Franklin Avenue Construction Begins as Downtown Weighs Expanding Its Improvement District

Hennepin County's reconstruction of Franklin Avenue, which carries County Road 5 along the southern edge of Ward 7, began March 23 and is scheduled to run through fall 2027 between Lyndale and Chicago avenues. Westbound Franklin is closed between the Lyndale/LaSalle-Blaisdell and First/Chicago segments, with eastbound reduced to a single local-access lane. The regional detour uses Lyndale Avenue South, 26th Street westbound, 28th Street eastbound and Chicago Avenue; a local detour uses Nicollet Avenue, 15th and 16th streets and Chicago.

The detours push traffic onto corridors carrying their own pressures. Lyndale Avenue South is itself headed for reconstruction: Hennepin County is finishing a permanent redesign between Franklin and 31st Street, with construction set to begin in 2028 and a planned three-lane configuration, a northbound transit lane and a separated bikeway.

Downtown, the Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District held residential roundtables March 24 and 25, at the Young Quinlan Building and The Larking, to discuss extending its assessments to residential properties. The district, with a 2026 budget of about $9.2 million for cleaning, safety and beautification, is currently funded mainly by commercial-property assessments; under prior state law, residential owners could not be charged mandatory district fees. A recent change in Minnesota law opened that door, and St. Paul's downtown district has already begun assessing residential properties for the first time.

The same stretch carried a full council agenda. Members took up Mayor Jacob Frey's proposal to buy an industrial property at 146 W. 60th St. in the Windom neighborhood for about $6 million, the planned site of a roughly $38 million first-responder training and wellness center meant to draw a state bonding match. The proposal has been sharply contested, with critics nicknaming it "Cop City" and arguing the money should go to more pressing needs; a divided council ultimately rejected the acquisition.

For residents, the week showed how many fronts a city operates on at once: a torn-up county road, a who-pays question about downtown's upkeep, and a contested capital purchase. Drivers can route around Franklin via the posted detours, and downtown residents can follow the assessment question through the district's outreach.