Funding raises Rondo hopes

Dreams of a Rondo Land Bridge in St. Paul moved closer to reality recently after receiving well-deserved funding boosts from public sources. The project seeks to build a land bridge over a five-block stretch of Interstate 94 that would reconnect the historic Black neighborhood and restore some of what was lost when the freeway sliced through the community.

"It's gratifying to see the land bridge championed simultaneously at the state and federal levels … because so many key people now see it as a win-win," said Keith Baker, director of the Reconnect Rondo group that is organizing the development. "It's restoring the loss of a neighborhood, but also … narrowing the wealth gap that has crippled the African American community for far too long."

As part of the state budget passed during the special session, lawmakers approved $6.2 million for the worthy vision. Those funds will be used to start predevelopment activities including gathering community input and master planning for the land bridge.

U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, a Democrat representing Minnesota's Fourth District, included a $5.2 million request specifically for the Rondo project as part of the INVEST In America Act within President Joe Biden's federal infrastructure plan. The U.S. House has passed the bill, which is still pending in the Senate. Biden's original plan included $20 billion to reconnect urban neighborhoods throughout the nation that were cut off, bulldozed and blighted by highways with little to no regard for the people who lived along their routes.

In a statement McCollum called the Rondo project the start of healing a "historic injustice that divided one of America's most vibrant Black communities."

The Metropolitan Council, meanwhile, recently approved a $150,000 grant for ReConnect Rondo to address potential negative impacts of development on neighborhoods.

With state funding secured, the group is now able to move ahead with planning efforts that include significant community involvement. Baker told an editorial writer that several online meetings have already been held with neighbors and that organizers hope to involve the majority of current residents in in-person and online sessions this fall.

Once a master plan is developed, the group intends to request state bonding funds sometime between 2022 and 2024.

With initial planning funds secured, work can begin to raise money for construction. Project organizers estimate the final cost at $458.9 million, which will come from a combination of public, private, philanthropic and individual contributions.

In addition to its promise of restoring some of what was lost, the land bridge merits support as an economic development project that can benefit the entire region and state. The development will create an estimated 1,000 jobs during construction. It has the potential to add millions in taxable property to the city. Public health could benefit because the design would better control noise and air pollution from the traffic below.

And the Rondo project could be an integral part of the Minnesota Department of Transportation's "Rethinking I-94" initiative to plan the freeway's future with feedback from those who live near the corridor.