Lowry Hill neighbors weigh in on park plan and Hennepin traffic calming

Lowry Hill residents who want speed humps or curb extensions on their blocks must file with the city's Neighborhood Traffic Calming program, which ranks requests once a year and is working through a backlog of applications.

The discussion folded together two long-running neighborhood threads. The first is the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board's continuing work on the Chain of Lakes parkways, shoreline and tree canopy. The second is traffic, where residents along blocks near Hennepin Avenue have asked the city to slow cars down.

On traffic, the city's route runs through its Neighborhood Traffic Calming program, which collects requests from people who live, work or own property on a street and ranks them for treatments such as speed humps, traffic circles, curb extensions and median islands. Applications go to the program at 300 Border Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55405, or can be filed online; residents can also call Minneapolis 311 for help. The city set a Sept. 15 deadline for its most recent annual round. Program details are at

The timing matters because the just-finished reconstruction of Hennepin Avenue South, which reopened to two-way traffic with bus and bike lanes in 2025, reshaped travel patterns on the blocks feeding into it. The practical takeaway from the meeting was straightforward: file the traffic-calming request, keep the Lowry Hill Neighborhood Association informed, and track the Park Board's project schedule so residents can speak up while public-comment windows are open rather than after decisions are made.