Most of the work the City of Minneapolis has planned for the west side of Fulton is ordinary street maintenance on a big scale. The West Fulton Neighborhood Improvement project covers every block from France Avenue to Xerxes Avenue and from West 47th Street to West 54th Street, and it runs on a schedule from 2025 to 2031. Pavement, curb ramps and storm pipes are the routine part. The new part is curbside rain gardens and mid-block bump-outs, which this part of Fulton has never had. The one spot where those new features are still an open question is the Ewing Avenue edge of 50th & France, where a three-concept food hall became fully operational this fall.
If you live between France and Xerxes, the schedule tells you when your street gets attention. The Ewing question shows how a neighborhood street program runs into a commercial district that has kept growing.
What Your Block Is Scheduled For
City staff told the Fulton Neighborhood Association in March that more than $20 million will go into the area over five years. The city's project FAQ sorts the streets into three treatments, and the timing depends on which one your block falls into.
| Treatment | Streets in the city's plan | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Resurfacing | Ewing and Drew, W 50th–54th; Chowen and Beard, W 51st–54th; Abbott, W 50th–54th; Zenith and York, W 51st–54th; W 51st from France to Chowen and York to Xerxes; W 52nd and W 53rd, France to Xerxes | Fall 2026 |
| Full-depth reclamation | Chowen and Beard, W 51st–52nd | Fall 2026 |
| Full reconstruction | Chowen and Beard, W 49th–51st; south half of Abbott, W 47th–48th; Zenith, W 47th–49th; York, W 47th–48th; W 48th, Chowen to Xerxes; W 49th, Chowen to Zenith; W 51st, Chowen to York | Later in the program |
| Remaining resurfacing | Ewing and Drew, W 47th–50th; Chowen, W 47th–49th; most of the northern blocks | 2031 |
The three treatments mean very different things for a driveway. Resurfacing puts down a new top layer. Full-depth reclamation grinds up the old pavement and the base under it, mixes them, compacts the mix and paves over it, which fixes deeper problems than resurfacing can. Reconstruction replaces the street, the curb and the utilities underneath, and the FAQ says it usually takes several weeks.
The plan has already changed once. A city brochure updated in February 2026 moved four segments from reconstruction to resurfacing: W 49th from Zenith to Xerxes, Abbott from W 47th to 48th and from W 49th to 50th, Chowen from W 48th to 49th, and York from W 48th to 49th. If your street is on that list, check the brochure before relying on an older map.
Some work is already done. During 2025 the city upgraded curb ramps at intersections from south of W 50th through W 54th and replaced 308 water service lines in that part of the project area.
The city marks both the resurfacing and the reclamation for special assessments. The FAQ says the amount depends on the work and where a property sits on the street, and that rain gardens and flood improvements won't be assessed. The city's special assessments page explains the process. This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice, so confirm how an assessment applies to your property with the city or the right professional.
Why Rain Gardens Are Showing Up Now
When residents asked why green stormwater infrastructure is coming to blocks that have never had it, the city's answer was size. A project this large has to meet the city's Stormwater Ordinance and the rules of the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. Both require less runoff, and the project also has to cut the sediment and nutrients that drain toward Lake Harriet. The city's engagement summary says the gardens are meant to reduce both flooding and runoff into Lake Harriet and Minnehaha Creek.
The mid-block bump-outs proposed on some streets work the same way. The FAQ says their main job is to soak up stormwater so the city meets its regulations, and their second benefit is slowing traffic. Bike boulevards are also part of the project, according to the association's minutes.
The city expected garden construction to start in mid-August 2026, in two phases. The city's rain garden phasing map was last updated July 13, so the project page is the place to check where things stand on your block.
The Curb Everyone Wants
Rain gardens take up curb space, and that's where the friction comes from. At the association's March 11 meeting, according to the minutes, the France Business Association opposed two proposed sites. One was on Ewing between 51st and 52nd. The other was on 51st Street between Ewing and France.
"The proposed rain gardens would significantly impact parking availability, making it difficult for businesses to succeed."
The minutes say the business group's concern was "heavy employee parking needs." The city replied that one surface lot and three large garages with free parking are within walking distance. The district's parking page lists them:
- North Ramp, 540+ stalls, entered from Market Street
- Center Ramp, 110+ stalls, underground, entered from Market Street
- South Ramp, 400+ stalls, entered from West 51st Street
- Ewing Lot, entered from Ewing Avenue
The district describes the ramps as customer parking. Employees who work on the Edina side need a permit to park there. The minutes posted so far don't say whether the two Ewing-area gardens were kept, moved or dropped, so that's the open question on this side of the neighborhood.
Ewing Got Busier While the Plan Was Being Drawn
The parking question has more weight now than it did in March. In the months since that meeting, Ewing Avenue has become a dining destination of its own.
The Side Door at Dexter's, at 5005 Ewing Ave. S., opened in stages. Bring Me The News reported that Lucia's, a New York-inspired sourdough pizza counter, would open August 6. The same outlet later reported that DaqDaq, serving Korean fried chicken, and Rose Sushi would follow on September 17, with DDP Restaurant Group running all three concepts. The Star Tribune described a single ordering screen where pizza, chicken and sushi can be ordered together. It priced Lucia's 18-inch pies at $27 to $38, with slices at $5 to $7, and noted there are only a few tables inside, so the patio carries much of the seating while the weather holds. The Side Door is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Dexter's itself opened in 2024 as an upscale sports bar and neighborhood restaurant from owners Carla and Spencer Jones, working with Daniel del Prado's DDP Restaurant Group, according to a separate Star Tribune report.
The Side Door's address is on Ewing between 50th and 51st, a segment on this fall's resurfacing list. Around the corner, Bring Me The News reported that General Sports Bar planned to open September 8 at 5034 France Ave. S., in the former Salut Bar Americain space. More restaurants on the Minneapolis edge of the district mean more staff and more evening visitors looking for parking on the same short stretch of Ewing where the business association asked the city to keep its curb. Our August look at West 50th's restaurant row covered that growth. The street program is how it reaches the curb.
The District Calendar Running Alongside the Work
The heaviest weeks of the 50th & France calendar fall in the same season the city set aside for resurfacing. That makes the ramps and the Ewing Lot worth knowing about even if your own street isn't on this year's list.
- Saturday, October 31. $5 family films at Edina Theatre, 3911 W. 50th St., at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m.; district trick-or-treating from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. starting at 4954 France Ave. S.; and a dog parade from 1 to 2 p.m. at Chuck & Don's, 5045 France Ave. S.
- Saturday, November 7. A Holiday Fashion Brunch at Mr. Paul's Supper Club, 3917 Market St., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Thursday, November 12. Shop by Candlelight Night from 5 to 8 p.m., with extended shop hours, caroling, cider and cookies.
- Thursday, November 19. Give to the Max Day, with the Fulton Neighborhood Association among the groups listed on its events calendar.
- December 6 to 13. A Waite House toy drive organized by the Fulton and Linden Hills neighborhood associations, with details still to come on the association's listing.
Candlelight night falls on a Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m., inside the Side Door's 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. hours, and the district's free customer parking is in the ramps off Market Street and West 51st and the Ewing Lot.
Whether a rain garden ends up on your block, or how your street's schedule might affect a sale or purchase, is the kind of question we help with at Josh Zuehlke & Co. If you live in Fulton and want to talk through what this street work means for your home, contact us.
