Project Manager Newsletter
September 2026
Fall is here and school has started! September started out hot and is ending cool as fall should. This really is my favorite season, and I hope you are enjoying it. September’s newsletter will give you an update on our Journey to Community Wellness initiative for this project.
In the November 2024 PM Newsletter, I shared about how we would be advancing equity and health priorities in Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, and Minneapolis. These priorities emerged from the Equity Health Assessment (EHA) Report #3 which recommended MnDOT take action in the focus areas of Community Livability, Roadway Safety, and Transportation Equity. Our commitments in these three areas became part of the environmental process. Federal policy changes on health-related community needs means these commitments are being made under a separate process known as Journey to Community Wellness.
The Journey to Community Wellness process includes:
- Determine priority areas for intervention through public input and technical analysis
- Develop a set of potential strategies
- Refine the list of potential strategies based on selection criteria
- Build strategies lists based on potential funding scenarios
- Implement strategies through binding agreements
Determine priority areas for intervention through public input and technical analysis
We gathered a lot of feedback from the public that covered many areas. Some examples of what we heard include: a need for improved transit options, job access and commute impacts are important, concerns with air quality and respiratory health, lack of connectivity of green space and habitat, and concerns related to safety, health, and quality of life impacts. These comments were organized into themes or categories in which we could connect strategies to.
These themes are:
- Community and economic development
- Public health and healthy communities
- Open space greening, buffers, and connections
- Community based services
Develop a set of potential strategies
As part of our engagement, we reached out to the public, community-based organizations, and agencies to help us develop potential strategies. All ideas were tracked. We generated a list of 187 ideas.
Refine the list of potential strategies based on selection criteria
Since almost 200 strategies are a lot to digest, we needed to evaluate each idea against criteria to determine viability. Criteria included:
- Supports Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) objectives
- Addresses specific project risk
- Cost
- Ability to administer
- Stakeholder or community support
- Covered by NEPA
A little over 70% of these strategies are being considered through the NEPA process. The rest are being considered through the Journey to Community Wellness process. Of the 50 ideas or so that are being considered, about 80% of them are considered medium or high feasibility.
Build strategies list based on potential funding scenarios:
We have developed funding scenarios that correspond to differently-sized strategy lists to implement and are waiting for the NEPA process to catch up before we move forward. We need to know what the NEPA aspect of the project is addressing so we can choose what remaining strategies will best complement the federal portion of the project. The draft environmental document is set to be published this fall and then we will continue to build out those scenarios. Also, some of the community-based organizations we met with earlier this year are interested in partnering with us on some of the strategies. This is something we will also need to further explore as the NEPA portion of the project and funding scenario is refined.
Implement strategies through binding agreements
This will be our final step once we determine and secure funding. MnDOT will either be the strategy lead, facilitator, or funding source once we get to implementation. Any strategies that we fund will go through an agreement process with local agencies.
I know this newsletter was a bit of a long one, but the Journey to Community Wellness is important. If you have any questions or comments for me, please contact me.
Question of the Month: Will noise walls be added along the project corridor?
The project team is currently evaluating where noise walls may provide benefits along the project corridor. Once potential locations are identified, a noise wall voting process will begin.
During this process, eligible property owners and tenants who could experience a noise reduction of at least 5 decibels will have the opportunity to vote for or against a proposed noise wall. They will receive a notice by mail along with a mail-in ballot. The results of the vote will determine whether the proposed noise wall is constructed.
After the voting period closes, the project team will compile the results from all eligible properties and prepare a final report documenting the outcome of the voting process.
For more information about project progress to date, visit the project website.