Neighbors band together to help drain nature-made lake in Minneapolis alley
MINNEAPOLIS – The warmer temperatures finally started melting the thick layers of ice on our streets and sidewalks – but the downside is flooding.
An alley in Minneapolis' Lyndale neighborhood turned into a lake, making it impassable, and causing cars to get stuck.
All Emilie Hitch can do is laugh at this nature-made island she's standing on in her back alley.
"These are the mystic shores of Lake Garfield 2023," Hitch said.
For the last five weeks, the alley has been melting as the lake takes shape.
"So much worse than any other year. We have probably 4 to 6 inches in each of these trenches," she said.
On a rare sunny Saturday, neighbors who live along the 3300 block of Garfield Avenue South came together to drain what they could.
"We had multiple types of shovels and a canoe paddle and pickaxes, and we were just being neighborly," she said.
This particular alley does not have storm drains in the middle or on either end. The nearest ones are at the intersections half a block away. So they tried to clear paths to them.
"We called a few of the tasks 'the quest for the drain,'" she said.
Even after all of their efforts during the day Saturday, a car ended up getting stuck in the alley that night. Adam and Ari Stemple were surprised to see the car while on their afternoon walk.
"As you can see, things are not going super great," Adam Stemple said. "This is a car share, and the person just probably went, 'OK, my time is done, we're gonna leave it here.'"
While a lake shore property might sound like a perk, it prevents them from accessing another luxury: their garages.
"There's definitely frustration on the block around having to just avoid the alley," Hitch said.
"We've been parking on the street for the last couple weeks," Stemple said.
Neighbors tell WCCO their repeated phone calls to 311 worked, and public works is coming to resolve the situation later this week.