Hennepin Avenue redesign proposal reaches final stages, community reacts

A new design is in the works to give Hennepin Avenue a makeover in Uptown.

The city will tackle the area between West Lake Street and Douglas Avenue.

“I think there’s a lot of times when I’m riding around it’s super dangerous and having a clear bike lane that isn’t the bus lane would be amazing,” Bruce Weihsmante, who lives off Hennepin Avenue, said.

Minneapolis Public Works came back from the drawing board with a final proposal after working on the project since 2018.

It’s a redesign that adds protected bike lanes, crosswalks to enhance safety for pedestrians and full-time transit lanes.

“This corridor has three of the highest most dangerous intersections in our city and that’s just a mile and a half of a span,” Katie Jones, Hennepin For People member, said.

"Hennepin for People” is a neighborhood group backing the plan.

Jones said the design will improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists while making the area more accessible for everyone.

“We want to make sure that this corridor thrives and the way that we do that is making sure that there’s access and that access is safe,” Jones said.

But the proposed changes come with fewer options to park on Hennepin.

According to the plan, only about 20 on-street parking spaces will be available.

“For us here at Nico’s, We only have two off-street parking spots,” Samuel Kimbrough, Nico’s Taco and Tequila Bar representative, said.

Some businesses said they can’t afford to lose even a single parking spot.

“I think it doesn’t pay homage or respect to the businesses that are still here and standing specifically with already the hardship in the restaurant industry and what happened through COVID-19 and what continues to happen,” Kimbrough said.

Some pedestrians said more responsibility needs to fall on the drivers to make the corridor safer to walk, bike and ride.

“I do not feel safe. People are not very conscious of pedestrians around here and there’s a lot of us so it’s pretty frustrating,” Aliandra Zampino, pedestrian, said.

The public comment period for the Hennepin Avenue reconstruction plan is open until Jan. 28.

Public works will present the proposal to the Minneapolis City Council for approval in early 2022.