Congratulations to the City of Minneapolis’ 4th Street Reconstruction Project for receiving the 2022 APWA-MN Project of the Year Honorable Mention Award. This award recognizes a project which maintains safety, uses innovative construction management, and has strong community relations throughout the duration of the project. The project team was presented the award on Friday, November 18 at the APWA-MN Fall Conference.
4th Street is a high-volume corridor that serves as a direct freeway access point into and out of downtown Minneapolis. Despite its deteriorated condition, there are many high-profile destinations along the corridor, including city hall, the federal courthouse, Hennepin County Family Justice Center, Minneapolis Central Library, and Police Precinct No. 1. Because it has historically favored motor vehicles, the corridor had subpar facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The city wanted the corridor to better serve the multiple modes of traffic that use it daily. The main focus was transitioning the corridor from one that primarily served vehicles to one that better serves all modes of transportation and makes the infrastructure more equitable for all users.
The existing one-way, eastbound corridor originally accommodated a contraflow, westbound bus lane. This lane was decommissioned, and the affected Metro Transit routes were rerouted to parallel streets. This allowed the new roadway cross-section to better accommodate wider and more accessible sidewalks and a dedicated, separated two-way cycle track. To ensure the corridor best meets the needs of all users, the pedestrian ramps were reconstructed in consideration of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) guidance while the cycle track was designed in accordance with the latest National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) guidance. Eastbound bus service was enhanced with a wider thru-lane along the southerly curb line, a pull off lane at higher volume transit stops, and accommodations for future transit priority signals. Additionally, signals were enhanced to best meet the needs of traffic in the highly congested corridor through the incorporation of dedicated bike signals, video detection for left turn lanes, blank-out signs, changeable message signs, accessible pedestrian signals, and fiber optic interconnection.
Learn more about the 4th Street Minneapolis project here.
