Min Hi Line | |
---|---|
Type | Urban linear park; Shared-use path |
Location | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States |
Created | 2018 |
Operated by | City of Minneapolis |
Status | Pilot phase |
Public transit access | Metro Blue Line; Metro buses |
Min Hi Line is a proposed linear park and shared-use path that would eventually re-purpose an active rail and agri-industrial corridor in the Longfellow community of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Modeled after successful projects like the Atlanta Beltline and New York High Line, it would feature an approximately 3-mile (4.8 km), shared-use pathway that traverses housing, retail, commercial buildings, gardens, playgrounds, and public art installments. Two pilot projects completed in 2018 and 2019 connect the Min Hi Line corridor to trail systems at its northern and southern ends. [1]
The proposed area for the Min Hi Line is used by Canadian Pacific Railway, Archer Daniels Midland, Leder Brothers Metal, and General Mills. [1] After Archer Daniel Midland ceases operations in the area, the century-old Atkinson Mill structure at East 38th Street will be the last remaining active grain mill left in the city of Minneapolis. The grain silos and milling structures are a defining feature of the local neighborhood, and could be incorporated into future redevelopment. [2] Long-term city plans envision parks and open space for the freight rail tracks. [3] A community group, Min Hi Line Coalition, has publicized issues related to reuse of the industrial corridor. [4]
A pathway built in 2019 along the east side of Hiawatha Avenue from East 32nd Avenue to East 28th Avenue, though technically part of the Hiawatha LRT Trail, is also referred to as the northernmost segment of the Min Hi Line. [1] [5]
A housing and retail development at East 46th Avenue and Snelling Avenue features a pathway to Nawadaha Boulevard that is considered the south end of the Min Hi Line. [1]
Min Hi Line is named after the Minnehaha-Hiawatha freight rail corridor between Hiawatha Avenue and Snelling Avenue/Cheatham Avenue (formerly Dight Avenue). At its northern end, it reaches the Midtown Greenway, and at its southern end it reaches the Minnehaha Falls park area. The approximately 3-mile (4.8 km) pathway would be at-grade, crossing 12 streets along its north–south course. Trail users could connect to many other shared-use paths in the area, such as Hiawatha LRT Trail, Little Earth Trail, and Grand Rounds trail network. The Min Hi Line corridor features many multi-unit housing complexes and business. The Min Hi Line would contrast with bike highways that are used almost exclusively for transportation and recreation. [6] Designed for more moderately-paced activities, the linear park and pathway would increase social connectedness and green the urban environment. [1]
Hiawatha (Haiëñ'wa'tha) is a Native American semi-historical figure who was the co-founder of the Iroquois Confederacy.
Lake Street/Midtown station, also referred locally as just Midtown station, is a Blue Line light rail station in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.
Minnehaha is a Native American woman documented in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 epic poem The Song of Hiawatha. She is the lover of the titular protagonist Hiawatha and comes to a tragic end. The name, often said to mean "laughing water", literally translates to "waterfall" or "rapid water" in Dakota.
The Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway is a linked series of park areas in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, that takes a roughly circular path through the city. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board developed the system over many years. The corridors include roads for automobile traffic plus separate paths for pedestrians and bicycles, and extend slightly into neighboring cities. About 50 miles (80 km) of roadway and paths are in the system, and much of it was built in the 1930s as part of Civilian Conservation Corps projects.
Lake Street is a major east-west thoroughfare between 29th and 31st streets in Minneapolis, Minnesota United States. From its western most end at the city's limits, Lake Street reaches the Chain of Lakes, passing over a small channel linking Bde Maka Ska and Lake of the Isles, and at its eastern most end it reaches the Mississippi River. In May 2020, the Lake Street corridor suffered extensive damage during local unrest over the murder of George Floyd. In August of the same year, city officials designated East Lake Street as one of seven cultural districts to promote racial equity, preserve cultural identity, and promote economic growth.
Hiawatha is a neighborhood within the larger Longfellow community in Minneapolis. It is bordered by Howe to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, Minnehaha Park and Minnehaha neighborhood to the south, and Ericsson and Standish to the west. The Hiawatha neighborhood is bordered by 40th Street to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, 54th Street East to the south, and Hiawatha Avenue to the west.
The Midtown Greenway is a 5.7-mile (9.2 km) rail trail in Minneapolis, Minnesota that follows the path of an abandoned route of the Milwaukee Road railway. It is considered under segregated cycle facilities.
The Southwest LRT is an under–construction 14.5-mile (23.3 km) light rail transit corridor in Hennepin County, Minnesota, with service between Minneapolis and Eden Prairie. The estimated one-way travel time from Southwest Station in Eden Prairie to Target Field Station in Minneapolis is 32 minutes. The Southwest LRT will extend through St. Louis Park, Hopkins and Minnetonka along the route. Major locations on the line will include Bde Maka Ska, Cedar Lake, the Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and Target Field in downtown Minneapolis.
The Short Line Bridge is a truss bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It was originally built in the 1880s and upgraded a few years later by Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and was designed by American Bridge Company.
Longfellow is a defined community in Minneapolis, Minnesota which includes five smaller neighborhoods inside of it: Seward, Cooper, Hiawatha, Howe and Longfellow. The community is a mix of agri-industrial properties along the old Northern Pacific Railway, expansive parkland surrounding the famous Minnehaha Falls, and smaller residential areas.
