Minneapolis city and state officials cut the red ribbon at a gathering Thursday to celebrate the completion of a new $57 million stormwater tunnel. The tunnel runs approximately 70 feet below the street surface on Washington Avenue South and was constructed parallel to an already existing tunnel.  

The Central City Tunnel System is a system of stormwater tunnels that collect runoff for nearly all of downtown with some dating back to the 1800s. Any runoff collected via the tunnels is then routed to deposit into the Mississippi River.  

The new tunnel will help increase runoff capacity for the overall system. The goal is to improve the efficiency and speed of filtering water down to the river. That helps reduce flooding and prevent tunnel failures.   

“As of a couple years ago, Minneapolis was the city second most impacted by climate change,” Mayor Jacob Frey said.

Frey says the state is seeing “huge” changes in how the thaw at the end of the winter season occurs.  

City Council member Michael Rainville agrees that the climate of the world is changing. 

“Imagine the cities on the southeast coast that have 25 inches of water in a two-day period of time? How the heck do you handle all that stuff? If something like that happens here, we are well prepared,” Rainville says.  

The capacity of the tunnel is three times the size of existing ones. It can hold up to approximately 4 million gallons of water, said Angie Craft, Minneapolis public works director of surface water and sewers.

“We have an investment in the future of our community that will last for generations to come, keeping the water moving to the river so that people can keep moving through the city,” Craft said.