Hennepin Ave. S. reconstruction

The City will reconstruct Hennepin Ave. S. between W. Lake St. and Douglas Ave.
Contact project staff

Key information

Dates

2018 - 2025

Location

Hennepin Ave. S. between Lake St. W. and Douglas Ave.

East Isles Lowry Hill Lowry Hill East

Project overview

The City plans to reconstruct Hennepin Ave. between W. Lake St. and Douglas Ave. 

Planning and design

Public Works staff have developed a new street design for Hennepin Ave. S.

This new street design will meet current and future needs and aligns with City policies: 

The recommended design includes:

  • Safer and more comfortable areas for pedestrians
  • A two-way protected bikeway between Lake St. and Franklin Ave.
  • Transit priority lanes for more efficient and reliable transit service
  • Two vehicle lanes with left turn lanes at key intersections
  • Parking/loading bays where possible

We plan to submit the recommended design to City Council for approval in late Quarter 1 or early Quarter 2 of 2022.

Project goals

  • Improve the sidewalk and intersections for all users
  • Consider a protected bikeway on Hennepin Ave. S.
  • Create space for improved transit stops that work with the future METRO E Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
  • Replace aging traffic signal and stormwater infrastructure
  • Maintain and improve mobility for transit and motor vehicles
  • Meet the City's transportation and climate change goals

View interactive map

We did some early planning in 2018 to apply for federal funding. The rest of our planning will include: 

 

Recommended design

In December 2021, Public Works shared the recommended design for Hennepin Avenue. The recommended design included:

  • sidewalks
  • two-way protected bikeway
  • two transit priority lanes proposed to operate full-time
  • two vehicle lanes
  • left turn lanes at key intersections
  • 20 on-street parking and loading spaces
  • proposal to manage parking in the area to meet business needs 

The City accepted public comments on the recommended design through January 2022. Public Works received over 4,000 comments during the final round of engagement. To date, the City has received more than 10,000 comments on this project. Comment themes were consistent throughout all rounds of engagement. One of the most prevalent comments were in regards to the need for more on-street parking and loading. Below is the engagement summary and Q&A from the last round of engagement.

After consideration of public feedback, Public Works is proposing dynamic transit priority lanes. The goal will be to transition these transit priority lanes to full time in the future. This operational change will provide dedicated transit priority lanes when needed most. It will also provide more parking opportunities to support businesses. The City will monitor and evaluate the operations of the corridor in partnership with Metro Transit and businesses. The City will make adjustments as needed over time.

View the recommended design:

Past meetings

Public Meeting # 4 – Virtual Open House

We held a virtual public meeting on January 13, 2022 to share the recommended design for Hennepin Ave. S. and answer questions.

Public Meeting #3 - Virtual Open House

We held virtual public meetings on March 2 and March 4, 2021 to discuss the project.

We asked for your feedback on the following design layouts:

The comment period closed on April 16, 2021.

View a summary of the feedback we received on the two design options

Public Meeting #2 – Virtual Open House

We held virtual public meetings on September 22 and September 30, 2020.

View documents from Public Meeting #2

Public Meeting #1 – Open House

We held an open house at Jefferson Community School on April 11, 2018.

View documents from Public Meeting #1

Bus lane pilot

The City, in partnership with Metro Transit tested having peak hour bus lanes along Hennepin Ave. S. (Franklin Ave. to Lake St.) for three days in May 2018. We used what we learned from this test to place permanent bus lanes on the street in fall 2019. They will remain in place until construction begins.
 
We evaluated the permanent bus lanes from September 2019 to February 2020.
 
View bus lane pilot findings summary

Project resources

Documents

Engagement summary

Recommended design

Project phase

The project is currently in the input phase. Based on feedback, we have delayed street construction by one year. Construction is now planned to begin in 2024. The planning and design timeline will continue as planned, with layout approval in early 2022. View project schedule.

Input

Design

In Progress

Complete

Uptown theater at Hennepin Ave. South and W. Lake St.
Uptown Theatre at Hennepin and Lake
Bus on Hennepin Ave. South
Bus on Hennepin Ave. S.

Contact us

Hennepin Ave. S. Project Team

Email Hennepin Ave. S. Team

Phone

844-628-6228 (toll-free)

Address

Public Service Building
505 Fourth Ave. S., Room 410
Minneapolis, MN 55415