Learn about plans for the future of Central Avenue at WPCC's December board meeting

You are invited to join the Waite Park Community Council’s board of directors on Thursday, Dec. 12, as it hears a presentation on the future of Central Avenue from representatives for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The meeting will take place at 7pm at the Waite Park Recreation Center (1810 34th Ave. NE). To attend, go to the main entrance of the school on the north side of the building and press the ‘PARK & REC’ button on the security post to be buzzed in by park staff.

MnDOT is collaborating with local agencies and the public to create a new design for Central Ave. between University Ave. S.E. and I-694. As a part of this project, it is working closely with Metro Transit on the integration of the METRO F Line, a planned bus rapid transit line that will provide improved transit service on Route 10.

Following the presentation and Q&A with transportation planners, the board will have a discussion with 2nd Precinct Crime Prevention Specialist Abdirashid Ali on recent vandalism and car break-ins in the neighborhood.

The board will also begin planning its 2025 annual neighborhood meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday, March 13.

The complete agenda is available here.

The Waite Park Community Council is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization representing the Waite Park neighborhood in Northeast Minneapolis. Fifteen board members are elected to staggered two-year terms. Meetings are open for all to attend. Questions? Contact info@waiteparkcc.org.

Panel talks to explore visions for revitalizing Shoreham Yards buffers

A pair of events this week will explore visions for revitalizing areas around Shoreham Yards.

The panel discussions will take place Wednesday, April 20, at the Weisman Art Museum and Friday, April 22, at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

MCAD faculty member Gudrun Lock and a group of poets, researchers, activists, and other artists will explore what revitalization means to them.

Lock’s exhibition, the Nature of Shoreham Yards at the Weisman Art Museum, features the in-process work, research, and explorations of a motley collective of thinkers and makers. The focus of these efforts are the buffers of Shoreham Yards, an active, 230-acre train and trucking facility in Northeast Minneapolis. Both polluted and full of life, the buffers interface in dynamic ways with the neighborhoods surrounding them, and are potent sites of potential transformation, revitalization, and repair.

What is Revitalization? Panel Discussions
Pecha Kucha Panel: April 20, 3:00 p.m. at the WAM
Revitalization Panel: April 22, 1:00 p.m. at MCAD

Learn More

• Nature of Shoreham Yards

• Pecha Kucha Panel (at WAM)

• Revitalization Panel (at MCAD)

Stormwater project will narrow Central Avenue at Columbia Parkway this month

Southbound traffic on Central Avenue NE will be reduced to a single lane immediately north and south of Columbia Parkway through late October.

Pedestrian traffic will be rerouted to the east side of Central Avenue between 35th and 37th Avenues. Bicycle traffic will be rerouted two blocks to the east, to Polk Street NE, between 35th and 37th Avenues. Signs will be posted indicating detour routes .

The lane closure and detours are allowing for construction of a stormwater pretreatment unit just south of the railroad crossing, similar to the unit installed in fall 2020 at 35th Avenue NE and NE Tyler Street.

Project partners are working to construct storm sewer improvements and a series of stormwater best management practices (BMPs) at Columbia Golf Course and Columbia Park. These BMPs will treat polluted runoff from a previously untreated 612-acre drainage area.

In addition to keeping pollutants out of the nearby Mississippi River, the project will reduce flooding in neighborhoods within the drainage area and on the golf course itself; improve habitat; and enhance golf play and other recreational opportunities.

—City of Minneapolis

Major transit upgrade recommended for Central Avenue

Central Avenue is slated for a major transit upgrade this decade as part of Metro Transit's next round of bus rapid transit projects.

The regional transit agency finalized a recommendation last month to add a bus rapid transit line called the METRO F Line that would run between downtown Minneapolis and Northtown Mall via Central and University avenues.

Bus rapid transit (BRT) blends bus service with infrastructure similar to a light rail line. Riders pay fares at ticket machines before boarding. Buses make fewer stops, significantly speeding up travel time time. They also receive signal priority at traffic lights.

The estimated $81 million project includes funding for "enhanced shelters," which would be located on average 0.43 miles apart, including stops adjacent to the Waite Park neighborhood at 37th Avenue and 33rd Avenue. Service would run every 10 minutes for most of the day, seven days per week.

Route 10 would continue to operate approximately every 30 minutes along a path similar to the existing Route 10N, which runs through Spring Lake Park and Fridley along Central and Monroe avenues north of 53rd. Route 59 would be eliminated.

Metro Transit already provides BRT service along three corridors, including the METRO A Line along Snelling Avenue and the METRO C Line between downtown and Brooklyn Center. Five more BRT lines are set to open in the next few years.

Pending full funding, construction would begin on the Central Avenue line in 2025 with service starting the following year. A Johnson Street BRT line to replace the existing Route 4 is also under consideration between 2030 and 2040. —Dan Haugen

Riding the bus today? Here’s what you need to know.

A map of the proposed METRO F Line Bus Rapid Transit route along Central and University avenues. Pending full funding, construction on the project would start in 2025.