Join us for the Greenway Glow on September 26!

Check out Livestreamed stops at the festival! Posted to our event page on Facebook!

Join us for the Greenway Glow – the community Arts Festival on the Midtown Greenway. Featuring socially-distanced community art, live performances, local food, craft beer, and more! Saturday, September 26th, 3:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. along the Midtown Greenway.

The festival is FREE, but we encourage you to register as a VIP to support the Greenway – and get lots of great food and drinks and more!

https://go.midtowngreenway.org/glow/

Note: Masks are mandatory and social distancing measures will be in place. Please view our COVID-19 Preparedness Plan

Thanks to our sponsors! Wells Fargo, Ackerberg, Mosaic Art Park, Elan Uptown Apartments, QBP, Eastlake Craft Brewery, Lawless Distilling, Vine Arts Center, Midtown Global Market, Krishna's Delight, and The UPS Store – Uptown.

Photo Credit: Photo of a painting by Reggie LeFlore. See Reggie paint LIVE at the Glow! https://ral86.com/

________________________________________________

Remembering Bob Corrick

The Midtown Greenway Coalition was sad to learn of the recent passing of Robert “Bob” Corrick. Bob was an avid cyclist and longtime champion for the Midtown Greenway. He served on our board of directors for many years, including terms as Board President. His efforts around land use and planning for the Greenway helped establish it as the best urban bikeway in the nation, and led to tremendous growth along the corridor. We greatly appreciate Bob’s contributions to the Greenway and to our community. He will be missed.

Star Tribune Obituary

________________________________________________________________________

Midtown Greenway Coalition Statement on Homelessness in the Greenway

Pursuant to an official resolution and authorization from our board of directors:

We, the Midtown Greenway Coalition, sign on to and support the Powderhorn Park Sanctuary Petition created by the PPNA Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association (Note: The Park Board has since removed the encampment at Powderhorn Park, but allowed some parks to have tenting with permits.)

We also believe that the Midtown Greenway should be a sanctuary space for Minneapolis residents experiencing homelessness. We urge Hennepin County Railroad Authority and Hennepin County Government not to evict or remove people who are experiencing homelessness from the Greenway. We will work collaboratively with and support local, state, and federal partners pushing for dignified, permanent housing for all Minneapolis residents experiencing homelessness.

Midtown Greenway Board of Directors, June 25, 2020

________________________________________________

Midtown Greenway Coalition Statement on George Floyd

We are heartbroken by the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Department officers. As a South Minneapolis-based organization that advocates for equity and justice in our outdoor spaces, we stand with the #BlackLivesMatter movement and George Floyd’s family. All members of our community should feel safe and secure on Minneapolis streets and bikeways.

George Floyd's murder was a tragedy. His life mattered. Demand justice. Push for fundamental changes to our systems that will make our public spaces safe for all.

How to Help During the COVID-19 Crisis

Times are really tough, and our thoughts go out to everyone who is struggling due to the COVID 19 pandemic. If you're at home and looking for some POSITIVE things you can do to help our community, here are some Greenway-related ideas:



1. If you feel safe and are healthy, wear a mask and visit a restaurant or small business near the Greenway in person. Or, order carry-out - then BIKE or WALK to pick it up.



2. Support extending the Midtown Greenway over the river AND improving cycling in Saint Paul.



3. If you are able, make a donation to support cycling, walking, and alternative transit in our community. We would of course appreciate your support, but if you are like us, we support many great nonprofits in our community.



5. Help the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute - EPNI fight environmental racism in their neighborhood.

Help them convince the City of Minneapolis to either move the Water Yard or at least include the neighborhood's plan to share the site and build an indoor urban farm, bike shop, and cafe along the Greenway.

Visit the EPNI site to learn more: https://www.eastphillipsneighborhoodinstitute.org/

Stay safe out there everyone, and keep on biking!



