Lowry Avenue corridor improvement

County Road 153 in Northeast Minneapolis

Hennepin County, in collaboration with the City of Minneapolis, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Metro Transit and the six Lowry Avenue Northeast corridor neighborhoods, plans to reconstruct Lowry Avenue (County Road 153) between Marshall Street (County Road 23) and Johnson Street in Northeast Minneapolis.

Construction on Phase 1, between Washington and Johnson streets, is anticipated to begin in 2024.

Phase 2 between Marshall and Washington streets is funded separately and is earlier in its design phase. Construction could begin as soon as 2025.

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Project status and updates

As Hennepin County develops roadway designs for Lowry Avenue, the goal is to make the corridor safer, welcoming and overall, more livable to all users by adding features that make it more comfortable for people walking, biking and rolling while also enhancing the streetscape to support a vibrant small business corridor.

Updated Phase 1 designs available

We have finished gathering feedback for Phase 1 of the project. We have developed the designs for the project with several updates as a result of ongoing work and coordination with partner agencies.

The latest designs show the following changes:

Flashing beacons at Washington and Fillmore street intersections to help people walking and rolling
A shift of the bike boulevard from Polk Street to Fillmore Street.
The portion of the design at the intersection with Central Avenue has been removed to better coordinate with the METRO F Line bus rapid transit project and future Minnesota Department of Transportation studies.

View the updated Phase 1 Project layout (PDF)

Phase 2 designs in process

Preliminary design work is still underway using feedback from the public engagement efforts in 2021 and 2022 and building from the Phase 1 layout to include a shared use path, streetscape improvements oriented towards people walking and rolling, transit users and for businesses.

Phase 2 designs are in preliminary design stage. We will share more about Phase 2 soon.

Community involvement

Previous engagement events

The county’s initial engagement efforts ran through 2021 and 2022 to gather input from residents, business owners and patrons, community members, students, transit users, and visitors to determine a layout that would best work for the corridor.

Virtual public workshop: May 11, 2022

Virtual public workshop: December 9, 2021

Community meetings and events

2022

Audubon Farmers Market
Fulton Grand Fondo
Recovery Bike Shop End of 30 Days of Biking Celebration

October 2021

Minnehaha Open Streets
Lyndale Open Streets
NE Farmers Market
Eastside Co-op Annual Event
Holland Neighborhood Improvement Association Lowry Avenue NE Task Force meeting

September 2021

Fulton Gran Fondo + Art Crank
Audubon Farmers Market
Windom Park Citizens in Action Meeting
Logan Park Neighborhood Association General Meeting
Bottineau Neighborhood Association Board Meeting
West Broadway Open Streets

Related projects

METRO F Line bus rapid transit (Metro Transit)

The METRO F Line will serve the Central Avenue corridor, largely replacing Route 10 from downtown Minneapolis to Northtown Mall via Central and University avenues.

Sign up for F Line project emails to be notified as the project progresses.

Learn more about the Central Avenue Metro F Line.

Johnson Street NE reconstruction (City of Minneapolis)

The City of Minneapolis reconstructed Johnson Street NE between18th and Lowry avenues Northeast to include pedestrian, bicycle and infrastructure improvements. This project was completed in 2021.

Learn more about the City of Minneapolis' Johnson Street NE reconstruction.

Frequently asked questions

What was the recommended design from the 2014 Lowry Avenue plan process?

Reconstruction of Lowry Avenue between Marshall Street and Central Avenue with wider sidewalks, wider boulevards and three travel lanes.

Reconstruction of Lowry Avenue between Central Avenue and Stinson Boulevard with wider sidewalks, wider boulevards, two travel lanes and two east- and west-bound bicycle lanes on either side of the street.

How is this process different from the previous process and study conducted in 2014?

Local policies and plans have been updated and refined since the plan was adopted, including the Hennepin County Climate Action Plan (2021), City of Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan (2018), the City of Minneapolis Transportation Action Plan (2020), and the City of Minneapolis Street Design Guidelines (2021). The existing corridor designs will be updated during this design phase in 2021 through 2022 to align with these newer plans.

Additionally, funding for the construction project was allocated in the Hennepin County five-year 2021 Capital Budget and 2021–2025 Capital Improvement Program, which will fund the specific engineering studies needed to finalize the design and detailed engineering plans before reconstruction begins in 2024 through 2025.

What are the possible design changes under consideration for the reconstruction?

Phase 1: Municipal layout approval was received from the City of Minneapolis in July 2022 and detail design is advancing toward final plans for construction in 2024.

Phase 2: Preliminary design work is still underway using feedback from the public engagement efforts in 2021 and 2022 and building from the Phase 1 layout to include a shared use path, streetscape improvements oriented towards people walking and rolling, transit users and for businesses.

Project team

Hennepin County

Kelly Agosto, P.E.
Project manager (design)
kelly.agosto@hennepin.us

City of Minneapolis

Bill Fellows
Project manager
bill.fellows @minneapolismn.gov
612-673-3000

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