(George Floyd Square Photo credit Ari Bergeron/Audacy)
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday vetoed the Minneapolis City Council’s plan to turn George Floyd Square at 38th and Chicago into a pedestrian mall.
Frey’s veto comes nearly five years after George Floyd was murdered by former police office Derek Chauvin.
He said, “It was time to move forward and at best, a pedestrian mall plan would delay any meaningful progress for at least a year; at worst, it will never be accomplished because of the lack of support from surrounding property owners, and the law itself.” Frey added that the action requires staff to expend significant time and resources when we have neither.”
In October, the Frey administration proposed a flexible street design at 38th and Chicago to restore traffic and be able to close the area for public gatherings.
That plan was widely rejected by council members who voted recently to have the city evaluate a pedestrian mall layout. Frey criticized those plans and accused the council of trying to “manipulate the process.”
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