Custom bus shelters are installed at each stop with heaters and real time transit information.

The corridor primarily serves express buses operated by all five public transit agencies in the Twin Cities.

[2] Transit has existed in the corridor since 1879 with the opening of steam railways which were eventually replaced by streetcars, and then buses.

Eventually the corridor's capacity became overwhelmed with the amount of buses so that operating conditions and speeds were severely impacted.

The redesign added an additional bus lane, increased space for pedestrians, and improved waiting amenities for customers.

Upon opening in 2009, capacity for buses in the corridor was tripled, which allowed most express bus service in downtown Minneapolis to be consolidated onto the two streets.

By the mid-1880s the steam trams operating the line became a nuisance downtown, and the company, now Minneapolis, Lyndale & Minnetonka Railway, responded with several forms of experimental traction along First Avenue.

The company collaborated with Charles Van Depoele for trains to be towed by an electric locomotive between Washington Avenue and Sixth Street.

The electric locomotive experienced intense vibrations and other mechanical problems, and current collection was unreliable.

In 1887 Minneapolis passed an ordinance requiring the Motor Line to use cable or other source of power within city limits.

[3] Van Depoele's efforts had produced reliable electric traction, but the Minneapolis, Lyndale & Minnetonka Railway was suffering financially and could not adapt to the ordinance.

Bus drivers were concerned about unsafe conditions with sharing Nicollet Mall between bicycles and buses.

The Minneapolis City Council was leaning towards separating north-south bus traffic onto Nicollet and Marquette until Metro Transit offered to help pay for installing bike lanes on Marquette and Second avenues in exchange for banning bicycles from Nicollet Mall for at least portions of the week.

[8] Ultimately bike lanes were installed on Marquette and Second avenues in September 1998, and bicycles were banned from Nicollet Mall on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.[9] The amount of bus traffic on the pair of lanes eventually overwhelmed the corridor's capacity and hampered operations.

The 10-year transportation plan proposed concentrating all express buses serving the suburbs to use the Marquette and Second Avenue pair of streets.

[13] The federal government awarded the metropolitan region, as well as four other cities, funds in a program called the Urban Partnership Agreement in 2007.

The $133 million grant would also fund other transit and roadway improvements like park and ride facilities and toll lanes along I-35W.

[17] The work on Marquette and Second avenues had a required completion of December 31, 2009, while other portions of the Urban Partnership Agreement project had later deadlines.

The change to Nicollet Mall allowed the existing bicycle lanes on the Marquette and Second Avenue pair of streets to be removed.

Buses from I-94 West, I-35W North, I-35W South, and I-394 all fed into the Marq2 lanes, which made them the busiest transit corridor in downtown Minneapolis.

[27] To maintain compliance with Title VI, heated shelters were added on Nicollet Mall and other locations that serve more low-income and minority riders.

[31] Minneapolis adjusted signal light timing and parking meters to improve conditions for transit.

Minnesota Valley Transportation Authority eventually temporarily detoured several bus routes off of the transit only lanes on Marquette to 4th and 3rd Avenues South in an effort to improve travel times.

[33] The Metro Orange Line was designed around using the corridor, and during planning stages, project staff identified several possibilities on connecting I-35W to the Marq2 lanes.

The previous road surface was recycled and used as a base with 9 inches (23 cm) of reinforced concrete place on top.