Metro Transit buses will soon start running through George Floyd Square for the first time since George Floyd was murdered in 2020.
During this time, as community members descended on the Southside intersection of 38th and Chicago to mourn yet another murder of a Black man at the hands of police, Metro Transit realigned Route 23, a crosstown route that runs on 38th Street between Uptown and St. Paul’s Highland Neighborhood, further south to 42nd Street.
Activists hoped to keep the intersection closed to vehicle traffic until the city met their 24 demands. This addressed how the city and state should handle criminal justice and economic investment in the neighborhood. Though the city reopened the intersection to regular cars in June 2021, buses won’t officially return until March 16.
“We’ve been working with the city of Minneapolis and the community to get acceptance to move [Route 23] back to 38th Street,” said Metro Transit manager of service planning Adam Harrington at a Met Council Transportation Committee meeting held on February 12. “That’s gonna be a big help for our customers and operators and improve the reliability of the service as well.”
The city and Metro Transit confirmed through a test on December 27 that buses will be able to navigate the traffic circle encompassing the fist, [the current makeshift wooden structure at the intersection]. However, buses will not be stopping at George Floyd Square. “[We’re] trying to respect that situation and not disrupt that area more than we need to,” said Harrington. Buses will make stops at Park and 10th Avenues, several blocks away.
Freeda Williams, a Minneapolis resident who relocated from Florida four years ago, welcomes the change. Williams uses the 23 to get to work and likes it compared to the 21 because she finds it safer, quieter, and more reliable. The 23 also helped her discover and appreciate her adopted hometown.
“It would be great if we could go by [George Floyd Square] for no other reason than to experience history,” said Williams, on her way home from work with a bag of takeout from Ted Cook’s 19th Hole Barbecue.
Jamal Tyus, however, thinks buses should continue detouring around George Floyd Square because of what happened there. “George Floyd got a knee on his neck. That’s the saddest thing to see, [a White police officer] putting a Black man to sleep. White police officers shoot Black people a lot, and they don’t want to take time to see what kind of a problem it is. They should keep it blocked off,” said Tyus.
Despite the square being open to traffic, George Floyd Square caretakers remain adamant that it remain closed until their 24 demands for justice, developed in August 2020, are met. Though most of the demands have been met, remaining is a call for the firing of the leadership team of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension; requiring law enforcement to maintain liability insurance; and ending qualified immunity and law enforcement indemnity.
These require state action. On February 29, the Minneapolis City Council voted to amend their legislative agenda to lobby for changes in state law to require police officers to carry professional liability insurance.
But just because the buses will go through 38th and Chicago again doesn’t mean they will continue to do so forever. The city plans to rebuild the intersection in the coming years to allow for a permanent memorial and will engage the community this spring about how bus service through the square is working.
The change is being made partly because of Metro Transit’s desire to keep buses running on time, given the Hennepin Avenue reconstruction in Uptown that started in February. Other changes to the 23 include:
- Service increased to run every 30 minutes west of 38th Street station, Monday through Saturday
- Service increased to run every 30 minutes between 38th Street station and Becketwood Cooperative, 46th Avenue and 43rd Street, Monday through Friday
- Service reduced to run every 90 minutes east of 38th Street station on Sundays
- Most weekend trips will only go as far as the Becketwood Cooperative, located at 46th Avenue and 43rd Street.
- Most westbound trips to Uptown will continue as Route 612 to Hopkins; conversely, most Route 612 trips from Hopkins will continue as Route 23 and go at least as far as 38th Street station
Route 5 and the D Line will continue to detour around George Floyd Square, stopping at Portland and Park Avenues as they do today.
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