Brooklyn Center Neighbors Raise Concerns Over Hwy. 252 Freeway Plan
For years the Minnesota Department of Transportation has worked on a plan to turn Highway 252 into a freeway.
The highway is currently a busy expressway with stoplights that contribute to congestion and an inordinate number of crashes.
MnDOT is currently conducting an environmental study, which will continue through next year. That includes monthly meetings with the community.
At its most recent meeting on Thursday, MnDOT met with Brooklyn Center neighbors to exchange thoughts about the upcoming Highway 252 project. Many attendees voiced frustration over the plans.
A Place to Call Home
One neighbor who attended was Charles Horton. He said he lives on Willow Lane, a block over from 252. He moved there just three years ago.
“I never thought I would own a home in my entire life,” Horton said. “Now that I have it, and I’ve worked a lot on it… you know.”
Horton said he’s put a lot of time into improving his house, including planting a garden and working to make lasting relationships with his neighbors. But now, he’s worried for his neighbors.
MnDOT is looking at four different road design options — 1) keeping it as the expressway it is today, 2) creating a four-lane freeway with bus shoulders, 3) creating a six-lane freeway with bus shoulders and 4) creating a six-line freeway with a carpool or E-ZPass lane. Expressways have traffic signals, while freeways have overpasses, underpasses and interchanges.
If the roadway were to be widened, MnDOT said the current range of homes that could be lost is between nine and 38, but hopes to lower that number.
Horton said he isn’t at risk of losing his home. But he’s worried about his neighbors who might. He also expressed concerns about increased traffic, and the potential noise and environmental pollution.
“It’s good that there is concern for the safety, but I also wish that there was a bit more concern on the environmental side, and the impact on other families, too,” Horton said.
He isn’t alone in his concerns. MnDOT 252 Project Manager Amber Blanchard said she and other agency reps are in Brooklyn Center to hear those thoughts and share information and perspectives from their end.
“Building relationships is really important to me, and that’s why we are out here in the first place,” Blanchard said.
Blanchard talks with Brooklyn Center resident Tom Kouri.
Safety Concerns
Blanchard said the main reason for this project is safety concerns.
“We have one fatality on average a year on 252 by itself, and we are about 400 crashes a year on 252 by itself,” Blanchard explained.
Converting the road to a freeway, in MnDOT’s view, will improve the safety of those areas.
Longtime Brooklyn Center resident Tom Kouri is a member of the city-sanctioned 252 Task Force. He also has lived on Willow Lane since 1985. He expressed concerns about increased traffic, access and safety near his home off 66th Avenue. That avenue is one of the potential locations for an interchange if the road were to be converted into a freeway.
“We’d like to see something that is going to be safe, and also something that is going to benefit the community,” Kouri siad.
Kouri said traffic will go up significantly if it were to become a freeway and said he worried about his neighbors’ health and the accessibility for those using public transportation. He also said he’s concerned about neighbors who may have to leave their property.
Amid all those concerns, Kouri also noted that he doesn’t feel that his voice has been heard by MnDOT over the last 10 years. With this project, however, he is hopeful he will be.
“The proof will be what happens,” Kouri said. “So, you know, there’s talk. And then there’s action.”
MnDOT plans to hold these “Coffee Chats” with residents on the fourth Thursday of each month during 2025. The next event will be from 11 a.m to 1 p.m. in Brooklyn Park at the Caribou Coffee on Edinburgh Centre Drive N.
Construction would not start until 2029. Anyone can review the study and details about the Environmental Review process at MnDOT’s website.
Lights at the intersection of Highway 252 and 73rd Avenue.
