We knew this one was coming, but that doesn’t make it any less of a pain in the butt now that it is actually here. Starting this Friday August 5th the Hiawatha LRT bike path will close between 11th ave and 15th ave. This closure is due to the construction for the Central Corridor and is expected to remain closed until July 2012.
The city has installed a temporary sidewalk and detour path along the 5th street ramp and onto 11th ave. See the map below.
In addition starting this past Monday August 1st, bicycle and pedestrian path reconstruction started in the southwest corner of Loring Park, cutting off cycling access through the area. This construction is only expected to last for two to four weeks and isn’t as obstructive as the Hiawatha LRT construction.
Be sure to check out the City of Minneapolis cycling website for more information.
Cycle Twin Cities 
One correction and one update . . . this is actually a Central Corridor LRT detour – so the Met Council is responsible for getting the LRT Trail detour up and we are just helping to get the word out about it. Also they delayed the detour until next Monday, August 8th (one last weekend!). On top of that the City (via our contractor) has delayed construction on the Loring Park project until Monday, August 15th. Thanks for getting the word out about this cycletc!
Thanks Shaun, this is an important distinction.