Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Minneapolis Skyway System

SkywayPrivately ownedActiveBuilt for cold

A network of enclosed second-floor pedestrian bridges and interior corridors linking about 80 blocks of downtown Minneapolis, begun in 1962. Each bridge is privately built and owned by the buildings it connects and crosses the public street under a revocable city encroachment permit, so there is no public easement and, in practice, each building sets its own hours.

Lengthabout 9.5 milesMeet Minneapolis and Urban Works now cite 'more than 10 miles'[15]

Blocks80full city blocks in downtown[02]

Bridgesmore than 100about 90 in 2016 per Next City; the 2012 Accenture–Ameriprise link was described as the 84th[13]

Buildings connectedmore than 150per Urban Works, publisher of the skyway access guide[06]

Levelsecond floorzoning standards allow new skyways on the second floor only[01]

Opened1962Northstar Center to Northwestern National Bank over Marquette Avenue[02]

Ownershipprivate (building owners)bridges cross the right of way under encroachment permits[04]

Hoursset by each buildingzoning minimum for new skyways: Mon–Fri 6:30 a.m.–10 p.m., Sat 9:30 a.m.–8 p.m., Sun noon–6 p.m.[01]

Governance

Who owns it, who runs it, what the rules are.

Owner: Each bridge and the corridors through each building are privately built and owned by the adjoining property owners. The city grants only a permit for the bridge to occupy air space over the public right of way and holds no public easement through the buildings.
Operator: Individual building owners and managers run their own segments, including hours, security and cleaning. Urban Works publishes the system's access guide and wayfinding information. The Downtown Improvement District provides street-level ambassadors.
Hours: Zoning standards require skyways approved under the 2016 rules to be open Monday–Friday 6:30 a.m.–10 p.m., Saturday 9:30 a.m.–8 p.m. and Sunday noon–6 p.m. Older skyways are exempt, and each building sets its own hours. Most connected buildings now close around 6 p.m. on weekdays and stay closed on weekends.Not enforced[01]
Public right: The public has permission to use the skyways, not a legal right of passage. Because the city never obtained easements, owners can close their segments, and the encroachment permits that let bridges cross streets are revocable. MinnPost reported in 2016 that skyway hours were neither uniform nor enforced.
Who pays: Building owners pay to build, heat, light, clean, secure and insure their bridges and corridors. There is no city assessment or dedicated public budget for the system. Bridges over county roads fall under Hennepin County oversight, and city regulatory services inspects most skyways.

Legal instruments

Minneapolis Zoning Code, Chapter 535, Article XIII (Skyways), §535.920 ↗Standards for new skyways: second floor only, perpendicular to the street, at least 80% glazed sidewalls with 85% bird-safe glass, 12-foot minimum clear width, defined street access, and minimum public hours. Compliant skyways are reviewed administratively by the zoning administrator. Citation is from the city's 2017 bulletin and may have been renumbered since.[01]
Minneapolis Code of Ordinances, Title 5, Chapter 95 (Encroachments) ↗Requires an encroachment permit for any structure projecting over the public right of way. The permit lets the holder use that air space until the city needs it, can be revoked for public purposes, and requires insurance naming the city.[07]
Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan, Skyways policy ↗Calls for uniform skyway hours, accessible vertical connections to sidewalks, uniform signage, transparent walls, and limits expansion to the downtown core and major institutions.[03]
Legislative directive RCA-2025-00678, 'Minneapolis skyway system: governance and access' ↗2025 committee action directing staff work on the establishment, oversight and code enforcement of skyways and their operations. No binding hours ordinance was found as of review.[08]

Governing bodies

City of Minneapolis zoning administrator (review of new skyways)City of Minneapolis Public Works (encroachment permits)Minneapolis City Council Business, Housing and Zoning CommitteeSkyway Advisory Committee (building owners and skyway users, associated with the Downtown Council)Minneapolis Downtown Council and Downtown Improvement DistrictHennepin County (bridges over county roads)

Open issues

Whether the city can require uniform, enforced hours on privately owned bridges that carry no public easement; the 2025 directive had not produced an ordinance as of review.
Post-pandemic hours have shrunk, with many buildings closing at 6 p.m. and on weekends, which breaks routes for downtown residents.
The 2040 plan limits expansion to the downtown core, reflecting the long-running complaint that skyways drain life from the street.
Redevelopment and transit projects can remove links, as with the 1970s Fifth Street skyway taken down for light-rail work.

