutual!

Thanks for sharing! Here’s the video of CM Wonsley’s response & more clips from the meeting ⬇️

You can take action here by contacting project decision makers to demand that MnDOT stop shutting community members and their elected officials out of the Rethinking I-94 process 🔽
actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...

One final Rethinking I-94 PAC meeting clip:
MnDOT Metro District Engineer Khani Sahebjam spoke about the generational mistake that was made by building I-94 through a city and the work underway now to repair that injustice.
Time will tell if these words are accompanied by action.

Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter was at the Rethinking I-94 PAC meeting, and though he did raise some concerns about traffic, he called on MnDOT to continue to study the at-grade boulevard options. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdoo...

A boulevard would INCREASE total trips while reducing car trips.
Engineer Ian Lockwood discussed this during a 2021 presentation via an equation for vibrant cities:
"We want the number of trips of all types to go up, but we want vehicles miles traveled to go down."
youtu.be/51hGZtOBaio?...

Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley said we get what we build for:
“The idea that the at-grade option is going to displace a bunch of trips all throughout the community, I'm not buying that right now.. these trips exist because the highway is the way it is”
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIdU...

Thankfully many PAC members weren't buying it.
Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura:
"I understand that we had a day where there was a bunch of events and a lot of people used the highway.. how do we incentive more people to use public transportation for those types of events?"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0dx...

The whole traffic segment felt like a fearmongering tactic to kill momentum for the at-grade boulevard options.
Sloboden wrapped up his presentation by saying "The point of this is to give perspective and a little bit more understanding about the freeway and how important I-94 is to the area."

MnDOT also brought in a Texas-based traffic consultant to talk about "traffic considerations" for Rethinking I-94. Jaimie Sloboden talked a lot about event traffic and made a comparison to Florida and Texas, saying that freeway lanes are needed there for hurricane evacuations. The climate irony 🙃

Council Member Wonsley pushed back on this, and called for community oversight over MnDOT's air quality analysis.

MnDOT Air & Noise Quality Program Supervisor Natalie Ries presented on how MnDOT will evaluate air quality impacts. Despite many community members asking for information about local pollution impacts, Ries said the model they are using doesn't have the capacity to answer that question.

Senator Omar Fateh said I-94 is one of the issues he hears about the most. Sen. Fateh called on MnDOT to create bylaws that allow PAC members to vote on their preferred option for Rethinking I-94.
"There should be some sort of democratic accountability here" www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwn0...