__________________

Recent Midtown Greenway Coalition Accomplishments

Launched the Extend the Greenway Partnership, to work on our long-held goal to extend the Greenway over the river. More than 35 local organizations are now part of the Partnership. In the summer of 2018 we launched a new engineering study of the bridge over the river, to figure out how much it would cost to rehab it for bikes and pedestrian use. The new study is available here: Bridge Report

Organized one of the largest outdoor arts festivals in Minneapolis – the Greenway Glow Arts Festival and Bike Ride.

Installed a new wayfinding kiosk in the Greenway, to help people find local businesses and their way along the Greenway. This “demonstration” kiosk will be used to gather information to help inform a larger wayfinding upgrade currently in the planning stages.

Recruited businesses for the Bicycle Benefits program, which offers discounts to local restaurants, breweries, and retailers. Members of the Midtown Greenway Coalition received a FREE helmet sticker to get the discounts. Become a member by clicking on the DONATE button on the top of this page. You can also purchase a sticker for $5. Locations and a list of the businesses participating here: http://www.bicyclebenefits.org/#/cities/242

Installed a temporary "woonerf" or shared street in the East Phillips neighborhood, designed to help make East 29th street safer for biking and walking and improve connections to the Greenway and the 17th Avenue Bicycle Boulevard. Results of the test will be used to advocate for making the street safer and more accessible for cyclists and pedestrians, and for better connections to the Greenway and the 17th Ave. Bike Boulevard.

Installed two new murals in the Greenway, created by local artists of color. For the first one, we brought together MCAD and Little Earth of United Tribes to create the mural. For the second, we applied for an received a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, then hired a local artist to paint the mural. In addition to creating vibrancy and advancing our vision for a cultural corridor, the murals help enhance racial equity in the Greenway. We also are proud that a new Renter’s Mural was installed in 2018, which was partially inspired by the MCAD and Little Earth mural. The new mural was installed by artists Cori Lin & Tori Hong with support from the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association. An additional mural, Homeless or Homebody?, was installed in 2019 under Hennepin Avenue.

Took a leadership role in calling for safety enhancements and more community art for a new ramp that will be installed in the Greenway at 35W, leading to/from the new transit center at Lake Street. As a result of our advocacy, a grant of $250,000 for public art has been awarded for the ramp, and additional safety measures have been added to the design.

Installed a series of wayfinding signs and banners in the Greenway, informing Greenway users where to exit to get to Lake Street and Eat Street (Nicollet Ave.).

Partcipated in a charette to visualize a future transit station area at Bloomington Avenue and the Greenway. The study helps advance our vision for a low-impact streetcar line in the Greenway.

Celebrated the planting of the 5,000th tree in the Greenway as part of our annual Arbor Day efforts with the Midtown Community Works Partnership.

Coordinated the Trail Watch bike patrol, led by dedicated volunteers who bike the corridor at night to help keep it safe.

Coordinated 45 Adopt-A-Greenway organizations who organized more than 60 clean-ups.

________________________________________________________________________

About the Coalition

Our founders had the idea for the Greenway, then formed the Midtown Greenway Coalition to get it built.

The corridor used to be a trash-filled trench that people avoided. Now, it contains a world-class biking and walking trail that's the envy of cities across the nation. In fact, the Midtown Greenway trail has been named the best urban bike trail in the USA!

Now, we work to protect and enhance it.

We fought to keep high-voltage overhead power lines out of the Greenway – and we won!

We encourage developers to create "Greenway-friendly" buildings along the corridor that don't block sunlight from the trail and create new access ramps and stairs.

We operate a Trail Watch patrol, which bikes the Greenway at night to help keep it safe.

We encourage government agencies to repair the trail when needed, and are currently advocating that the entire trail get on a schedule for repaving.

We work to install more lighting and create safer street crossings.

We operate greening and cleaning programs that help keep the Greenway green.

We're a coalition of individuals and organizations that love the Midtown Greenway and want to protect and enhance it.

We raise all of our own funds and receive no operational funding from the government.

Use and love the Greenway too?

Join us!