Mill Street pathway project

Hennepin County, in coordination with the cities of Excelsior, Shorewood and Chanhassen, is leading a project to construct a mile-long, multi-use pathway along the east side of Mill Street (County Road 82) in Excelsior, Shorewood, and Chanhassen. The new path will travel from 2nd Street/Morse Avenue over Highway 7 and connect to the existing Chanhassen pathway at Holly Lane. A green boulevard will be constructed to separate the path from the road, and create a safer way for people to walk, bike or roll along Mill Street.

Construction updates

Dates are tentative and subject to change.

Starting June 1

Mill Street will be closed to through traffic from 2nd Street/Morse Avenue to Holly Lane.

June 11 through September

• Southbound Mill Street will be closed to all traffic from 2nd Street/Morse Avenue to Holly Lane.
• Northbound Mill Street will be closed to through traffic, but open to local traffic only.

Using Mill Street during construction

Walking and rolling

The existing sidewalk on Mill Street from 3rd Avenue to Morse Avenue/2nd Street will be closed.

Driving

If you drive, plan an alternative route, or follow the posted detour using 2nd Street, Water Street, Oak Street, Highway 7, County Road 101/Chanhassen Road, and Highway 5. 

Local access

Residents: If you live in the area, you will be able to use Mill Street to reach your home, but at times it will be on a single lane or from one direction.

Businesses: If construction affects access to a business, we’ll provide an alternative route. Contact the business directly to see if there’s a change in business access. Contact the project team if you have any specific concerns.

Utilities

This project includes relocating many utility poles on the east side of the road to the future grass boulevard between the trail and road. Utility work is not done by Hennepin County. Instead power, gas, telecom, phone, and cable service providers temporarily close lanes to safely relocate their lines in advance of road construction. For information about utility work, contact the service provider directly.

About the project

When this project is complete, Mill Street will have:

• A shared-use path along the east side of the road
• A button-activated flashing light at 3rd Street in Excelsior to make crossing the road safer for people accessing the regional trail
• New pavement with one lane of traffic in each direction
• New curbs and gutters
• A new storm sewer to improve drainage on Mill Street/Powers Boulevard

Community involvement

In 2023, we asked the community near Mill Street about how they use Mill Street today, and how they would use a future multi-use pathway. We used that feedback, along with technical data and city and county policies, to create a final plan for Mill Street.

Project layout (PDF, 9MB)

Financing information

Financing for this project was provided by the Metropolitan Council through the Transportation Advisory Board’s Active Transportation Fund as established by the Minnesota Legislature.