🚦 46th and Hiawatha intersection will be reworked next year

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At a community meeting last night, the Minnesota Department of Transportation shared the latest designs for its planned changes to the 46th and Hiawatha intersection, which will remove lanes, add a new stoplight, and extend curbs to slow cars and shorten crossing distances for pedestrians. They plan to finalize the designs for the $2.6 million project this fall and begin construction next summer.

Background

With busy retail at two of its corners, a transit station on a third, and a regional bike connection on the fourth, the intersection sees a steady stream of pedestrian and bike traffic mixing with as many as 30,000 vehicles a day. Throw in long crossing distances, odd angles, train tracks, and growing crime concerns, and the experience of getting from one side to another via any mode can range from irritating to harrowing.

The city has identified the intersection as particularly hazardous for motorists, bikes, and pedestrians. It was the site of at least three "severe or fatal" bike and pedestrian crashes between 2017 and 2021. MnDOT, which manages Hiawatha Avenue, secured federal highway funds to help pay for improvements to the intersection and has been planning the upgrades with the city and county since 2023.

Key changes

(These are kind of hard to describe in prose, so bear with me.)

Reducing 46th Street lanes: The project will remove one lane from 46th Street in each direction.

• Westbound (from Walgreens, towards Venn Brewing): Currently there are three lanes: One for right turns, one for straight-or-left, and another for just left. The new configuration will be down to two: One for straight-or-right, and one for left. (So, there will still be one through lane across Hiawatha, but with one fewer lane to turn left and no dedicated right lane.) The space gained by removing the lane will be a painted median separating the two directions of traffic, not an actual raised median, which staff acknowledged people aren't supposed to use as a lane but probably will, especially for turning left into nearby retail. The extra space will also allow for a pedestrian refuge midway through the intersection.
• Crossing Hiawatha, heading east (from the wooded area near the creek toward Holiday Gas Station): Currently there are three lanes: A right-or-straight, a straight, and a left. The project will convert the right lane into a grassy area, and will leave a right-or-straight lane and a left-only lane. (So, there will be one lane to cross Hiawatha, down from two.) Across Hiawatha, in front of Holiday Gas Station, the curb will be extended so there is briefly one lane for the cars going straight, which cars turning right from Hiawatha will merge into. The second lane will return just east of the gas station, before the first bus stop.

The lane removals were the biggest point of contention at last night's meeting. MnDOT says removing the lanes will create shorter crossing distances and fewer conflicts for turning cars. (Pedestrians crossing from Holiday to Walgreen's will now cross three lanes of traffic, down from five; those crossing from the woods to Venn Brewing will only cross two, down from four.) Opponents of the change argued that reducing from two to one through-lanes for eastbound traffic would cause long traffic backups, especially since buses are required to stop at the rail tracks. There will still be no bike lanes in either direction.

45th Street stoplight: It's common practice for people leaving the 46th Street transit station — which actually lets out in between 45th and 46th streets — to cross Hiawatha mid-block rather than walk out of their way to the intersection, which is one of the primary sources of pedestrian-and-car conflict. MnDOT reports that during a three-hour period they observed this summer, 125 people crossed mid-block rather than using the stoplight.

The project will attempt to deter that behavior with both a carrot and a stick. It'll add a new signalized crosswalk — the kind where a pedestrian can push a button and make a stoplight turn red, a rarity on highways — a block north at 45th Street, offering an official crossing for people leaving the transit station. It'll also add fencing along the median between 45th and 46th to prevent people from crossing in between the two intersections.

In response to concerns that this will add yet another red light to the Hiawatha driving experience, project staff said the new signal will be synced with the 46th Street stoplight to avoid cars catching red lights at consecutive blocks.

Slower right turns: The corners in front of Venn Brewing and Holiday Gas Station both have what road planners call "porkchop" right turns, referring to the triangular pedestrian waiting area that allows cars to turn right at a shallower angle. The project won't eliminate the porkchops, but it will move the curb out to create a sharper turn, in the hopes of slowing cars down and giving better lines of sight to pedestrians waiting to cross.

Pedestrian refuges: When crossing Hiawatha between Walgreens and Venn Brewing, there is currently a waiting area midway through the intersection for people who cannot make the full crossing in one light cycle. Similar "refuges" will be added on the other side of Hiawatha, and on 46th Street for people crossing from Walgreens to Holiday.

Bike trail: The bike trail at the southwest corner of the intersection connects the Minnehaha Creek regional trail to the Hiawatha bike trail. Currently, it spits bikers out onto the sidewalk and meets the railroad tracks at an awkward angle. With the space gained from removing the right traffic lane on eastbound 46th Street, the trail will be reworked to join the crosswalk after crossing the rail tracks at a 90-degree angle.

New stoplights: The project will install new stoplights and ADA accessible crossings.

Timeline

Construction is scheduled to begin in June of 2026 and last through September. This will also coincide with significant track work along the length of the light rail. MnDOT expects Hiawatha to be reduced to one lane during the construction.