The city will rebuild the intersection of East 26th Street and Hiawatha Avenue. This is the portions on the east and west side of the intersection. And the project's also going to include improving a part of East 26th Street between Hiawatha Avenue and Cedar Avenue.

In 2022, we began public engagement. 2023 we had preliminary design and layout approval. And 24 and 25, that's when we started our detailed design and engineering. That brings us up to May where we are now starting construction which is anticipated to start next Tuesday, May 26th, the day after Memorial Day.

This project was really instigated um by um the city observing uh through data and through um kind of resident feedback that uh this intersection was kind of uniquely um challenged in terms of of traffic safety. There's been a kind of a long record of of of a concern trend in terms of um uh crash history um of folks uh at this intersection and specifically traveling along Hiawatha Avenue.

So the the city applied for federal funds um a number of years ago and received them um in order to do uh work at this intersection. So uh just for some context, um there have been six fatalities um associated with crashes at this intersection um since 2020 um and at least that number of kind of life-changing injuries as well.

So um yeah, that's that's kind of the impetus for the project. Um and so uh it was a little bit um of an interesting project being that the the city of Minneapolis uh was laying and and uh, the project um, in this area uh, but it's important to to acknowledge um, that we had to to work within um, the state of Minnesota's Department of Transportation's kind of uh, toolbox uh, if you will um, since Hiawatha Avenue is Minnesota Trunk Highway 55. So that's it's under state jurisdiction. So we we needed to to follow their kind of design constraints um, and and standards there um,

So, we're we're looking to make that geometric change um, [clears throat] as well as making some some other changes like adding pedestrian refuge medians um, and and making the uh, kind of walking and biking experience across the intersection a little bit uh, a safer via the medians and and just through uh, tighter radii.

So, the three motor vehicle lanes will continue to exist, uh, but we're, uh, eliminating the existing paint in-street painted bike lane, um, extending the curb on the north side of the street, uh, and creating a wider shared use path for both, uh, folks walking and using, um, kind of micro mobility devices, uh, and then there'll be space for a a wider uh, boulevard that it will be capable, uh, of supporting trees. So, um, uh, or trees and lighting. So, um, we're looking to make that change as well to connect it into con- to connect the Hiawatha LRT Trail to the, uh, soon-to-exist Cedar Avenue, um, trails.

I just want to reiterate, I know we met with you earlier this year, but I just wanted to make sure, just to confirm that all of our driveways um will be not blocked at any time, correct?

Correct.

So, we do have one driveway on the north side of East 26th Street closer to Cedar. We will maintain that most of the time except when we have to work in front of that to do some removals or pour new concrete. There may be some time where we'll work with the homeowner to figure out some alternatives, but there will be some cure time for that concrete before they can get back in their driveway.

So, we we live on 26th and have the driveway that comes out on Cedar. Oh, our alley comes out on to Yeah, sorry, our alley comes out on Cedar. Will how when this it sounds like this project is going to overlap with the Cedar Avenue project?

Our project we should have most of our stuff done between Cedar and Hiawatha prior to them starting in September. Um I guess I could give you a contact information. Um if you want to put your name or sorry, your phone number in [clears throat] the chat, I can give you the project manager for Hennepin County. Um I'm sure they probably are aware that, you know, there's there's cars that are coming out that alley.

So, you said the bike access to 26th is now going to be using the bridge it's like coming off Cedar um and crossing over to 24th Street at Hiawatha. Is that correct?

Correct.

Um I mean, so the last I looked that bike was basic or sorry, that bikeway was basically uh an encampment. Is there going to be any effort to make that a little easier to pass through?

Saw a couple squad cars um around that encampment encampment uh homeless encampment there.

I do have a contact. I'll probably reach out to the same person that I had to contact to have some tents removed off our corner there in the construction limits. So, yes, I do have a contact. Um can't make any promises, but they were they were able to kind of move some people out of our construction site. So, maybe we maybe they can um um you know, get some information to them, let them know that that's our detour and to find some other spots. So, but yeah, good point and we'll uh we'll we'll do our best on that one for sure.

We are removing um the what we would call a pork chop island um in the north west and southeast quadrants um to eliminate kind of the free right turn um which does happen to uh, have kind of a serious um, uh, it's we did kind of safety challenges. There was uh, two pedestrians that were hit and killed um, crossing from the from the sidewalk to the to the pork chop islands. So, we're we're looking to make that geometric change.

I am so excited that you're getting rid of the pork chops that is as someone who uses that section on like a very like daily basis. I have had my own close calls there and I'm really excited to see traffic slow down.

This meeting will be posted on the webpage.

I'm Aura um wondering about the field. I'm presuming this is in the northwest quadrant. Um what is going to become of that? Coffee shop, drive-thru coffee shop, something? Um and I believe is that land with middle Little Earth right now or

As far as I've heard yeah like you mentioned the the Northwest quadrant is private property owned by Little Earth United Tribes so it's totally up to them what they want to do with it but yeah they have a building planned for that quadrant um as far as I'm aware they're the design of it is done I think they're just waiting to secure um some funding so I guess I don't have a timeline as to that um but they do have a have a building planned for that um area.