One-way no more: On the second weekend of October, Hennepin and First avenues in downtown Minneapolis will become two-way streets.

The conversion of two of downtown's main drags has been underway all summer and city officials will hold meetings this week and next to explain it.

The meetings will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday and Oct. 5 at City Hall.

Weather permitting, the change will occur the weekend of Oct. 10-11.

Bicycle lanes will be added to First Avenue, with buses and bikes sharing a lane with right-turning vehicles on Hennepin Avenue.

On-street parking along First Avenue will become driving lanes during peak travel times.

The streets between First Street North and 12th Street South have been repaved and restriped and signals have been rebuilt.

City officials planned to hold a news conference today to explain the changes.

Marquette Avenue and Second Avenue South are being reconstructed between 1st Street South and 12th Street South. Work started in August 2008 and will continue through December 2009. Both streets are being rebuilt from building front to building front. When the project is completed, the street will have two bus lanes and two traffic lanes (both operating in the same direction as they do today), wider sidewalks, new transit shelters, public art, more trees and more attractive landscaping and streetscaping. Several of the transit facilities will have real-time electronic departure information signs.

The number of buses operating in downtown is expected to increase significantly in the future, particularly as commuters continue to turn to mass transit to access the downtown business core. The dual transit lanes on 2nd and Marquette will:

* Dramatically improve the speed and reliability of bus service through downtown
* Add significant bus capacity in the downtown core
* Provide a more “legible” system for downtown commuters by consolidating express transit service into one north-south corridor
* Provide improved passenger waiting facilities, passenger security, passenger information systems, and passenger amenities
* Set the stage for the implementation of other downtown transit improvements

The MARQ2 project is the first of several projects that will reshape transportation in downtown Minneapolis, and it is the first major project to be constructed in the Downtown Transportation Action Plan, which was adopted by City Council in June 2007. When the MARQ2 project is completed, north-south commuter express buses will be moved from Nicollet Mall, 3rd Avenue South and other north-south streets to Marquette and 2nd. North-south commuter bus service will be much faster and more reliable than it is today, and the number of buses on the Mall during the peak periods will be reduced by about 35%. At that time, bicyclists will be able to use Nicollet Mall 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. By the end of 2010, all buses operating on Nicollet Mall will be hybrid electric buses, resulting in a quieter, cleaner mall environment for pedestrians, shoppers and diners. The removal of express buses from other streets will also help traffic flow better on those streets.

I'm gonna buy bullhorns and sharpen the ends.

I'm gonna take that Monday morning off and sit downtown with coffee, donuts, and a video camera. Watch for Hennepin's Greatest Car Crashes to debut on YouTube soon!

Early childhood bus trauma?

Nah, they don't want suburbanites scared away from downtown.