The Minneapolis Park Board seems intent on dismantling this unique urban park!

The Mall Park, Uptown’s beautiful strip of park land that connects Hennepin Ave. S. to the Lakes and parkways is slated for redevelopment under a plan that would convert the linear Mall Park into 3 disjointed parks. The overview can be seen here: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhKwqZDRQas>

There are many problems with this plan:

The streets highlighted in green will be removed (section 1 on the map) creating a confusing traffic pattern for visitors and harming pedestrian safety. This will also result in a loss of 30+ parking spaces for the renters in our community and create even more parking challenges along James, Irving, and Humbolt Avenues. Exiting onto Lagoon from The Mall is problematic, bordering on dangerous.

Nearly half a million dollars will be spent creating a woonerf (section 3 on the map). A woonerf is a Dutch concept for calming traffic on congested streets, and is not appropriate for this park. The woonerf will also eliminate most of the parking places for residents and visitors, and mixing cars with pedestrians may be less safe for park goers. There is simply no need for this change and it is a waste of taxpayer money.

The current Park Board plan misses the potential of the Mall Park in its current configuration.  The Mall Park should serve as an inviting green space linking Uptown (the Uptown Transit Station) to the beautiful lakes (Lagoon, Isles and Bde Maka Ska), not a confusing series of disjointed park land segments.  This piecemeal plan is simply the wrong plan for The Mall Park!

Before it is too late, please join in asking the Park Board to change the planned traffic pattern modifications, elimination of much-needed parking, and the creation of an unnecessary woonerf.  The Mall Park needs enhancements, not massive infrastructure changes.

Please take a moment to sign this petition to have the Park Board reconsider their plan for The Mall Park!