The Lowry Hill Tunnel is a tunnel 1,496 feet (456 m) in length accommodating the Interstate 94 (I-94) freeway near downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota that was completed in late 1971. It is placed at a near-right-angle turn in the highway, forcing the three lanes of traffic in each direction to slow down. The advised speed is 40 miles per hour (64 km/h).

Quick Facts Overview, Location ...

Lowry Hill Tunnel

The entrance of Lowry Hill Tunnel from the north/west, below Hennepin and Lyndale Avenues
Overview
Location	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Coordinates	44.96583°N 93.288217°W / 44.96583; -93.288217
Status	Open
Route	I-94
Crosses	Local streets over Interstate 94
Operation
Opened	1971
Owner	Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT)
Traffic	Automotive
Vehicles per day	175,000 (2018)[1]
Technical
Length	1,496 ft (455 m)[2]
No. of lanes	6
Operating speed	35 miles per hour (56 km/h)

Close

Although constructed as a tunnel through rock, the surface a few yards above is covered with roadways. The tunnel functions as if it were the underpass under a 0.25-mile-wide (400 m) bridge which carries Hennepin Avenue, Lyndale Avenue, and various ramps over I-94.

Opened in November 1971, this tunnel was built with $31 million to help fix the congestion of 30,000 vehicles a day. Today, the Lowry Hill Tunnel sees an average of 175,000 vehicles pass through it each day, 54% more than the Lincoln Tunnel^[3] that connects New Jersey to Manhattan. The tunnel originally opened with two lanes in each direction, and since the shoulders have been replaced with third lanes due to demand. Despite massive increases in traffic, especially since the construction of I-394 in the 1990s and population growth of over 1 million people in the metropolitan area, the tunnel cannot be widened as it sits between the footings and basements of St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral (Minneapolis) and Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church to the east and the Walker Art Center to the west.