Duluth City Council Looks Into Skywalk Safety Concerns

DULUTH, Minn. — The Duluth’s Skywalk has changed how people commute in Duluth’s downtown space since it originally started in the 1970s. In recent years, the skywalk has been a focus of safety concerns.

“We want a vibrant, safe downtown for everybody, including our skywalk. And if you use the Skywalk as much as folks like me, you’ve seen some things,” said Arik Forsman, a Duluth City Councilor. “We know that after COVID, a lot of the world changed as far as how traffic flows downtown. I think it’s time to have that conversation about what the future looks like.”

The Duluth City Council is looking into an initiative which aims to analyze the safety of the city’s skywalk system. The council plans to conduct an six-month study on the skywalk to see what safety measures work, and where problems arise.

The council plans on using their findings to modify how increase security, safety, and accountability for unwanted behaviors like the recent uptick in drug use.

“It’s a valuable asset with our community, but it’s also over three miles of skywalk system that we maintain,” said Forsman. “What our police officers and public safety folks have told me is it’s really hard to manage both a street level and a skywalk system that is that large, especially when often times the Skywalk isn’t utilized by a lot of people during the day or even at night.”

The study the city council plans to oversees will look at times with lower foot traffic and plan out possible investments in major parts of the skywalk.

Forsman said that parts of the skywalk could close if safety concerns are too high.

“So as we think about the system as a whole, I’m also thinking about the people it’s not working for today already, but we know it’s an asset,” said Forsman. “We don’t want to get rid of it entirely. I certainly don’t want to, but maybe there’s a better way of doing it, and that’s what this study is going to get after.”

The City Council will vote on a resolution for skywalk system’s study on Feb. 24.