Following several years of debate, the Minneapolis City Council approved a plan for George Floyd Square, with construction slated to begin in 2026.
The finalized layout, a flexible-open street design, will allow vehicle traffic, including buses, on East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, but leave the spot where George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020 closed for memorials and community art. The plan will also build new streets, green spaces, bikeways, pedestrian street lighting, and wider sidewalks. Temporary street closures will be allowed for special events.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey expressed his support for the vote in a statement.
“Thousands of voices shaped this plan, and today we turned years of work into real progress,” Frey said. “Approving the flexible-open option means we are finally moving forward together.”
The 9-4 approval is the council’s second vote on the redesign plan, following a prolonged dispute between the mayor and council. From 2021 to 2023, the city spent more than $3 million in an extensive community engagement process to hear residents’ visions for the square; community members held a wide range of perspectives about how to proceed, but the city concluded that most supported the return of two-way traffic with a flexible-open option. Just over a year ago, the council voted to delay a plan for construction at George Floyd Square and instead allow more time to consider a pedestrian mall adjacent to the former gas station that has since become a community gathering place known as People’s Way, sending the plan back to the committee.
Some local residents supported the council’s request to explore alternative plans, sharing concerns that construction would dismantle the memorial filled with art and offerings from neighbors and erase the site’s history. They argued that the city did not understand the memorial’s significance and would be a disservice to community members and activists’ efforts to honor Floyd and the global movement against police brutality inspired by his death.
In February, Frey vetoed the council’s plan for a pedestrian-only plaza, saying that the idea was not feasible due to a state law that requires support from at least half of nearby property owners—with the majority of local respondents to a city survey opposing a pedestrian mall—and that it would continue to push back development progress, according to the Star Tribune. The council later overrode Frey’s veto of its plan. Close to $400,000 was spent in a subsequent round of community engagement.
Council member Andrea Jenkins was one of the five individuals who originally voted against the resolution to study a pedestrian-only plaza, aligning herself with Frey in wanting to move the project forward.
“It completely disregards thousands of hours of community engagement, of staff time, of staff recommendation,” Jenkins said to MPR. “I think this community has indicated that they’re ready to move forward…and I think we really owe it to this community to listen.”
Jenkins, along with council members Linea Palmisano, Michael Rainville, and LaTrisha Vetaw, voted in favor of the flexible-open model for the second time. Council members Katie Cashman, Aurin Chowdhury, Jeremiah Ellison, Emily Koski, and Jamal Osman changed their votes to support the plan this time around, while Jason Chavez, Aisha Chughtai, Elliott Payne, and Robin Wonsley held their votes against it.
The council also passed a resolution asking the city to consider incorporating the outlined street design recommendations based on community feedback and to continue open, thoughtful engagement with community members surrounding the redesign process.
Street reconstruction is estimated to cost about $11 million.
