Star Tribune: Plan Would Upgrade North Side Parkway
Chao Xiong, Star Tribune September 2, 2004
Improvements to Victory Memorial Parkway will maintain its dominant green space while highlighting its memorial to veterans under a master plan endorsed Wednesday.
The 2.8-mile linear park in north Minneapolis is part of the 40-mile Grand Rounds Scenic Byway loop around the city; it honors Hennepin County's World War I veterans.
The plan approved Wednesday by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board's Planning Committee will exceed $1 million and will include the installation of kiosks with historical information as well as the addition of a formal garden with seating at the parkway's Lincoln Memorial.
The plan also calls for widening the deteriorating bike/walking trail installed in 1975 from 8 feet to 12 feet.
Plantings and signs will be added at parkway entrances, benches and drinking fountains will be installed along the trail, and trees will be replaced as needed.
A proposal to close off parts of Irving, Knox, Morgan, Oliver, Queen and Xerxes Avs. N. and 39th Avenue N. -- which cross the parkway -- drew mostly support from residents at Wednesday's board meeting.
Greg Ingraham, a project consultant with Ingraham and Associates, cited safety concerns as the reason behind the street closures.
Fred Talbot, who lives on Penn Avenue N., said the closures will only move the already heavy traffic to nearby intersections.
"I can see it coming," said Talbot, who was the only one of about a dozen residents to speak against the closures. "I've been there 44 years. If you shut it off, [traffic] is just going to be incredible."
Minneapolis parks engineer Tim Brown said the closures still need to be approved by city officials in Minneapolis and in adjoining Robbinsdale.