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Nearly six years after Minneapolis police officers murdered George Floyd at 38th St. and Chicago Ave., the city is preparing to rebuild the intersection. Many in the community, however, are saying, not so fast.
Public Works staff held an open house at Phelps Park on April 14 to share construction details, including the street layout and a preliminary timeline. They also joined the monthly George Floyd Square Community Visioning Council (CVC) meeting at the Belfry on April 18. Their intent is to begin Phase 1 of construction in June on a segment of 38th St. east from Chicago and on Chicago Ave. between 38th and 39th streets.
Marcia Howard, teacher chapter president of the Minneapolis Federation of Educators and vice president of the AFL-CIO, questioned the logic of pushing ahead with road reconstruction given current events.
“Minneapolis has become a place of resistance. The fist is standing at the epicenter of the U.S.,” said Howard, noting that people coming to Minneapolis are visiting sites of resistance – George Floyd Square and the memorials for Renee Good and Alex Pretti. “It all starts at GFS, and y’all said, ‘Yeah, let’s rip it up.’”
Shane Johnson, who moved to the neighborhood a year ago, believes the community’s response to recent ICE activity was modeled on lessons learned in 2020, and that the city should be listening to what people of color have been saying all along.
“This nation, if it survives, it will survive because of the work these people, specifically in this neighborhood, did,” he said. “Why are we still not listening to them?”
WHAT’S THE STATUS OF PEOPLES’ WAY?
People expressed frustration that the status of the Peoples’ Way is still in limbo. The city purchased the former Speedway property in 2023. After the city issued a request for qualifications to develop it in November 2024, four nonprofit organizations submitted proposals. Each varies widely in scope: Minnesota Agape Movement wants to build a six-story building there; P3 Foundation, a community center; and Rise & Remember, a formalized memorial plaza with gardens. Urban League Twin Cities has since withdrawn its application.
Their ideas were presented to the community in February 2025, and the city was expected to make a decision last year but has yet to do so. How the space is used is likely to impact pedestrian access and traffic flow.
“For them to force this construction without identifying Peoples’ Way, we are finding ourselves in spaces of negotiation with the city when the city is not doing what they’re supposed to be doing in return,” said CVC Co-Chair Mileesha Smith. “They’re not holding their end of the deal. They’re not keeping their word.”
It was pointed out that mechanical bollards or other features that would allow the community to close the street for events are not shown in the current design. Project Engineer Adam Hayow said they hadn’t designed that portion yet. Neighbors took issue with getting started on construction while still designing the rest.
Jay Webb, who built and tends the garden around the center fist sculpture, likened the approach to being a builder saying he would fix up a house, knowing when he would get started – but not when he would finish or what it was going to look like.
“You would sign a contract with me?” he asked.
The plan also includes spaces for bus shelters at the intersection. Though some neighbors have requested bus access, many feel that is not the same as running the D-Line through the roundabout directly adjacent to the memorial on Chicago Ave. Some have called for D-Line stops to be located one block south at 39th St. instead.
Property owners to pay for part of work
Property owners will also be facing impacts – financial and otherwise – from construction. According to city spokesperson Allen Henry, 84 properties in the project area will be assessed for a total amount of $636,447, which is about $80,000 more than what was reported in December. Assessments are based on a property’s square footage and the city’s uniform assessment rates for residential and non-residential properties, which can be paid over 20 years (see sidebar).
Henry said by way of email that while there is no direct financial assistance available to property owners or businesses during construction, the city’s small business team provides support through the Business Technical Assistance Program. In addition, he said Public Works will work with property owners and businesses to maintain access and minimize disruption during construction.
But for many, financial considerations extend beyond the road project.
“People are afraid of bein’ displaced. Businesses are afraid of closing. And the population that is in need of resources [is] still bein’ overlooked, so it’s a lot of money being dished out [for road reconstruction] in ways that are not needed for the community,” said Smith. She maintains that too many other community needs aren’t being met and that taking care of the environment first – assisting people who are unhoused or overdosing, for example – is crucial for any project to work.
“They’re so focused to press on this construction and ‘Oh, it needs to look pretty,’ when they’re disregarding the fact that people are still sleeping on the streets. The fact that people are overdosing on these streets. The fact that… the environment didn’t change,” she said. “They’re trying to change how the environment looks. But why would you wanna make an environment look pretty just for [it to] look not pretty later on, because nothing in the environment changed?”
WHAT ABOUT BLACK DISPLACEMENT?
For reparationist Lynn Hinkle, the potential for Black displacement looms large. By his estimates, Black people are already owed some hundreds of millions of dollars for displacement due to construction of Twin Cities highways such as 35W, which created a massive wealth disparity in Minneapolis.
“You could come up with a plan that says, ‘You know, we finally are asking this question, How are we gonna stop Black displacement? How are we gonna actually generate intergenerational wealth?’” Hinkle told city staff. “But you haven’t.”
The project design will follow the flexible-open street layout that closely mirrors designs rolled out a few years ago and which was ultimately approved by the city council in December 2025. It maintains two-way traffic in all directions at 38th St. and Chicago Ave.
This was chosen over a slightly modified “community streets” option proposed by the CVC at the end of last year that would have created, among other features, a southbound one-way alongside the memorial on Chicago Ave. It is noteworthy that the CVC accomplished in 2025 what had until then remained elusive: they reached a consensus on a community street plan that businesses, residents and neighbors could live with.
“It’s like they’re forcing their original plan on the community regardless of the wants and over-deserved needs that are overdue in this community,” noted Smith. Like many others, she feels the city’s layout prioritizes traffic over the people who come on a daily basis and hold space there.
“They say, ‘Man plans, and God laughs,’” said Howard, who continues to meet outside with neighbors twice a day. “I know the city is giving us a timeline, yet those of us who’ve stood in resistance at the intersection of 38th and Chicago Avenue understand that a protest ain’t a protest unless you’re messin’ up somebody’s day. No justice –”
“– No streets,” CVC Co-Chair Jennie Leenay responded. Then both of them: “And we mean that.”
Temporary lighting installation began April 20. Once construction begins, traffic will be detoured off of 38th St. onto 35th St. and off of Chicago Ave. to Park and Portland Avenues.
More information is on the city website and at gfscvc.org.
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