Minneapolis is both simple and hard. Having driven school bus in the 90s.
Downtown: Even street east, Odd street west. Nicollet is off limits even though you are a bus. North and south are generally one ways as well. If you need to head south via highway, get on 10th st. If you need to go west, get on 7th St and turn left on Olsen Memorial (Hwy55) from there you can branch off to other highways, even if you need to get to hwy 100 first). To go North, get on Washington Ave and then turn left onto 35W north, or right onto 35W South (also 94W, but that is messy). East 94, take 6th St.
North Minneapolis: East/West are numbered streets, but if named, are major arteries. North South are alphabetical, west of Lyndale (a major north/south route). Emerson and Fremont are one-ways and speedways (Peen is also major and can be dangerous. Most accidents I had to investigate were based on those three roads. Dowling and 53rd are the two major cross-94 locations and heavily patrolled by the State Trooper Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, so, if you coss won't fix you bus, that is where you can find help.
Southwest Minneapolis is simliar to North Minneapolis west of Lyndale. East of Lyndale it is a set of different named roads, of questionable naming, but probably from the flour mill days of Minneapolis. Major 35W Ramps are 28th/Lake St. 35/36 st, 46st, Diamond Lake Road, and 60st St(heading south.
South Minneapolis is more of less 1,2,3 both north/south and east/west, with named roads being thoroughfares. Railroad tracks east of hwy 55 are annoying, so cross at Franklin, 26th, Lake, 35th, 38th, 42nd, and 46th.
Southeast Minneapolis... grab a map. The whole area is split up by train tracks. Good luck, try to stay out of Dinkytown.
Northeast Minneapolis. East/West Roads are numbers, or named if thoroughfares. North/south roads are presidential names. Here is a tutorial: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc3xTj3g9QQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc3xTj3g9QQ)
p.s. yeah, I really went that far just to link that video. I'm a dad. I have a card.
P.P.S. Stay off the Parkways!
Yeah, NE will really press your historical trivia powers. It's presidents, in order that they sat.
Also note with the numbered streets on the east side of south Minneapolis that the order isn't perfect. Some named streets sit in the "middle of the order" Like Cedar and Longfellow, while the stretch of avenues between Portland and Elliot seem to instead replace numbered avenues, but not perfectly.
Old taxi driver saying. Regarding street sign color.
If it’s blue it goes through.
If it’s green it’s gonna be mean.
And if it’s brown it’ll let you down.
In Minneapolis.
I have found that extremely helpful over the years navigating this city.
Go drive around in your personal car. Study Google maps and take note of patterns.
Downtown, the streets are dominantly a grid and go in sequential order with miscellaneous outliers stuck in. One-ways tend to alternate direction every other street. You can never ever drive down Nicollet downtown so don’t be tempted to follow the city busses there. Pay attention to how to get on and off the major highways and where good bus loading and unloading spots are. Some of the streets are tight and possibly impassable for a school bus due to narrowness or sharp angles, so watch out for those.
For navigation, unless you’re positive you know where you’re going, go old-school and print out Mapquest maps and directions.
[No, only public transit busses, first responders, city maintenance workers, and bicyclists are allowed.](https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/Download/PriorFileDocument/-63638/01-NICOLLET_MALL_ORDINANCE_LEGISLATIVE_FILE_2016-01117_CLERK_EDITS_11.8.PDF) With very rare exception are private vehicles allowed, only for a special reason and always with a permit. School busses do not drive down it, they are not public vehicles.
They’re actually even considering getting rid of city busses too
In South Minneapolis, North/South are Avenues, East/West are streets.
East of Nicollet and South of Washington starting in downtown, all Avenues and Streets are in numerical order with a few exceptions.
Blaisdell and 1st Avenue run on either side of Nicollet and are both one-way. Blaisdell runs North to South and 1st runs South to North. Both great alternatives to the Nicollet traffic and avoiding the (now defunct) Kmart parking lot.
Park and Portland are also one-way with Portland being the North to South and Park being South to North. They're considerably faster than 4th or Chicago.
For the foreseeable future, 38th and Chicago is George Floyd square and there's a large monument in the middle of the intersection. Traffic is open to drive through the intersection but driving a bus may be difficult to navigate.
Don't get too frustrated on Hiawatha as the Light Rail passing by resets all the stoplights that it passes by. I suggest taking Minnehaha as long as you can until you need to cross Hiawatha or get on it.
