Graffiti on I-35W project in Minneapolis is a costly headache

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is spending more than $240 million rebuilding Interstate 35W and beautifying the corridor just south of downtown Minneapolis, but the agency's efforts are being thwarted by graffiti.

Noise walls, curbs and the flyover bridge that will carry traffic from northbound I-35W to westbound I-94 have been tagged in recent months, and it looks terrible, said Drive reader Judy McCleery.

"They are putting graffiti on everything," she said in a voice mail left for the Drive. "[MnDOT workers] need to get that off right away. If they don't start working on that, it will just proliferate."

Project manager Steve Barrett said MnDOT is well aware of the graffiti and has been working to remove it. But it has been an uphill battle, even though the agency has put up fences to protect the construction zone.

"It's been a thorn in our sides," Barrett said. "We have been covering a lot of graffiti."

Over the past four years, MnDOT has been putting down new concrete, adding a MnPass lane, building a new transit station at Lake Street and repairing bridges between Interstate 94 and 43rd Street. The project, expected to be complete by late fall, includes a new flyover bridge at the I-35W/I-94 interchange and decorative stone noise walls with a wave pattern. A lot of it has been tagged with graffiti.

"We have spent a lot of money on aesthetic enhancements," Barrett said. "It's frustrating that finish is being marred with graffiti. We cover it up, but it never looks as good as the original."

Graffiti is hardly unique to the Minneapolis project. Over the past three years, MnDOT has spent about $100,000 and used more than 4,800 gallons of paint to cover up the graffiti that has appeared more than 2,500 times on bridge decks, tunnels, signs and other infrastructure in the Metro District, which includes the seven-county area and Chisago County.

Those numbers do not include anti-graffiti efforts last year, when MnDOT used 380 gallons of paint to help the city of Minneapolis clean up following the civil unrest after the police killing of George Floyd.

"The number of graffiti posts was not counted because there was so much," said MnDOT spokesman David Aeikens.

Minneapolis city ordinance states graffiti must be covered within seven days, and Barrett said MnDOT tries to adhere to that.

"We don't always meet those deadlines," he said.

The plan now, Barrett said, is to tackle the graffiti on I-35W in the next week or so.

MnDOT has a crew of four employees assigned to duties such as traffic control, bridge inspections and overseeing lighting. When they are free, they tackle graffiti with a goal of cleaning up one site a day, Aeikens said.

When infrastructure such as noise walls and bridges along I-35W is under construction, the responsibility for removing the defacements lies with the contractor. MnDOT then reimburses the builder for the expenses. Once a project is completed, anything that gets tagged becomes MnDOT's responsibility, Barrett said.

Priority is given to removing graffiti that is hurtful, vulgar or inappropriate. Other sites are dealt with as they are reported.

"Sometimes we see [the taggers], but they are pretty quick to leave," Aeikens said. "We don't want to see graffiti on bridges or walls. We wish they didn't do it."

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