The Midtown Greenway is a 5.5-mile paved cycling and walking trail running east-west through south Minneapolis in a former railroad trench, connecting the Chain of Lakes to the Mississippi River. Built in a former Burlington Northern rail cut that runs 15 feet below street level, the greenway is grade-separated from traffic for its entire length — a genuinely useful commuter route and recreation corridor that carries an estimated 4,000 cyclists per day on good-weather days.
The trench setting is unusual: the trail runs below the surrounding streets, with bridges and ramps connecting to the neighbourhood level above. In winter it is ploughed and lit, making it one of the best all-season cycling routes in the upper Midwest. The greenway intersects Eat Street (Nicollet Avenue), the Cedar and Calhoun bike paths, and the Chain of Lakes trail system, making it the backbone of south Minneapolis non-motorised transport.