Lawmakers hear plan to reconnect historic Black neighborhood in St. Paul
Plan for proposed land bridge[Reconnect Rondo]
Minnesota lawmakers on Tuesday heard a proposal that would construct a "land bridge" to reconnect a historically Black St. Paul neighborhood that was devastated in the 1960s to make way for Interstate 94.
Advocates say it was an injustice with effects that linger today.
The Rondo neighborhood was razed to construct the highway, causing the loss of 700 homes, around 300 mostly Black-owned businesses, and a drop in population and homeownership in the area.
The nearly $459 million proposal would construct 12 to 21 acres of land on top of the highway that would reconnect the two sides of the old neighborhood.