For years, Marcy-Holmes residents have been begging city officials to put in a stop light at the corner of Sixth Avenue Southeast and University Avenue, next to Dunn Brothers and Restaurant Alma. With busy, fast-moving automobile traffic moving east on University Avenue toward 35W and Dinkytown, and with steady pedestrian and bike traffic moving to and from the riverfront and the Stone Arch Bridge on Sixth Avenue, the intersection has long been a source of frustration and fear. And with many more residential units going in along the riverfront, the problem will only grow worse.

In the past, officials with the city traffic department have pooh-poohed residents’ concerns, claiming that there is not enough traffic at the intersection to justify a stoplight. (Though anyone trying to cross University Avenue in the morning or evening rush hours knows differently.) In recent months, however, a hard-working group of students at Marcy Open School has been studying the intersection and the problems it creates as their “Project Citizen” issue. Project Citizen is a program in which middle school students from around the state work with an adult adviser to identify a problem in their community; they then research the issue thoroughly to identify solutions and present their recommendation to the governmental unit responsible for solving the problem.

The team working on the stoplight issue is led by Seward resident Eve Parker, with help from Prospect Park resident and Marcy parent Bill Fisher, and includes Danny Fisher, Kristopher Berg, Abby Hayes and Mariah Sandler. After researching the car, bike and pedestrian traffic at the intersection, the group determined that a stoplight was justified.

After presenting their findings at the Project Citizen competition at the State Capitol this spring — and winning the award for “Best Discussion” — the stoplight team has continued to work on the issue. They recently presented their argument to Minneapolis City Council Members Cam Gordon, Diane Hofstede and Paul Ostrow, as well as Mayor R. T. Rybak.

The mayor was the most enthusiastic audience member because he had recently had difficulty negotiating the intersection himself. According to Marcy-Holmes neighborhood director Melissa Bean, Rybak said: “I’m not sure if you realize how timely this is. Just two days ago, I was biking at that very intersection and I said to my friend, ‘Why isn’t there a light at this intersection?’” He also told the kids about the city’s plan to complete the Grand Rounds bike trail around the city and he said that the intersection at University and Sixth Avenue was the only place the path falls apart.

Bean said Rybak expressed amazement at the amount of work the kids had done. He also said that while it was the job of the city’s traffic department to count traffic units and make a recommendation based solely on numbers, it was his job as mayor to consider both the traffic information and the other variables involved. He said he believed that there needed to be a light at the intersection and that he would include it in his next budget.

If you agree with Mayor Rybak and the Marcy Project Citizen team that we need a stoplight at Sixth Avenue Southeast and University Avenue to increase safety for bikers, walkers and drivers, please get in touch with the mayor to let him know. He can be reached by snail mail at City Hall, 350 S. 5th Street, Mpls., 55415, by phone at 612-673-2100, or by e-mail at rt@minneapolis.org.

last revised: July 6, 2007

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