Updates

Why this all matters

Map of critical areas, conflict between drivers and pedestrians
Image from the City of Minneapolis Crash Study

We’ve touched on the significance of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fix Hennepin Avenue. It goes beyond just this city-controlled street. What happens here will influence other streets, including county-controlled streets like Franklin, Lowry Ave NE, Lake, Lyndale, West Broadway—streets that currently threaten the health and safety of Minneapolis residents. Many of us involved with Hennepin for People have participated in this process since it started back in 2018. That’s a long time. This is deeply personal to us, it’s where we live. Many of us have had close calls on Hennepin Avenue. It’s not an abstract or philosophical question. This street impacts our daily lives. We can’t accept less than significant pedestrian improvements, along with dedicated space for transit and bikes. 

Hennepin filled with cars. A place for cars not people.

Hennepin Avenue doesn’t work for anyone in its current form. It’s stressful to drivers, it’s a hazard to vulnerable users like pedestrians, bikers and transit users. Our streets need to reflect our values—how we care for our neighbors and for the environment. We are the only inclusive side with a vision. The outcome for Hennepin should be a street that reflects our priorities and ambitious policies like the Transportation Action Plan, Complete Streets, and Vision Zero. A safer, more vibrant street is inclusive and works for drivers, pedestrians, bikers and transit riders.   

Looking at the City of Minneapolis Crash Study, the takeaway is Hennepin Avenue is a dangerous place for people walking and biking. And this only includes reported incidents. How often do you report a dangerous encounter with a vehicle as a pedestrian or biker?

Read More »Why this all matters
person biking with cars on Hennepin

Support bikes and buses

Help us keep the pressure on the City of Minneapolis for Hennepin Avenue. Our request: any design must include dedicated bus lanes and a safe, separated bike path. Encourage others you know to sign the petition. Now is a critical moment for the project. We need your support! 

Sign here

Remember, what we do here will shape designs for other streets in our community. This isn’t just about one street in Uptown; this is precedent-setting for how we shift the transportation system and how we design other streets. The design choices made for this city-controlled street will shape future decisions for county-owned streets (Franklin, Lowry Ave NE, Lake, Lyndale, West Broadway) that threaten the health and safety of Minneapolis residents. We start by shifting the system here.

  • All images courtesy of Derek
A nice spring day people activating space at Bde Maka Ska skate popup

Bde Maka Ska popup

When we did outreach for Hennepin Avenue at Bde Maka Ska, we had great support from the skateboarding community. It was so obvious how they activated this otherwise unused space where the pavilion used to be. We even met teens that came from other cities to use this spot. We support efforts to bring a permanent skate park to the area for those currently using the Bde Maka Ska Popup. Our vision for Hennepin includes skateboarders. A safe, separated bike path welcomes skateboarders.

Sign their petition

612 bus at Uptown Transit Station. Transit riders waiting at station. Uptown sign in background.

We continue on

The work is not finished just because we passed the city’s comment deadline on April 16th. As we prepare for what comes next, we’re energized by your support! The opposition is working to prevent Hennepin Avenue from being reconstructed in a way that’s consistent with the city’s existing, adopted policies. But we’re growing and gaining momentum every single day. Our message is resonating. Any design for Hennepin Avenue must include dedicated 24/7 transit lanes and a safe, separated bike path.

This isn’t just about one street in Uptown; this is precedent-setting for how we shift the transportation system and how we design other streets. The design choices made for this city-controlled street will shape future decisions for county-owned streets (Franklin, Lowry Ave NE, Lake, Lyndale, West Broadway) that threaten the health and safety of Minneapolis residents. This is a racial equity issue. BIPOC residents are disproportionately represented among transit riders and those killed and injured in pedestrian and bicycle crashes.

Now is a critical moment. Will the city follow their ambitious policy goals found in adopted city policies like the Transportation Action Plan, Vision Zero, and Complete Streets? Will we use this opportunity to meet our climate goals by reducing car trips and associated emissions? Will we reduce injuries and lower car pollution in marginalized communities? Now is the time to shift the system.

Join us as we continue to hold the City of Minneapolis accountable. Stay tuned!   

Read More »We continue on

Thank you!

Hennepin friends,

We are so grateful you showed up for Hennepin Avenue: for sending a comment, for signing our letter, making a call to the project team, for filling out the city survey and interactive map, for spreading our message, and so much more. Your show of support matters!

💛Be kind to yourself. You are our community. We are all in this together! 💛

Hennepin Avenue community members. Graphic of people involved. All backgrounds and ages. Families and single people. Diversity of people from different backgrounds.

