Lake Street improvements

County Road 3 in South Minneapolis

Hennepin County, in partnership with the City of Minneapolis and Metro Transit, will make improvements to Lake Street (County Road 3).

Construction of the Lake Street improvements and METRO B Line project are underway between Minnehaha Avenue (County Road 48) and West River Parkway and are expected to be finished in 2023. Work on the western section from Hiawatha to Lake Bde Maka Ska will begin in 2024.

Visit the Metro Transit project page for the most recent information and updates.

METRO B Line bus rapid transit project page

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Project background

Lake Street is a major arterial through South Minneapolis. As such, it already plays an important role in serving our residents and businesses. The introduction of Metro Transit's B Line project, along with potential improvements to the corridor, provides an opportunity to rethink and improve how Lake Street is used by all who walk, bike, roll, drive and use transit.

As owner of the street, Hennepin County is collaborating with its partners — the City of Minneapolis and Metro Transit — to improve the corridor.

The three organizations have shared goals to:

Enhance safety for people walking and rolling
Improve transit times and reliability
Reduce crashes
Enhance overall user experience for everyone along the corridor

Project overviews

Incorporating Complete Streets and climate action

Hennepin County Complete Streets Policy

As the first Minnesota county to adopt a Complete Streets policy (2009), Hennepin County recognized the importance of addressing the needs of people walking, biking, rolling and using transit, along with the needs of people driving. Complete Streets are designed, built and maintained to be safe and convenient for people of all ages and abilities.

Updates to Lake Street align with this policy, including:

A focus on residents with consideration of the character of area, community values and user needs
Enhanced safety, mobility and accessibility for all corridor users
Design that is context sensitive, with each project looking different based on the community and setting

Hennepin County Climate Action Plan

Hennepin County approved a climate action plan in May 2021, which aims to reduce the county’s carbon footprint.

For Hennepin County transportation projects, this means reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT) within the county and partnering on more efficient and frequent transit on county roadways. Any county project for Lake Street would include both strategies.

Contact information

Hennepin County

Jason Staebell
Project engineer for design
jason.staebell@hennepin.us
612-596-0395

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