Lowry Hill Tunnel

The Lowry Hill Tunnel is a tunnel 1,496 feet (456 m) in length accommodating the Interstate 94 (I-94) freeway near downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota that was completed in late 1971.

It is placed at a near-right-angle turn in the highway, forcing the three lanes of traffic in each direction to slow down.

Although constructed as a tunnel through rock, the surface a few yards above is covered with roadways.

Opened in November 1971, this tunnel was built with $31 million to help fix the congestion of 30,000 vehicles a day.

Despite massive increases in traffic, especially since the construction of I-394 in the 1990s and population growth of over 1 million people in the metropolitan area, the tunnel cannot be widened as it sits between the footings and basements of St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral (Minneapolis) and Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church to the east and the Walker Art Center to the west.

Inside the Lowry Hill Tunnel (Heading North inbound south) at night
The entrance from the south/east