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More than a generation ago, the construction of Interstate 94 dug a deep trench through the middle-class Black neighborhood of Rondo in St. Paul.

The freeway destroyed hundreds of houses. More than 600 Black families were forced to move. Homeowners never saw fair compensation for the destruction of their homes. Renters got nothing. 

ideas for how to repair some of that harm

 has proposed putting a concrete cap over a stretch of the highway roughly between Lexington Avenue and Dale Street and using the new space to build a Black cultural district. The goal is to bring green space, housing, jobs and economic renewal to the surrounding neighborhood.

The local effort is part of a larger national conversation about 

how new transportation projects could be used to rectify historical injustice. 

On Thursday, MPR News host Angela Davis talked about the history and future of the historic Rondo neighborhood. 

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The construction of the interstate highway system in the 1960s cut through many Black urban communities, destroying homes and bisecting neighborhoods. On Thursday, MPR News host Angela Davis talked about a proposal to use new transportation construction to repair some of that historic harm.

Can a new vision for Interstate 94 repair historic harm in Rondo?

An aerial view of Interstate 94 in the Twin Cities

Can a new vision for Interstate 94 repair historic harm in Rondo?

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