Madeline Kingsbury updates

Happening today 

⛈️Scattered clouds with the possibility of isolated thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High temperatures in the mid-80s. The skies clear later this week as temperatures remain in the mid-80s.

🏢 Mayor Jacob Frey will discuss the recommendations coming out of his Vibrant Downtown Storefronts Workgroup. Convened late last year, the group was tasked with exploring opportunities to reinvent the storefront experience in downtown Minneapolis. Over the past few months, the group has analyzed downtown storefront space, along with local and national trends, to consider how those trends can be applied at both the street and skyway levels.

🚌 German students are bringing an innovative mobile exhibit about climate change to the Twin Cities as part of their efforts to raise awareness and create discussion. . A retrofitted school bus, the “BUS-eum” will be open to the public at 8th and Nicollet in Minneapolis.

Group wants asphalt art to make Minneapolis intersection safer

• The city of Minneapolis says Highway 55 is one of the 9 percent of streets that account for 66 percent of crashes that are fatal or have serious injuries.
• Our Streets Mpls, a local nonprofit, is asking the city and the Minnesota Department of Transportation to apply for a grant for a pilot project at Olson Memorial Highway and Van White Boulevard that would paint brightly colored murals on the street, crosswalk and asphalt in and around the busy intersection to cause drivers to slow down and pedestrians to stand out.
• A recent study in cities like Albuquerque and Kansas City found asphalt art projects can cut pedestrian crashes by up to 50 percent and all crashes by 17 percent.

“It is really effective. It is really simple to do. It’s just as inexpensive as any other road improvement, but it benefits the community, and it also benefits local artists,” said Zayas Caban, Our Streets Mpls Executive Director.