MINNEAPOLIS — The intersection where George Floyd died under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer will be closed to traffic until the completion of that officer's trial, according to the mayor.
Minneapolis city leaders gave an update Friday on the future of what's become a sacred and hotly contested spot: 38th and Chicago.
The intersection was closed shortly after Floyd's death. Since then, it has become a place of reflection, community, mourning and protest - and above all, a memorial to Floyd.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins and City Council Member Alondra Cano held a news conference on "next steps" for the site on Friday.
Mayor Frey said that the site will remain closed to traffic through the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd's death. That trial is set to begin March 8 and could last weeks.
Frey said, however, that city services will continue and be expanded in that area during the time before and during the trial.
City leaders said a survey will be sent to residents of the community and based on that feedback, they will proceed with a plan for structuring a reopening of traffic along with a preservation of art and a memorial to Floyd. The goal will be to reopen the intersection to traffic at the end of the Chauvin trial.
Frey said that survey is being drafted now and will be sent out as soon as it's completed.
Frey acknowledged that in the aftermath of Floyd's death, the site became a testament to the community's desire for change.
"It was in and of itself a beautiful thing," he said. "But the intervening months have been far less straightforward."
He said the barricades that were placed there to protect the site have become "a screen for illicit activity" that is re-traumatizing the neighborhood.
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo acknowledged that police response is more complicated due to the logistics of the space being closed off to traffic.
“Oftentimes when our officers have to respond when it’s an emergency call, whether it’s fire or EMS, it’s obviously better to have an intersection that’s widely open,” he said. “With the reopening, it will just help us to provide those robust services, as the mayor had mentioned, in a timely fashion.”
Frey and Arradondo emphasized, however, that the intersection is still within the jurisdiction of the city and the police.
"38th and Chicago is not an autonomous zone," Arradondo said. "Our men and women will continue to show up and respond and be the guardians of that community when they call for help. But the intersection must open, and it must open in a thoughtful and compassionate way."
Interim Director of Public Works Brett Hjelle said the city has been providing services to the area since last spring, including solid waste services, traffic signs and snow and ice control.
"Services will continue," he said. The city is also planning improved lighting services, he said.
Frey said that the site will be an important place for people to process and reckon with the upcoming trial. He said that is part of the reason that the city is waiting until after Chauvin's trial to open it to traffic.
"We don't want to take that away," he said.
Hjelle said his department is proposing a plan for reopening that preserves art and memorials while resuming traffic services. There are two variations that have to do with the placement of a sculpture dedicated to George Floyd, he said.
A survey will be sent to area residents asking them which option they prefer. Then the city will begin work on a traffic plan, with the goal of opening the intersection to traffic when the Chauvin trial ends.
Frey said small businesses in this area have been "denied a fair shot" due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and now the aftermath of Floyd's death.
"The truth is that the situation at hand is not sustainable," he said.
Frey maintained that "we are not going back to normal at that intersection."
The future must keep 38th and Chicago as a memorial to Floyd's life and death, he said.
Frey said that the city will be providing "robust services" at the site through the trial, even while it remains closed to traffic. He said that city services will even be increased and enhanced at the site.
"It is our responsibility as city leaders and as a community to honor George Floyd's life, to create this space," Frey said.
City council member Alondra Cano, who represents that ward along with Andrea Jenkins, said city leaders have been "extremely engaged on the ground, talking to residents, business owners, nonprofit leaders" and more.
"All who really expressed the need to be able to provide safety and justice for this community," Cano said. "I stand here before you today with full confidence that we can, that we have, and that we will deliver on both."
Cano said more than $10 million has been made available by the mayor and the council to invest in the community surrounding the site of Floyd's death.
"We expect a difficult month in March, and that the one-year marker will come in May," she said. "We are going to be a positive example on how to deliver on safety, on justice, on healing."
Council Vice President Jenkins expressed support for the plan, but said the city is still in the healing process.
"Beginning the process of reopening is a really important step in that process," she said. "2020 has been an extraordinarily challenging year for everyone, but even more specifically for the people who have been really rallying around what has now become George Floyd Square and building community and building just a sense of togetherness."
Jenkins said that the broader issues need to be addressed in order to move forward.
"Racism is at the root of all of our problems in our city and in our country, and until we tackle that pernicious issue we will continue to have these same kinds of problems in our community," she said.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is set to face trial March 8 for second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd's death. The other three former officers charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second degree manslaughter will be tried in August.
The city's October 2020 survey of 929 neighborhood residents found that 65% wanted the intersection reopened for traffic in some way, while 19% wanted it closed indefinitely. Another 24% indicated they wanted justice before the intersection reopened.
When releasing the survey's results, the city acknowledged that a small portion of the neighborhood was represented. Around 34,000 people live within a mile of 38th and Chicago, and the city said Black and Latino residents and people younger than 25 were "significantly underrepresented."
City leaders have had public disagreements about how to proceed, most recently on Jan. 19 with City Council President Lisa Bender saying on Twitter that it was "past time" for Mayor Jacob Frey to have a plan for a "peaceful transition of this space."
Frey responded to that by saying in a statement that he had tried to work with Bender "to no avail."
"Let’s unite and get this done," Frey added at that time.