The long-touted rebuild of the Lake Street/Midtown METRO Blue Line station is officially running late. Metro Transit now expects to shut down the busy stop in April 2027 for roughly 18 months, with construction rolling through the end of 2028. The slip in schedule follows a failed attempt to line up a construction contractor in fall 2025 and rising design costs that officials say forced a substantial redesign. Riders, Midtown Farmers Market vendors and nearby businesses are bracing for a long stretch of detours and disruption.
Timeline and scope
According to Metro Transit, the Lake Street/Midtown stop, at East Lake Street and Hiawatha Avenue, is one of the Blue Line's busiest boarding points and will fully close so crews can rebuild the station while coordinating with planned track and signal work. The agency's project page now lists an April 2027 closure, with construction extending into 2028.
Plans call for replacing major vertical access elements, refurbishing the platform and adding accessibility upgrades. Metro Transit says the goals are to make the station easier to maintain and to improve sightlines and safety for riders who use the complex every day.
Why the schedule slipped
A presentation to the Transportation Committee from the Metropolitan Council shows the project went out for construction bids in fall 2025 but did not receive any acceptable offers. That left staff to rework the schedule and redesign portions of the job to try again.
The same council materials document an original 2024 design contract worth about $3.47 million and two later amendments that together add roughly $2.42 million, bringing total design funding to just under $5.9 million. The station overhaul was already on the radar last summer, when a broader Lake Street update noted the coming work.
What will change at the station
Design concept materials posted by Metro Transit show plans to replace both elevator towers, widen stairways and remove the existing escalators. In their place, the agency wants an outage-proof pedestrian ramp that runs from street level up to the platform.
The concept also includes a full-length canopy, upgraded shelters and benches, and new internal operations space so staff can be based on site to handle maintenance and oversight. Planners say those choices are intended to cut back on recurring vandalism, make cleaning less of a constant battle and improve visibility around elevators, stairs and other vertical circulation areas.
Riders and neighbors respond
Riders and nearby residents told reporters the station has struggled for years with basic upkeep, citing frequently broken escalators, a lingering smell of urine and visible open drug use. Many say the improvements feel overdue, even if the closure will hurt in the short term.
Those firsthand accounts and concerns from local advocates are detailed in reporting by MinnPost. Community leaders say the project needs to deliver long-promised fixes while also spelling out clearer mitigation for riders who depend on the station daily.
Impact on the Midtown Farmers Market and businesses
Neighborhood groups note that Metro Transit has been doing outreach, including open houses and tabling at community events and the market itself, but vendors are asking for firmer promises on access and construction staging. The Lake Street Council has shared details of that outreach and emphasized the importance of timing the project so that the Midtown Farmers Market and surrounding small businesses can survive the hit.
Market organizers, in turn, say they will push for phased construction where possible, clearly marked pedestrian detours and plenty of advance notice before any full closure takes effect.
What comes next
Materials presented to the council show staff requested a second amendment to the design contract to deal with unforeseen bridge and utility conditions and to avoid impacts to a MnDOT storm-sewer while finishing 90 percent design. The council packet says that change would let the agency re-advertise the construction contract next spring.
Officials told the Transportation Committee they intend to seek new bids in spring 2026, with a target of starting major work in 2027, and that public outreach will continue as the schedule is locked in. Metro Transit and council staff say they will return with a final construction timeline and mitigation plan once bids are in and evaluated.
