Portland Avenue Closing for Downtown Commons Construction Beginning March 14
Via a March 11 e-newsletter from the City of Minneapolis:
Portland Avenue in Downtown Minneapolis Closing for Construction
Beginning at 9 a.m., Monday, March 14, Portland Avenue from Third Street to Fifth Street in downtown Minneapolis will close to traffic through early summer. The closing will allow construction of the Downtown Commons, a two-block, public green space being created in the Downtown East neighborhood. Drivers should follow posted detours and find alternate routes into and out of the downtown area.
As Ryan Companies constructs this area, the City is making pedestrian and bike improvements to the adjacent parts of Portland Avenue, Fourth Street South, Fifth Street South, and Park Avenue. These include off-street bike lanes, pedestrian bump outs at intersections and new sidewalks and pedestrian-level street lighting.
This is one of many construction projects that will affect traffic in Downtown this year. To help drivers know about all of the current and upcoming work, the City has mapped these projects. Links to the maps are available at www.minneapolismn.gov/publicworks/traffic.