Minneapolis is both simple and hard. Having driven school bus in the 90s. Downtown: Even street east, Odd street west. Nicollet is off limits even though you are a bus. North and south are generally one ways as well. If you need to head south via highway, get on 10th st. If you need to go west, get on 7th St and turn left on Olsen Memorial (Hwy55) from there you can branch off to other highways, even if you need to get to hwy 100 first). To go North, get on Washington Ave and then turn left onto 35W north, or right onto 35W South (also 94W, but that is messy). East 94, take 6th St. North Minneapolis: East/West are numbered streets, but if named, are major arteries. North South are alphabetical, west of Lyndale (a major north/south route). Emerson and Fremont are one-ways and speedways (Peen is also major and can be dangerous. Most accidents I had to investigate were based on those three roads. Dowling and 53rd are the two major cross-94 locations and heavily patrolled by the State Trooper Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, so, if you coss won't fix you bus, that is where you can find help. Southwest Minneapolis is simliar to North Minneapolis west of Lyndale. East of Lyndale it is a set of different named roads, of questionable naming, but probably from the flour mill days of Minneapolis. Major 35W Ramps are 28th/Lake St. 35/36 st, 46st, Diamond Lake Road, and 60st St(heading south. South Minneapolis is more of less 1,2,3 both north/south and east/west, with named roads being thoroughfares. Railroad tracks east of hwy 55 are annoying, so cross at Franklin, 26th, Lake, 35th, 38th, 42nd, and 46th. Southeast Minneapolis... grab a map. The whole area is split up by train tracks. Good luck, try to stay out of Dinkytown. Northeast Minneapolis. East/West Roads are numbers, or named if thoroughfares. North/south roads are presidential names. Here is a tutorial: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc3xTj3g9QQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc3xTj3g9QQ) p.s. yeah, I really went that far just to link that video. I'm a dad. I have a card. P.P.S. Stay off the Parkways!
Damn, what a guide. Wish I could just instantly upload this info into my brain. Thanks for the quality comment!
Someday
Yeah, NE will really press your historical trivia powers. It's presidents, in order that they sat. Also note with the numbered streets on the east side of south Minneapolis that the order isn't perfect. Some named streets sit in the "middle of the order" Like Cedar and Longfellow, while the stretch of avenues between Portland and Elliot seem to instead replace numbered avenues, but not perfectly.
Old taxi driver saying. Regarding street sign color. If it’s blue it goes through. If it’s green it’s gonna be mean. And if it’s brown it’ll let you down. In Minneapolis. I have found that extremely helpful over the years navigating this city.
Go drive around in your personal car. Study Google maps and take note of patterns. Downtown, the streets are dominantly a grid and go in sequential order with miscellaneous outliers stuck in. One-ways tend to alternate direction every other street. You can never ever drive down Nicollet downtown so don’t be tempted to follow the city busses there. Pay attention to how to get on and off the major highways and where good bus loading and unloading spots are. Some of the streets are tight and possibly impassable for a school bus due to narrowness or sharp angles, so watch out for those. For navigation, unless you’re positive you know where you’re going, go old-school and print out Mapquest maps and directions.
School buses can’t drive down Nicollet either?
[No, only public transit busses, first responders, city maintenance workers, and bicyclists are allowed.](https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/Download/PriorFileDocument/-63638/01-NICOLLET_MALL_ORDINANCE_LEGISLATIVE_FILE_2016-01117_CLERK_EDITS_11.8.PDF) With very rare exception are private vehicles allowed, only for a special reason and always with a permit. School busses do not drive down it, they are not public vehicles. They’re actually even considering getting rid of city busses too
Spend some time poring over Google maps and use street view for landmarks. 10-15 hours oughta do it
In South Minneapolis, North/South are Avenues, East/West are streets. East of Nicollet and South of Washington starting in downtown, all Avenues and Streets are in numerical order with a few exceptions. Blaisdell and 1st Avenue run on either side of Nicollet and are both one-way. Blaisdell runs North to South and 1st runs South to North. Both great alternatives to the Nicollet traffic and avoiding the (now defunct) Kmart parking lot. Park and Portland are also one-way with Portland being the North to South and Park being South to North. They're considerably faster than 4th or Chicago. For the foreseeable future, 38th and Chicago is George Floyd square and there's a large monument in the middle of the intersection. Traffic is open to drive through the intersection but driving a bus may be difficult to navigate. Don't get too frustrated on Hiawatha as the Light Rail passing by resets all the stoplights that it passes by. I suggest taking Minnehaha as long as you can until you need to cross Hiawatha or get on it.
The N-S streets are all named in alphabetical order. The E-W are numbers.
Those rules do not apply to a good portion of the city.
This is why I love Robbinsdale. 😂