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Provide input on Hennepin Avenue South reconstruction

The City of Minneapolis is planning to reconstruct Hennepin Avenue from Douglas Avenue to Lake Street and will soon be seeking feedback on preliminary design concepts. Metro Transit and the City are coordinating closely to identify how planned METRO E Line stations at Franklin Avenue, 25th Street, and Uptown Transit Station would fit into the vision for Hennepin Avenue. Routes 2, 6, 12, 17, 21, 23, 114, 115, and 612 also use this part of Hennepin Avenue. Construction is planned to begin in 2024.   The City is holding virtual meetings on Tuesday, March 2, 4–5 p.m. and Thursday, March 4, 6:30–7:30 p.m. City staff will share proposed design options, provide project updates, and answer questions. The City will seek public comment via online tools through April 16. Visit the city’s project webpage for more information and to comment.

Coming in 2021: E Line station planning

In 2020, the Metropolitan Council approved the METRO E Line’s recommended routing along 4th Street and University Avenue, through downtown and Uptown on Hennepin Avenue and to Southdale Transit Center via 44th Street and France Avenue. 

In summer-fall 2021, Metro Transit staff will engage the community to seek public input on a Draft Corridor Plan, with specific locations for planned stations. Metro Transit also plans to advance a recommendation in the Draft Corridor Plan that the north end of the E Line connect to the Westgate Station on the METRO Green Line. We have continued to hear from stakeholders about the importance of this connection as planning has progressed. With this recommendation, buses would layover between trips on Berry Street.   

Following public input, Metro Transit will revise the plan, and seek Metropolitan Council approval of a Final Corridor Plan in early 2022. Engineering would begin in 2022.

To coordinate with other planned work in the E Line corridor, the construction schedule for the E Line has been modified. Hennepin Avenue in Uptown is a core segment of the E Line project, and it’s important that the construction timelines for these projects are aligned. With Hennepin Avenue construction now planned to begin in 2024, Metro Transit is also shifting the E Line construction schedule to begin major work in 2024. Pending full funding, Metro Transit would plan to complete E Line construction in 2024 and 2025 and open the line for service in 2025.  

Provide input on other projects in the corridor

The City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County are planning several improvement projects along the E Line and we are working with them to coordinate bus rapid transit (BRT) infrastructure needs. These projects include:

• Hennepin and First roadway improvements
• University and Fourth roadway improvements
• Hennepin Avenue South Reconstruction

Visit these project webpages for more information and opportunities to comment throughout 2021.

Metro Transit is planning improvements to bus service in the Hennepin / France (Route 6) corridor with the E Line bus rapid transit (BRT) project. BRT brings better amenities, faster service and a more comfortable ride to our region’s busiest bus corridors. E Line station construction is planned to begin in 2024, and service is planned to start in 2025. E-mail: eline@metrotransit.org