Midtown Community Works

Over the past 20 years, Midtown Community Works has brought together a range of partners to develop and support the Midtown Greenway, and to plan for and leverage economic growth in the area, including the Lake Street corridor. A long-term management plan, currently in development, includes identifying unfinished work in the corridor, making recommendations for program assets, and reviewing commitments from program partners.

Midtown Community Works is the longest-running program of the Community Works initiative, a collaborative approach to redevelopment in key county corridors that the county launched in 1994. The program’s chief goals are to enhance how communities in the corridor work together to create good jobs, provide access to employment, and build long-term value by investing in greenspace and the natural environment as well as infrastructure and other public works.

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News and updates

Midtown Greenway connections plan

Each year people take more than a million trips on the Midtown Greenway to a host of destinations, many along Lake Street. Yet barriers still exist for people who might want to leave the greenway -- or get onto it. These missed connections limit the greenway’s effectiveness as a transportation route, economic driver, and neighborhood asset. As the county looks to wrap up the Midtown Community Works program, it has been working with partners and greenway users over the past year to develop a plan to address these barriers, connect to nearby commercial and cultural destinations, and ensure the greenway serves nearby residents. The plan was developed with extensive research and community outreach -- including 2015's street design experiments – and will be available for public review within the next several weeks. More details coming soon.

Landscape bids accepted through April 12 for Cepro greenspace Phase 2 restoration

The process is now open for qualified landscape contractors to bid on the next phase of the Cepro greenspace restoration. This county-owned site between 10th and 11th avenues hosts the most accessible ramp on the Midtown Greenway. Last fall volunteers planted 13 trees and more than 30 shrubs as part of the restoration’s first phase. The second phase includes a variety of native, flowering perennials. Local landscapers with good references and a history of working with community gardens are encouraged to submit a bid. More details and bid forms are available through April 12 at supplier.hennepin.us.

Save May 7 for Arbor Day

Please mark this date for the 16th annual Midtown Greenway Arbor Day. Since 2001, the Midtown Community Works Partnership has hosted a yearly community planting event on the Midtown Greenway. Hundreds of volunteers have planted thousands of trees and shrubs along this important green space, adding to the urban tree canopy, keeping the "green" in greenway and promoting sustainability in the region. This year's planting will take place between Girard and Colfax avenues on the south side of the greenway and begins at 9 a.m. rain or shine.

Program updates

March 2016 program update

September 2015 program update

July 2015 program update

Subscribe to receive email updates about the Midtown Community Works program.

Pedestrian and bikeway safety improvements

Midtown Greenway pedestrian and bikeway safety improvements

Hennepin County will make safety improvements at seven intersections for people who walk, bike and roll on the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis.

Construction began in May 2021.

The seven Midtown Greenway intersections planned for improvements are:

James Avenue
Irving Avenue
Humboldt Avenue
5th Avenue
28th Street East
Hiawatha Avenue (Highway 55)
Minnehaha Avenue

View the project page for more information and updates.

ADA accessible connections project

ADA accessible connections project at Harriet and Garfield

This project will construct a new ADA accessible ramp to the Midtown Greenway between Garfield and Harriet avenues to ensure community members of all abilities will be able to enjoy the Midtown Greenway, while retaining and supporting the integrity of the Soo Line Garden. The project is entering the preliminary design phase which includes engaging community members in the design. The new ramp will be constructed in 2023.

General info and history

General info

The Greenway runs for 6 miles in a historic railroad trench beneath bridged streets in south Minneapolis, which makes biking or walking along it a distinctive experience. The Sensible Land Use Coalition named the Midtown Greenway a Great Place in 2014, and USA Today called it a Top Urban Bike Path in 2013. It is also key part of the regional transportation and bikeway network, linking Uptown, the Midtown Global Market and an array of other retail and cultural destinations between the Mississippi River and the Chain of Lakes. Annually, more than 1.5 million people take advantage of this flat, easy, mostly car-free east-west route across the city.

History

The Midtown Corridor was constructed in the 1910's as a freight rail corridor. With the decline of rail service, however, by the mid-1990's the corridor had become a neglected place that was attracting crime and contributing to lower land values, disinvestment, and blight in nearby neighborhoods. In 1995, Hennepin County identified the Midtown corridor as a priority area for its new community works initiative. After an extensive planning effort, the Greenway was constructed in three phases between 1999 and 2006. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, and in 2007, the Martin Olav Sabo Bridge opened, linking the Greenway over Hiawatha Avenue.

Visit the Midtown Greenway Coalition website for more information.

Midtown Greenway inducted into national Rail-to-Trail Hall of Fame

In September 2015, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy announced that the Midtown Greenway had joined a select group of trails on the national Rail-to-Trail Hall of Fame. Trails are honored on merits such as scenic value, high use, trail and trailside amenities, historical significance, excellence in management and maintenance of facility, community connections and geographic distribution. Read more about the award and the greenway in the October 16 TrailBlog.

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