Timeline

1962Developer Leslie Park and architect Ed Baker open the first skyway, spanning Marquette Avenue between the Northstar Center and the Northwestern National Bank building.[02]
1963Skyway linking the Northstar Center to the Roanoke Building opens; it is the oldest segment still in use.[15]
1972Seven skyways are in operation, not all of them interconnected.[02]
1973IDS Center is completed with skyway connections on all four sides, creating a central hub for the network.[02]
1976The Downtown Council produces the first formal skyway maps.[15]
2012A US$3 million skyway between Accenture Tower and the Ameriprise Financial Center opens, described as the system's 84th bridge.[11]
2016City codifies zoning standards for new skyways covering glazing, bird-safe glass, signage, street access and minimum public hours; existing skyways are exempt.[04]
2018For Super Bowl LII, more than 75 buildings covering two-thirds of the system coordinate 6 a.m.–midnight hours along designated routes.[10]
2025A legislative directive on the establishment, oversight and code enforcement of skyways goes to the City Council's Business, Housing and Zoning Committee, followed by a staff governance and access report.[08]

What it cost · who pays

New bridge (Accenture Tower–Ameriprise Financial Center) · 2012: US$3 millionprivately built; built by Opus Group[11]
Typical new skyway · 2015: over US$1 milliongeneral estimate cited in news coverage[12]
Resale of a removed 1970s skyway (JCPenney–Powers, over Fifth Street) · 2006: US$5,000bought by two architects after removal for light-rail work; offered free in 2015; moving cost estimated at US$30,000–80,000[12]

The story

The Minneapolis Skyway System is a network of enclosed second-floor bridges and interior corridors covering about 80 blocks of downtown Minneapolis. It began in 1962, when developer Leslie Park and architect Ed Baker spanned Marquette Avenue between the new Northstar Center and the Northwestern National Bank building. Park promoted the idea as a way to keep downtown competitive with enclosed suburban malls. Other owners were initially skeptical because they worried about losing street-level retail.

Growth was incremental and privately driven. By 1972 seven skyways existed, not all of them connected. The IDS Center, completed in 1973 with links on all four sides, gave the network a hub, and the Downtown Council began publishing maps in 1976. Each new bridge was developed by the adjoining owners, so design and hours varied from link to link. By the 2010s the system had roughly 90 to 100 bridges, and a 2012 link between Accenture Tower and the Ameriprise Financial Center cost about US$3 million.

Governance is light. The city treats each bridge as an encroachment over the public right of way and issues a permit that it can revoke for public purposes. It never required public easements through buildings. MinnPost reported in 2016 that design, signage and hours had largely been shaped by a Skyway Advisory Committee of building owners and users, whose approval the city sought before issuing permits. Zoning amendments that year set glazing, bird-safe glass, signage and minimum-hours standards, but only for new skyways.

Because each owner controls its segment, hours have never been uniform. The city's 2040 comprehensive plan calls for uniform hours and for limiting expansion to the downtown core. After the COVID-19 pandemic many buildings began closing their connections around 6 p.m. and on weekends. In 2025 the City Council's Business, Housing and Zoning Committee took up a legislative directive on skyway establishment, oversight and code enforcement and received a staff report. As of October 2026 no binding hours ordinance had been adopted.

The contrast with Saint Paul shapes the debate. There, the city built most bridges and holds recorded easements that let it set hours by ordinance. In Minneapolis, any move to compel public access runs into the fact that the bridges and corridors are private property. That leaves owners free to close links and the city with few tools short of buying easements or tying conditions to future permits.

Questions people ask

Who owns the Minneapolis skyways?

The owners of the buildings they connect. Each bridge is privately built and owned and crosses the street under a revocable city encroachment permit. The city does not own the bridges or hold easements through the buildings.

What are the Minneapolis skyway hours?

There is no single schedule. Zoning rules require newer skyways to be open weekdays 6:30 a.m.–10 p.m., Saturday 9:30 a.m.–8 p.m. and Sunday noon–6 p.m., but older connections are exempt. Most buildings now close around 6 p.m. on weekdays and on weekends.

Do I have a legal right to walk through the skyways?

No. Access is permissive. Unlike Saint Paul, Minneapolis never obtained public easements, so owners can lock their segments.

How big is the Minneapolis skyway system?

It covers about 80 downtown blocks and roughly 9.5 miles, with more than 100 bridges. Promotional sources now cite more than 10 miles.

When was the first Minneapolis skyway built?

In 1962, over Marquette Avenue between the Northstar Center and the Northwestern National Bank building. It was planned by developer Leslie Park and architect Ed Baker.

Is the city changing skyway rules?

In 2025 a council committee took up a legislative directive on skyway oversight, code enforcement and access, and staff reported back. No binding uniform-hours ordinance had been adopted as of October 2026.

Sources

Skyways (zoning bulletin, last updated 11/1/2017) — City of Minneapolis (2017)primary
Minneapolis Skyways — MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society (2013)
Policy: Skyways — City of Minneapolis, Minneapolis 2040 (2020)primary
Minneapolis Debates Future of Skyways — Next City (2016)
Your Guide to the Minneapolis Skyway System — Meet Minneapolis (2025)
Your Guide to the Downtown Minneapolis Skyway System — Urban Works, Inc. (SkywayAccess.com) (2025)
Encroachment and right-of-entry permits — City of Minneapolis (2025)primary
RCA-2025-00678 – Minneapolis skyway system: governance and access — City of Minneapolis LIMS (2025)primary
RCA-2025-00983 – Minneapolis skyway system: governance and access report — City of Minneapolis LIMS (2025)primary
Downtown Minneapolis skyway hours extended for Super Bowl LII — Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District (2018)primary
New Skyway Connects Downtown Minneapolis — Twin Cities Business (2012)
A Minneapolis skyway can be yours for free — WCCO / CBS Minnesota (2015)
The Minneapolis Skyway System Deserves Another Look — Streets.mn (2025)
How a plan to prevent bird deaths may change the way Minneapolis regulates its entire skyway system — MinnPost (2016)
Minneapolis Skyway System — Wikipedia (2026)
The Twin Cities Skyways Face an Uncertain Future — Governing (2022)

