A First Full Summer on the Rebuilt Hennepin Avenue and the E Line

The reconstruction of Hennepin Avenue South between West Lake Street and Douglas Avenue was a roughly $36.7 million project that finished on schedule. Phase 1, from Lake Street to 26th Street, wrapped in November 2024; Phase 2, from 26th Street to Douglas, finished in late October 2025, and the city marked the reopening Oct. 30.

The redesign reallocated a fixed amount of street space. The city narrowed the roadway from four general traffic lanes to two to make room for dedicated bus lanes, added a two-way protected bikeway on the east side, widened the sidewalks and built enhanced stations for the E Line, the bus rapid transit route that opened Dec. 6, 2025.

The E Line replaced Route 6, which had carried about 9,000 weekday trips and ranked among Metro Transit's busiest bus routes. The new line runs roughly every 10 minutes midday and every 12 minutes most of the rest of the day, with stations spaced farther apart and equipped with real-time signs, ticket machines, light and heat; a new Route 36 picks up the local stops Route 6 used to serve along Hennepin south of the Uptown Transit Station ).

For residents of the Wedge and East Isles, the test now is everyday function rather than construction patience: whether the E Line runs faster and more reliably than the bus it replaced, whether the new crossings and bikeway feel safer, and whether a first uninterrupted summer brings foot traffic back to a commercial district that absorbed years of closures. Metro Transit publishes E Line schedules and the city maintains its Hennepin Avenue project page for the official record.