Phillips is a community in Minneapolis, just south of downtown. Phillips is a diverse area in many ways: its population includes people of many nationalities; it has a mix of residential, commercial and industrial uses; and it is home to several large employers such as Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Wells Fargo Mortgage and Allina Health Care Services along with small neighborhood businesses. Traditionally, it was both a community and a neighborhood. On May 9, 2002, Phillips neighborhood was subdivided into four smaller neighborhoods. The official neighborhoods are now known as Ventura Village, Phillips West, East Phillips, and Midtown Phillips. Though not an officially designated neighborhood, Phillips also includes the Little Earth residential area. The boundaries of the Phillips community are Interstate 94 to the north, Hiawatha Avenue to the east, Lake Street to the south, and Interstate 35W to the west.
Midtown is a loosely defined region in south Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. There are no hard-set boundaries to the midtown area, but it is generally agreed to include the area in the vicinity of Lake Street between Interstate 35W and Hiawatha Avenue. Lake Street is the border between the Phillips and Powderhorn communities of Minneapolis. Lake Street/Midtown LRT Station, with service on the METRO Blue Line, is located on the eastern edge of the area.
The Martin Olav Sabo Bridge is a bridge in the city of Minneapolis and the first cable-stayed suspension bridge in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Formerly the Midtown Greenway Pedestrian Bridge, it was renamed in honor of former Representative Martin Olav Sabo, a fourteen-term member of Congress from Minnesota.
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) is an independent park district that owns, maintains, and programs activities in public parks in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It has 500 full-time and 1,300 part-time employees and an $111 million operating and capital budget.
Winchell Trail is a five-mile (8 km) round trip, pedestrian-only trail in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, that runs along the west side of the Mississippi River between Franklin Avenue South and East 44th Street. Popular with bird watchers and naturalists, the rustic trail provides Upper Mississippi River gorge access and views. The trail is separate from the adjacent multi-use bicycle path, taking hikers past sandy beaches, an oak savanna restoration project, and the floodplain forest. The trail has multiple access points and the section from East 38th Street to East 44th Street is paved. Described as moderate and for all hiking skill levels, the out-and-back Winchell Trail has total elevation gain of 501 feet (153 m). Portions of the trail can be hiked in near solitude as its age and general destitute make it a widely forgotten place to explore.
Hiawatha LRT Trail is a 4.7-mile (7.6 km), multi-use path adjacent to a light-rail transit line in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, that is popular with bicycle commuters. Users travel along the Metro Blue Line and Hiawatha Avenue transit corridor, reaching downtown Minneapolis near an indoor sports stadium at the trail’s northern end, and reaching a bridge above Minnehaha Creek at the trail’s southern end. Hiawatha LRT Trail provides a vital link between several Minneapolis neighborhoods and the city’s downtown area.
Little Earth Trail is an approximately 1-mile (1.6 km), multi-use bicycle path in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, that links several neighborhoods, parks, businesses, and trails in the Phillips community. The trail begins at its northern end near the intersection of East Franklin Avenue and 16th Avenue South and eventually follows the west side of Hiawatha Avenue to the Midtown Greenway and Martin Olav Sabo Bridge. Named after the nearby Little Earth community, the shared-use pathway provides transportation and recreation opportunities, and is a frequent location of activism on social justice issues in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis is often considered one of the top biking and walking cities in the United States due to its vast network of trails and dedicated pedestrian areas. In 2020, Walk Score rated Minneapolis as 13th highest among cities over 200,000 people. Some bicycling ratings list Minneapolis at the top of all United States cities, while others list Minneapolis in the top ten. There are over 80 miles (130 km) of paved, protected pathways in Minneapolis for use as transportation and recreation. The city's Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway parkway system accounts for the vast majority of the city's shared-use paths at approximately 50 miles (80 km) of dedicated biking and walking areas. By 2008, other city, county, and park board areas accounted for approximately 30 miles (48 km) of additional trails, for a city-wide total of approximately 80 miles (130 km) of protected pathways. The network of shared biking and walking paths continued to grow into the late 2010s with the additions of the Hiawatha LRT Trail gap remediation, Min Hi Line pilot projects, and Samatar Crossing. The city also features several natural-surface hiking trails, mountain-biking paths, groomed cross-country ski trails in winter, and other pedestrian walkways.
Samatar Crossing is a 1,850-foot (560 m), shared-use path and innovative urban redesign project in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Posthumously named after Somali-American politician and activist Hussein Samatar, the crossing connects the Downtown East/Elliot Park and Cedar-Riverside neighborhoods via a former interstate highway ramp. The Samatar Crossing redevelopment project received national recognition when it opened in 2018.
The U.S. city of Minneapolis featured officially and unofficially designated camp sites in city parks for people experiencing homelessness that operated from June 10, 2020, to January 7, 2021. The emergence of encampments on public property in Minneapolis was the result of pervasive homelessness, mitigations measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota, local unrest after the murder of George Floyd, and local policies that permitted encampments. At its peak in the summer of 2020, there were thousands of people camping at dozens of park sites across the city. Many of the encampment residents came from outside of Minneapolis to live in the parks. By the end of the permit experiment, four people had died in the city's park encampments, including the city's first homicide victim of 2021, who was stabbed to death inside a tent at Minnehaha Park on January 3, 2021.
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