Transportation groups air concerns over Mayo Clinic's Unbound expansion plan (2024)

ROCHESTER — A coalition of local organizations released a statement of concern on Wednesday regarding Mayo Clinic's "Bold. Forward. Unbound. in Rochester" expansion and its impact on vehicle, bike and foot traffic.

"You take the map that Mayo released (of the Unbound plan) and you overlay it with the current bike grid through downtown, which was this plan that was developed through robust community input, both these plans can't exist in their current form at the same time," said Erik Noonan, communications director for the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, one of the partner organizations in the coalition.

The statement from the Minnesota Transportation Equity Alliance calls on city leadership to address the group's concerns and have the community "be involved in a meaningfully collaborative public process."

Mayo Clinic's $5 billion expansion plan involves building two clinical buildings, two parking ramps and a logistics building in downtown Rochester. The new clinical buildings will connect to the Gonda and Mayo buildings to the east, removing the stretches of Fourth Avenue Southwest and Third Avenue Southwest between West Center Street and Second Street Southwest.

"The elimination of public routes on 3rd and 4th avenues eliminates all existing north-south connectivity for people who bicycle and leaves no public route for pedestrians between West 1st and 6th avenues," the coalition, abbreviated as MN-TEA, said in its statement. "All remaining roadways will see a significant increase in traffic, especially Center Street, 6th Street West, and 6th Avenue West, which will be far more dangerous for people outside of the protection of an automobile."

Another point of concern, Noonan said, is the planned extension of Second Avenue Southwest to accommodate valet and shuttle drop-offs on the east side of the Mayo-Gonda complex. Construction on that extension could begin this fall.

"The traffic getting to that point is going to be directed onto (West) Center Street," Noonan said. "What that's doing is it's introducing just a tremendous amount of additional traffic that that road, frankly, doesn't have capacity for."

Adam Buzbee shares this concern. He's an executive board member for the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, which represents Rochester Public Transit bus drivers. Buzbee said an increased number of cars crossing buses' traffic lanes can slow down those buses and cause accidents.

"Public transit and our BRT (bus rapid transit) line was supposed to be the priority with this project," said Buzbee, referring to the Link Rapid Transit service to be launched in 2026. "And it seems like it is taking a backseat, and some of these plans are directly affecting us."

In addition to bicycle and bus traffic, the coalition outlined its concerns for walkability, pedestrian safety, increased emissions due to traffic congestion and non-car users' access to other downtown destinations, such as the Rochester Public Library.

"It's never just bikes for us," Noonan said. "It's how do we create a transportation ecosystem that really does work for all users, and if you center the people who have the greatest mobility challenges, you do create a system that does work for all users."

The recently formed coalition also includes the Sierra Club North Star Chapter, the Southeast Minnesota Center for Independent Living and ISAIAH.

In a statement, the city said it has “adopted plans, standards and policies that reflect and balance the evolving demands of our growing city while still preserving our commitment to authentic engagement, sustainability and connectivity.”

“The Rochester community is entering an exciting time in its history, with unprecedented private and public investment in downtown, including the largest development project in Mayo Clinic’s 160-year history. Transformational projects have wide-ranging impacts,” the statement said. “Bold. Forward. Unbound is still in the early stages, and as we continue to understand the impact of this investment, we are committed to working with our partners to engage with stakeholders and community members along the way.”

Mayo Clinic said it plans to work with the city, Destination Medical Center and the community to "thoughtfully address the longterm needs of the community as well as our patients and staff."

The organization said that includes "actively exploring solutions for multi-modal access to and around downtown and working with experts to ensure effective and safe traffic flow, both throughout the construction period and after project completion."

"Much of the work planned for Mayo Clinic’s downtown campus is still evolving, and we will continue to engage with local organizations and community members to work toward solutions that provide access and mobility for all who share these spaces," Mayo Clinic's statement said.

Construction on the five Unbound structures is anticipated to last until 2030. Additionally, Mayo Clinic announced in May that it is "accelerating its plans" to add a 500-stall parking ramp for employees by the Baldwin Building and a 1,000-stall ramp on the Saint Marys hospital campus, both to be in use by 2026.