HENNEPIN AVE. PROJECT

24/7 bus lanes?

Hennepin Ave. project disagreement centers on whether to have phased-in or all day bus-only lanes

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After a city council committee meeting that revealed deep differences of opinion over the operations of dedicated bus lanes, on May 26, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to postpone the decision on the proposed Hennepin Avenue new street design in the East Isles, Lowry Hill and Lowry Hill East neighborhoods.
It will be taken up again at the public works and infrastructure committee on June 9 and the full council on June 16, where a final decision on the design and use of lanes is expected to be made.
This project is expected to be completed in 2026 and will fully reconstruct 1.4 miles of Hennepin Ave. S. between Douglas Ave. and West Lake St. The approved design includes a two-way sidewalk level bikeway on the east side, two dedicated bus priority lanes, two vehicle lanes with left turn lanes at key intersections, additional vehicle lanes provided at end points where capacity is needed, as well as parking and loading bays in some locations.
According to the staff report, “The project is an opportunity to transform the right-of-way to align the policy visions and goals articulated in Minneapolis 2040 Plan, the city’s Transportation Action Plan, Complete Streets Policy, Climate Action Plan, Vision Zero Action Plan and the 20-Year Streets Funding Plan.”
Prior to coming up for discussion at the May 19 Public Works and Infrastructure (PWI) committee, it was clear that the biggest controversy around the project centered on operations and not design, and on if the bus priority lanes would be exclusively reserved for buses.
Before the meeting Ward 10 Council Member Aisha Chughtai wrote, “While the physical layout of the reconstruction poject is the exact same as what was released by the public works department last year, which includes dedicated bus lanes and bike lanes and increased walkability, staff is proposing changes regarding the bus lanes. They intend to shift from 24/7 (or all day) lanes to dynamic (or phased in) lanes. I oppose this change and am working to solve for this.”
A few days before the vote the entire Minneapolis legislative delegation sent a letter to the city council supporting full-time dedicated bus-only lanes from the first day the new road opens.
In the letter, they reminded council members about the $40 million that was allocated to complete the E Line which will replace the current number 6 line that runs down Hennepin. “We must maximize this significant E Line investment by ensuring that rapid buses can move efficiently and unimpeded through congested areas,” wrote the 15 legislators (Agbaje, Davnie, Greenman, Gomez, Hassan, Hornstein, Jordan, Lee, Long, Noor, Champion, Dibble, Dziedzic, Fateh, and Torres Ray). “We support the inclusion of an all-day dedicated lane for the E Line along this stretch of Hennepin Ave. as part of the Hennepin Avenue Redesign project.”
They also referenced the Metro Transit Aug. 4 letter sent to the interim public works director at the time, Brette Hjelle. It said, “All-day bus lanes are critical to the success of both the Hennepin Avenue reconstruction project and the METRO E Line.”
A parking review by staff found that in addition to the parking allowed on Hennepin now, there are currently over 3,000 additional spaces in the general area, including nearby streets, parking lots and parking ramps.
“A huge point of contention has been how much parking is being removed and how many parking bays are not being put back,” said Minneapolis Senior Transportation Planner Becca Hughes. “There are currently about 311 spaces on the corridor today, and we have space for about 20 parking and loading bays that we have distributed in locations where they are most desired and frankly where they fit given the constraints in the amount of right-of-way we are dealing with.”
Following the staff report it was clear that no one objected to the design but there was a clear divide between council members Chughtai, Payne and Wonsley Worlobah, who favored dedicated bus lanes, and public works staff, who favored keeping the bus lanes flexible so they could be used for parking during some times of the day.
There has been a historic divide between the two council members (Ward 7 and Ward 10) who represent the area and that has continued into this term. In an interview with Southwest Voices last year 7th Ward Council Member Lisa Goodman is quoted as saying, “I am not yet convinced that it’s an either-or, and that you have to have transit-dedicated lanes 24/7. I prefer that we start with transit during rush hour and see how it goes, then use those curbside uses for other things.”
At the public works committee that Chughtai, but not Goodman, serves on, the 10th ward council member successfully tabled the parking restriction resolution that was authored by the committee’s chair, council member Andrew Johnson. Neither Johnson, nor the engineer who helped draft the resolutions, were present to explain the resolution which appeared to only restrict parking at bus stops and not the full length of the bus lanes.
Chughtai was also able to pass a staff direction motion that would keep the 24/7 bus lanes as presented by public works staff in 2021 as dedicated, 24/7 lanes when the street opens following construction. She said, “I’ve offered this because 24/7 bus lanes are the single largest tool for racial and economic justice in this reconstruction project; 55% of bus riders are people of color and 64% have an annual household income of less than $35,000 per year.”
The staff direction also calls for the establishment of an Area Parking Management Task Force to bring stakeholders together to identify parking solutions prior to the start of construction. It passed 3-2, with council members Emily Koski and Latrisha Vetaw opposed.
At the council meeting on May 26, however, on a motion made by of Chughtai and supported by the committee’s chair, Andrew Johnson, the council unanimously voted to send the item back to committee and postpone a council vote until June 16. Chughtai said that the extra time would allow her and Johnson to work with the city attorney’s office and others to ensure that the bus priority lanes will be dedicated full time for exclusive use of buses.

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