A Big Win for a Livable Lyndale!
It’s official! The long-awaited redesign of Lyndale Avenue South has been approved by the City of Minneapolis.
Since 2023, Move Minnesota’s Livable Lyndale campaign has organized grassroots support for a people-focused, climate-friendly street design for this beloved Minneapolis corridor. By uniting a powerful base of community members, local organizations, and elected allies, our advocacy has had an undeniable impact on Hennepin County’s proposed reconstruction project. Together, we’ve won a Lyndale for the people, with significant improvements to the street that will make it safer, nicer, and more convenient for everyone to walk, bus, bike, and roll!
The City’s approval of Hennepin County’s design proposal marks the end of the three-year public engagement process around the reconstruction of Lyndale Avenue South from West Franklin Avenue to West 31st Street. Soon, people traveling along Lyndale will be able to:
- Enjoy a safer, slower street with curb bump-outs along intersections throughout the corridor, center medians preventing dangerous collisions, and narrower lanes slowing speeding vehicles
- Skip traffic while riding the 4 through a dedicated bus lane between W Franklin Ave to W 24th St
- Safely bike to their favorite grocery store or coffee shop on a two-way, curb-level protected bikeway between W Franklin Ave and W 28th St
- Spend cool Minnesota evenings on sidewalk patios next to green boulevards and stop to chat with neighbors along wider sidewalks
There’s a lot to look forward to! “Better opportunities for people to bike, walk, roll, and spend more time on Lyndale is better for everyone,” affirmed Julie J., senior community organizer for Move Minnesota. “It leads to cleaner air, more affordable cities, and a place where people want to spend time.”
As Philip S., Lyndale resident and longtime campaign volunteer, celebrated after the City’s approval, “After decades of an unsafe, unwelcoming, and crumbling road defined by chaotic traffic, the future of Lyndale looks bright!” These upgrades will transform the street with safe and sustainable pathways for people to enjoy the neighborhood, patronize our local businesses, come together, and get where they need to go. This sentiment was shared by Sunil K., another local Livable Lyndale volunteer, who expressed his excitement for the new design, noting that the new bikeway will allow him to safely bike to his favorite grocery store.
Still, Move Minnesota and Livable Lyndale supporters had urged decision-makers to make the proposed design even better, pushing to extend the bike lanes and bus lanes the full length of the project corridor and to improve safe crossings for people walking and rolling at the Lyndale Ave S and W Lake St intersection. These community recommendations did not make it into the final design.
With this in mind, Brian M., a resident of Ward 10 near LynLake, described the approved design for Lyndale Ave as a compromise but celebrated the bus lane, bike lane, medians, and traffic calming the design includes, saying: “I’m happy that the council has voted to trust the extended five-round public engagement process that Hennepin County has conducted to get to this point. I believe this will be a huge success once constructed, and in the meantime, let’s go support the businesses along the corridor!”
Similarly, while Phil S. called out the County’s failure to extend the bikeway to LynLake as “a major flaw” in the design, he emphasized that “this project is a big win for our community overall.”
With time-limited federal funding for the project, construction to rebuild Lyndale is scheduled to begin in 2028.
Livable Lyndale Takes City Hall
Over the last month, the proposed redesign progressed through three stages of municipal approval: beginning in the City Council’s Climate & Infrastructure Committee, moving onto a full City Council vote, and finally landing on the Mayor’s desk. Local residents kept the heat on elected leaders to approve a people-first design throughout the process, with hundreds of people directly messaging their Mayor and Council Member in the days leading up to final project decisions and dozens of Lyndale neighbors packing City Hall twice in support of a Livable Lyndale.
During the City Council vote, Council Member Chowdhury highlighted the proposal as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to “replace 100-year-old-infrastructure and build for the future,” affirming that a vote for the redesign is “a vote for progress for our city.” The City Council expressed strong support for the project, voting 8-4 in favor of design layout approval, with amendments to minimize the impact of construction on small businesses along Lyndale.
On July 23, Mayor Frey returned the City Council’s resolution of support without his signature, meaning the design is technically approved because he let the deadline to veto expire. Opponents had pushed the Mayor to block the Lyndale redesign and hold up the bus, bike, and pedestrian improvements altogether—something he ultimately chose not to do. We’re very pleased that this enables the project to move forward.
At the same time, Mayor Frey’s decision not to sign in support of the resolution and voice his support for climate-friendly and affordable transportation options for Minneapolis residents is disappointing, especially for a leader who has pledged to make the city carbon-neutral by 2050.
As Council Member Wonsley highlighted in her vote for the design, “Unfortunately, projects like this have reinforced a troubling reality for many residents, indicating that adopting bold transportation plans is one thing, but … when it comes to actually delivering the infrastructure necessary to achieve them, it becomes a whole other situation.”
Community Persistence Pays Off
Community members experienced this dynamic at the county level as well. The Hennepin County Redesign Team could have immediately prioritized the needs of people walking, biking, rolling, and taking transit during the Lyndale design process in alignment with the County’s own Complete and Green Streets Policy. Instead, it took extensive grassroots advocacy to get there.
Even though Livable Lyndale advocates were able to secure a final design that will positively transform Lyndale for everyone who travels along the lively corridor, “it shouldn’t be the residents’ responsibility to fight for streets that live up to the County’s commitments,” Regina B., who lives near Lyndale, shared in her testimony to the City Council. “I chose to live close to Lyndale because it’s my favorite part of the city, just about everything I need is within a short walk or bike ride. The new Lyndale Avenue should be future-oriented and an example for the rest of the city when it’s complete. We should be planning for our changing climate and to improve quality of life.”
Going forward, we need all of our project staff and elected leaders—at city, county, and state levels—to champion streets and communities that put climate commitments into action and authentically center the needs of people walking, rolling, biking and taking transit.
Despite the frustrating need to push decision-makers for such commonsense solutions, the persistence of local residents paid off. As Brent S., an engaged Whittier neighbor, emphasized, community members have many reasons to be excited for the final design, “which will promote a safer, greener, and less car-dependent street.”
A Big Thank You!
Over the past three years, Move Minnesota and our Minneapolis Volunteer Team have joyfully organized thousands of people around a shared vision for Livable Lyndale: a safe, welcoming street where everyone, regardless of age, ability, or mode of travel, can live, work, eat, and play.
This design was made better by every community member who took action and spoke up to share what a Livable Lyndale means to them. A big thank you to everyone who helped us fight for a Lyndale for the people, including our dedicated volunteers who collected thousands of supportive signatures and had countless conversations with people up and down Lyndale and across the city; the hundreds of neighbors who showed up to rallies, rides, and lemonade stands; and our local partners and elected allies who have advocated alongside us for safe, climate-friendly street! A special shout out to Minneapolis Council Members Chughtai, Wonsley, Stevenson, Chowdhury, and Chavez for championing a city where everyone can bus, bike, walk, and roll, and all the council members who voted in favor of the design layout.
We didn’t get every last thing we fought for, but as Council Member Wonsley affirmed in her vote, “Your advocacy changed the course of this project.” Thanks to our consistent collective action, this Lyndale Avenue South redesign will benefit people and our climate for decades to come.
And now we are so excited to see our shared vision become reality!
Join us for the Livable Lyndale Campaign Celebration event on August 27.