New way to help: become a delegate!

This is a Municipal election year in Minneapolis. We’ll vote for Mayor, City Council, Park Board, Board of Estimate and Taxation. We’ll also have the opportunity to vote on charter amendments—public safety, the ability to have rent control, giving the Mayor more control of city departments. This latter one means a big change in our government structure. There’s a lot at stake this year in local politics. You should get involved.

We encourage you to make Hennepin Avenue one of your top issues in whichever party you are affiliated with. Help us make Hennepin Avenue a place for people. When candidates reach out to you for their support tell them why Hennepin Avenue is one of your issues and its importance to you. A good outcome is not guaranteed and we need to push hard for change.

We can shape the city we want to live in, from the design of our streets to our system of public safety. We can imagine something better than currently exists.

Graphic of people and different mobility uses. Image starts with a Black dad with a child in stroller, an old man with a walker, a brown woman with teal glasses walking, a visually impaired person with a cane, a lady in a wheelchair, a girl in a hijab skateboarding, a blonde girl with a scooter, two black kids biking, a bus, bus driver and riders, route says yellow heart Hennepin, a man in a car, black kids on bike, blonde girl on scooter, girl in hijab skateboarding, lady in wheelchair, visually impaired person with cane, brown lady walking, older man with walker, and black dad with kid in stroller.
Read More »New way to help: become a delegate!
Man walking across street surrounded by cars.

A day in the life of Hennepin Avenue

Thank you to our volunteer Derek Bauer for capturing the feeling of Hennepin Avenue. Drowning in a sea of cars. Chaotic, loud, and hard to track where the next danger will come from.

What makes a place?

Right now it feels like a place for cars, not people.

What makes a place? It’s the people.

Yet, we have signs of life and what could be. We enjoy a stroll with ice cream, we cross the street to visit businesses, we shop for groceries, we wait for the bus, we bike. The people make this place. They bring it to life and make us imagine what it could be instead of what it is—instead of all the ways it fails us. Let’s make Hennepin work for people! Join us in letting the City of Minneapolis know we want a place for people: Option 1 is the only inclusive choice. Send a message in support to [email protected] or call 612-673-3594. 

We allied with some of our most forward-thinking local organizations to write a letter in support of Option 1, including Our Streets Minneapolis, the Midtown Greenway Coalition, Move Minnesota, the Sierra Club, and the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota. 

Read the letter here and add yourself to the list of people signing here include your ward info under Affiliation. Sign by April 15th!

Girl in hijab with skateboard, girl with scooter, kids biking, a bus filled with riders and a nice bus driver.

Our support only continues to grow

We’ve allied with some of our most forward-thinking local organizations to write a letter in support of Option 1:

💛Midtown Greenway Coalition
💛Sierra Club North Star Chapter
💛Move Minnesota
💛Our Streets Minneapolis
💛Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota

Join us: Read the letter here and add yourself to the list of people signing here. Sign by April 15th!

We’d love to have more people and organizations sign on, so please share this with any and all of your networks and organizations, favorite businesses, whomever! And remind them to act on Hennepin in other ways as well!

Pile of comment cards supporting Option 1

Hennepin Week!

Now is a critical moment in the Hennepin Avenue reconstruction project. The City of Minneapolis comment deadline closes this Friday, April 16th.

We’re getting everything ready to submit from our outreach. You can be a huge factor in the outcome for Hennepin Avenue. Join our efforts!

Three ways you can help support Option 1:

Streets.mn posts!
We’ve got a half dozen Hennepin Avenue posts in the works for this week. Please read, comment, and share with your networks so others understand how critical Hennepin Avenue is and how to support Option 1. 

Social media! 
Make sure you’re following us on social media Twitter and Instagram. Please like, boost, and share our posts to your networks. And tag us in your own posts on the topic.

City input!
Don’t forget to do the basics, too! Fill out the city survey. Share your personal experiences and observations on the interactive map. And don’t underestimate the power of sending emails to city staff ([email protected]) or giving them a call at 612-673-3594. 

We’re growing our support every single day. Remember, what happens on Hennepin Avenue at this moment can shape other streets including county owned streets. What will our future look like? A street for everyone? Will it reflect adopted city policies* and the action this moment requires? We can shape the outcome, so lets push as hard as we can through Friday.

*City policies:

  • Transportation Action Plan (2020)
  • Minneapolis 2040 (2019)
  • Climate Emergency declaration (2019)
  • Social Cost of Carbon (2019)
  • Vision Zero (2017) 
  • Complete Streets (2015)