Hennepin Avenue

For sections south of the Mississippi River, Hennepin Avenue follows stretches of an old Indian trail from Saint Anthony Falls to Bde Maka Ska.

It was named after Father Louis Hennepin, a Roman Catholic priest who explored the interior of North America for France while it was under French control.

[5] The street has achieved iconic status in Minneapolis culture, memorialized in songs by Tom Waits, The Hold Steady and Lucinda Williams, among others.

Once a two-way avenue, the Theatre District portion was changed in 1980 to a one-way northbound with a bus-only lane southbound.

[8] This change was hoped by the city to create urban vibrancy, quicker travel times, and to avoid confusing one-ways.

[needs update][9][10] Hennepin Avenue south of downtown is a major transit thoroughfare with 400 bus trips and 3,300 rides on the street each weekday.

[17] The future Metro E Line will travel on Hennepin Avenue through south Minneapolis and downtown before branching off into Marcy Holmes after crossing the Mississippi River.

[27] Margaret Anderson Kelliher, the city's Public Works Director reversed the city's earlier proposal of 24/7 bus lanes in favor of dynamic bus lanes that would only be reserved for transit in certain hours and used as parking during other times.

[28] A campaign to keep 24/7 bus lanes led to 20,000 emails sent to city officials and support from the Sierra Club and advocacy organizations Move Minnesota, Our Streets Minneapolis, and Hennepin For People.

[29] A public information request for data surrounding the bus lane decision revealed that public works staff considered dynamic parking lanes to "pose a moderate to high risk" to the Metro E Line, an analysis that was not presented to the city council committee in charge of approving the design.

[30][31] Ultimately, the city council approved a plan for bus lanes that are operational six hours a day.