Interpreting 35W in South Minneapolis Through Art and Media
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Exploring This History
This story map is designed to walk you through the history of Interstate 35W, situated on Dakota land, in south Minneapolis from the 1950s to the present. Beginning with the political charge to create freeways we will then explore the neighborhoods where 35W was placed, the process of creating the freeway, effects on residents, and the continued issues and struggles presented by the freeway. Once you've read this history we hope you will provide a creative response to some of the themes and impacts throughout. These responses require no prior artistic experience and are open to all skill levels. Your type of creative interpretation is open to you but could be a drawing/painting, visual art piece, poem, short story, creative essay, video, song, or spoken word. The form for submitting your art is at the bottom of this page, submissions will then be placed on a digital map with other responses.
To place yourself in the shoes of the people impacted by this construction consider these questions and impacts before moving forward.
35W Art and Media Responses
- What makes a neighborhood?
- What places in your neighborhood are important to you? What if they disappeared?
- How do you define a neighborhood and its boundaries?
- What does a freeway give? What does a freeway take away?
- Impact on a family/home/renter
- Impact on a neighborhood
- Impact on a business
- Environmental impact
- Health impact
- Impact on wealth. For whom?
Issues and Aftermath
Buildings weren’t the only thing to fall for 35W with over 1,300 trees scheduled to be cut and not replaced. Dreading the loss of aesthetic beauty and cooling shade residents saw tree cutting as a lack of oversight from elected officials. Residents organized, with pushback some cutting was halted and a few trees replanted. But the damage had been done and the tree canopy was decreased, increasing urban heat island effects and eliminating a tool that could absorb carbon dioxide emitted from vehicles.
With a new trench and speeding cars where cross streets used to be, a 1971 grassroots effort would lead to the construction of a 650-foot pedestrian bridge at 24th street. In an effort to reconnect neighborhoods on the East and West sides of the freeway a small coalition of neighbors petitioned the city to build a pedestrian bridge. After much lobbying from the grassroots coalition the city finally agreed with the bridge opening in 1971. The 24th St. pedestrian served Phillips and Whittier until being demolished in 2018, with plans to rebuild the bridge by 2021.
Even after the chaotic symphony of construction equipment was gone residents were left with a new set of noise issues. The throaty rumble of traffic disturbed residents' leisure and sleep, while vibration from vehicles was said to shake pictures off the walls and cause cracks in plaster. Downplaying these concerns the city dismissed proposed solutions as unreasonable due to cost. After years of community outrage, sound walls were first built to curb noise pollution in 1973-1974 and have continued to line the freeway since.
Photo courtesy of Hennepin County Library
Plans evolved and stalled as opposition continued throughout the 80s and into the 90s. When funding fell through in the mid-90s, 35W expansion was dead. The celebration was short-lived when a few years later considerations to revamp 35W would begin again, with neighborhood politicians and advocates pushing for more transparency and community input.
Eventually neighborhood groups were granted a bigger say. After years of negotiations and revising plans the construction, widening, and maintenance began in 2018, with plans to finish in 2021. Due to the hard work and diligence of community members the final collaborative plans took one non-residential property.
Quotes From Local Residents in Newspapers
Photo courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society
Artistic and Media Based Response
We are interested in how you would interpret this story in a creative way. Your creative response can take any form: drawing/painting/visual art piece, poem, short story, creative essay, video, song, spoken word piece, or any form of creative interpretation that you like. No artistic experience is required and any skill level is welcome!
It may be helpful to pick one part of the history that stuck out to you and work from there. You could consider some of the following impacts to work from:
- Impact on a family/home/renter
- Impact on a neighborhood
- Impact on a business
- Environmental impact
- Health impact
- Impact on wealth. For whom?
Additionally, it may help to keep in mind the essential questions as you move forward:
- What makes a neighborhood?
- What places in your neighborhood are important to you? What if they disappeared?
- How do you define a neighborhood and its boundaries?
- What does a freeway give? What does a freeway take away?
(Note: Click on the form to interact and scroll to see other submission fields.)
Click and then scroll to see all submission options.
35W Survey Map