About this record

Confidence medium · reviewed 2026-10-19. Ownership, the encroachment-permit model and the zoning hours standard rest on primary city documents. Gaps: (1) The zoning citation (Ch. 535, Art. XIII, §535.920) comes from a 2017 city bulletin; a human should confirm whether the zoning code rewrite renumbered it. (2) The City Council LIMS pages for RCA-2025-00678 and RCA-2025-00983 sit behind Cloudflare and could not be fetched. Their titles and the 10 June 2025 committee date come from search snippets only, and what the directive actually orders should be verified. (3) A minneapolistimes.com piece dated July 2026 says BOMA Greater Minneapolis filed a property-rights 'takings' objection in August 2025. A public-comment PDF dated 27 August 2025 exists on LIMS but could not be read, so the claim is left out of the record. The same piece says Saint Paul voters passed a skyway charter amendment; that is unverified and likely wrong. (4) The Skyway Advisory Committee's current status, membership and Downtown Council affiliation are confirmed only as of 2016 (MinnPost); a secondary source dates the Downtown Council's Skyway Advisory Service to the late 1970s. (5) Bridge counts vary (84 in 2012, about 90 in 2016, 'over 100' in 2025) and so do lengths (9.5 vs 10+ miles). (6) No city-published cost per bridge was found. The Star Tribune piece on Minneapolis and Duluth skyway cuts returned HTTP 429 and was not read.

Map geometry: 505 corridor features, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), as of 2026-10-20. Levels come from OpenStreetMap tags and can be incomplete.

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Minneapolis Skyway System

SkywayPrivately ownedActiveBuilt for cold

Who owns it, who runs it, what the rules are.

Owner

Each bridge and the corridors through each building are privately built and owned by the adjoining property owners. The city grants only a permit for the bridge to occupy air space over the public right of way and holds no public easement through the buildings.

Operator

Individual building owners and managers run their own segments, including hours, security and cleaning. Urban Works publishes the system's access guide and wayfinding information. The Downtown Improvement District provides street-level ambassadors.

Hours

Zoning standards require skyways approved under the 2016 rules to be open Monday–Friday 6:30 a.m.–10 p.m., Saturday 9:30 a.m.–8 p.m. and Sunday noon–6 p.m. Older skyways are exempt, and each building sets its own hours. Most connected buildings now close around 6 p.m. on weekdays and stay closed on weekends.Not enforced[01]

Public right

The public has permission to use the skyways, not a legal right of passage. Because the city never obtained easements, owners can close their segments, and the encroachment permits that let bridges cross streets are revocable. MinnPost reported in 2016 that skyway hours were neither uniform nor enforced.

Who pays

Building owners pay to build, heat, light, clean, secure and insure their bridges and corridors. There is no city assessment or dedicated public budget for the system. Bridges over county roads fall under Hennepin County oversight, and city regulatory services inspects most skyways.

Legal instruments

Minneapolis Zoning Code, Chapter 535, Article XIII (Skyways), §535.920 ↗Standards for new skyways: second floor only, perpendicular to the street, at least 80% glazed sidewalls with 85% bird-safe glass, 12-foot minimum clear width, defined street access, and minimum public hours. Compliant skyways are reviewed administratively by the zoning administrator. Citation is from the city's 2017 bulletin and may have been renumbered since.[01]

Minneapolis Code of Ordinances, Title 5, Chapter 95 (Encroachments) ↗Requires an encroachment permit for any structure projecting over the public right of way. The permit lets the holder use that air space until the city needs it, can be revoked for public purposes, and requires insurance naming the city.[07]

Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan, Skyways policy ↗Calls for uniform skyway hours, accessible vertical connections to sidewalks, uniform signage, transparent walls, and limits expansion to the downtown core and major institutions.[03]

Legislative directive RCA-2025-00678, 'Minneapolis skyway system: governance and access' ↗2025 committee action directing staff work on the establishment, oversight and code enforcement of skyways and their operations. No binding hours ordinance was found as of review.[08]

Governing bodies

Open issues

Whether the city can require uniform, enforced hours on privately owned bridges that carry no public easement; the 2025 directive had not produced an ordinance as of review.

Post-pandemic hours have shrunk, with many buildings closing at 6 p.m. and on weekends, which breaks routes for downtown residents.

The 2040 plan limits expansion to the downtown core, reflecting the long-running complaint that skyways drain life from the street.

Redevelopment and transit projects can remove links, as with the 1970s Fifth Street skyway taken down for light-rail work.

The story