If you’ve walked along the edges of campus or wandered through the surrounding residential neighborhoods, you’re bound to find a yard sign with the message “Halt the Hub.” These yard signs accuse Carleton College of being a bad neighbor for attempting to move the Hiawathaland Transit bus stop in front of Willis Hall to First Street E. and Nevada Street. The planned stop will be located where the parking lot outside of Anderson and James Hall is currently located. Linked with the planned bus stop, the college plans to pave over the loop and the parking area in front of Sayles Hall and Willis Hall. The school also plans to construct additional parking spaces, but, according to KYMN, the college will lose approximately 10 parking spots. This construction plan has caused uproar in the Northfield community.
To many Northfielders, Carleton’s plan is unacceptable. Although approximately 75% of the residents in the neighborhood surrounding Carleton have a connection with the school — as faculty, staff, alumni and parents of alumni — they feel ignored by the college and believe their opinions as people who reside in the town all year have not been valued.
“My main concern is that, in trying to improve safety within the campus core, the College is just shifting what it doesn’t want onto the surrounding neighborhood. Those impacts, such as traffic, noise and overall activity levels, are real considerations for people who live here, and they haven’t been given the level of consideration they deserve in this process,” said Steve Edwards, a Northfield resident who lives near campus.
Edwards is not an employee of the college, which he feels has allowed him more freedom and security to be vocal against Carleton’s proposal and the hub’s creation.
In order for the hub construction plans to take effect, Carleton is required by Northfield law to present their plans to the public and gain approval from the City Council. Several meetings have occurred so far, and the decisions made by the City Council have brought about the closure of College St. and have brought the hub construction closer to fruition.
At a public meeting on Feb. 24, 2026, Northfielders who live near the college objected to the planned hub’s location. Concerns centered on the plan’s potential to reroute traffic through the residential neighborhood and decrease available street parking spaces.
“At the meeting, I and other neighbors raised concerns about rerouting institutional traffic, including multiple shuttle routes on our residential street, which also serves as one of Northfield’s Designated Bikeways,” said Margit Zsolnay, a resident active in the Halt the Hub movement.
This meeting sought neighborhood feedback about the hub, and attendees expressed their concerns about how the hub would impact their lives. However, the plans went to the City Planning Commission 36 hours later.
“The plan that went to the city is a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to the Planning Commission, and so there was an initial phase where I think neighbors had a variety of concerns, which they expressed at the neighborhood meeting, and then re-expressed those concerns to the Planning Commission members. There, they took two meetings to review all the materials,” said Carleton History Professor Bill North, who has resided in Northfield since 1999.
The Northfield City Council approved the closure of College St. on April 21, 2026, meaning the Northfield bus will no longer stop in front of Willis Hall. The new location of where the bus will stop, however, is still subject of debate. Many local residents were surprised by the plan to have the bus stop at First Street E. and Nevada Street.
“With respect to Carleton, what stood out to me is how unclear the rationale has been for changing the hub location after 10+ years of planning it near the Alumni Guest House,” said Edwards.
Indeed, others echoed this change from Carleton’s planning that felt like a shock, and have expressed confusion as to why there was such a sudden shift in the planned bus stop location.
“The shift in the hub’s proposed location — from near the Alumni Guest House to a residential edge — emerged quite recently, and neighbors first learned of it in late February,” said Zsolnay. “Ideally, Carleton would work with neighbors to identify a location that fulfills its operational needs without compromising the safety and livability of the homes along the most residentially-dense edge of campus.”
However, some students feel as though the hub will be a benefit, even if Carleton did not seek their opinions to the extent they hoped.
“My understanding is that Carleton is trying to build this transit hub in that big kind of green area that isn’t being used right now, because of the current situation [with the Sayles loop],” said Genevieve Tassava ’28, who also grew up in Northfield. “The road, [the section of college street that is being closed], just in general is awful and pot-holy, and it’s also kind of dangerous to be crossing that area, like across the Loop or just across the street.”
“First Street itself is always lined with cars, so if I’m trying to bike down and turn onto First Street, it’s really hard to see — that’s scary to me too. So hopefully with the hub, people will be less incentivized to bring their cars into campus,” Tassava said.
Safety and quality of life are at the center of the debate. Locals have reported increased traffic on residential streets and difficulties associated with street parking due to more student and faculty cars vying for limited spots.
“It is important to note that the area is already congested with College-related vehicles, golf carts, lawn/snow care equipment and other ongoing Carleton construction projects. But yes, I do think other traffic has also increased,” said Edwards.
“Given that, it does seem likely that relocating the hub closer to the neighborhood will add to the overall level of traffic and activity in an area that’s already busier than it used to be. It should also be mentioned that closing College Street will reduce the number of parking spots provided by Carleton, shifting more of the parking load into the neighborhood,” Edwards said.
Because the neighborhoods around Carleton are residential, there is concern that increased traffic will make the town less safe for children. This is one of the concerns Northfield locals feel was ignored and not accounted for in studies conducted in determining the location of the bus stop. The college has argued that the hub would have a minimal impact on the town, but locals are skeptical.
“I’ve heard the arguments, and I think the arguments rest on the belief — which I think is genuine on the part of the college — that it will have no negative impact. I think that if I were able to, I would slow down and really understand the kinds of impact that people are concerned about, and see if there are ways of mitigating, or at least investigating how we can get a handle on the impact,” said North. “I think that the subsequent letter writing and the views that were expressed at the Planning Commission meetings and the City Council meetings led the city to do considerably more investigative work, and they added two conditions to the CUP.”
The conditions stipulated that Carleton would ensure dark sky lighting was used in relevant places and that they would contour the landscape to better shield the parking area from the town.
Northfielders have repeatedly advocated on behalf of pausing the hub construction so that Carleton could take more local concerns into consideration. Many of the yard signs flame Carleton as an inconsiderate neighbor and pose rhetorical questions to make passersby consider the rift between the college and the neighborhood.
Still, Tassava is not convinced. “I also think that this is a very interesting point to draw the line. Now, because Carleton is trying to build this parking lot, they’re not a good neighbor, whereas those same people don’t care that Carleton is invested in weapons manufacturers and things like that,” she said.
Additionally, this issue has brought increased awareness about local parking issues, and many students have reported a crackdown on parking. Some students have observed a perceived increase in Carleton Security ticketing student cars, speculated to be linked to tensions surrounding the hub construction.
“I’m sorry students are feeling the pressure, but the neighborhood didn’t start this fight. The concerns began when the College and the City said there were no parking impacts, despite years of evidence to the contrary,” said Edwards.
Ultimately, Edwards, North and Zsolnay expressed a desire for greater communication with Carleton in the creation of the hub, as they believe it will undeniably change Northfield and the neighborhood’s environment.
“Carleton and its neighbors have historically had a strong, mutually supportive relationship. I believe that Carleton can do better than this process has reflected so far and that the goodwill relationship between the College and the neighborhood is worth protecting,” said Zsolnay.
