MINNEAPOLIS — Ongoing roadwork and infrastructure upgrades near the University of Minnesota have left many students feeling stranded, frustrated, and confused as they try to navigate campus this summer.

With multiple construction projects underway by Hennepin County, the City of Minneapolis, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), large sections of busy corridors like Fourth Street and University Avenue have become construction zones, forcing reroutes for pedestrians, drivers, and transit riders alike.

For students like Eyob Tekele, a second-year student at UMN, the overlapping projects have been especially disruptive. While he said he understands the long-term benefits of infrastructure improvements, he questioned how the work was planned and phased.

“I understand the fact that they would have to do it,” Tekele said. “But I think it’s just mainly because it kind of felt like they start everywhere all at once, all that rather than progressing into doing section by section.”

Tekele said the lack of clearly communicated deadlines adds to the frustration, making it harder for students to plan daily commutes or hold the agencies accountable for delays.

“If there isn’t an actual plan for people to see, be like — okay, these are the deadlines that they’re supposed to meet,” Tekele said. “So we can keep them accountable if they don’t meet those deadlines.”

UMN’s Parking and Transportation Services confirmed that three major projects are active around the Twin Cities campus. Improvements along Fourth Street and University Avenue, both vital commuter corridors, are slated to wrap up by August — but students say the disruptions are already taking a toll.

For Sabrin Muqtar, an incoming first-year student, the impact started before her first day of classes. She said construction has made simple tasks like arranging a drop-off or pick-up unnecessarily complicated.

“It’s so irritating having to figure out how to get dropped off or picked up,” Muqtar said.

She added that navigating campus by bus has also become confusing because of reroutes and detours.

“Having to figure out what buses to take because a lot of the buses are rerouted and have to go around through the track construction,” Muqtar said. “Figuring out where the new buses are taking new stops and where they’re going around on campus was a little bit harder.”

Metro Transit, which partners with MnDOT and local agencies, acknowledged the ongoing projects include work around bus stops that serve the UMN campus. The agency advises riders to check real-time updates and sign up for email newsletters to stay informed about route changes and expected delays.

Incoming freshman Abreham Tekele, Eyob’s younger brother, said confusing signage and poor nighttime visibility make matters worse.

“It’s confusing when it’s nighttime,” he said. “The lights are not on, you don’t know where you’re going.”

He suggested a more gradual construction approach could ease student stress.

“I think to make it better, I don’t think they should have closed every single d*** road,” Tekele said. “They can do a section at a time instead of the whole block at once.”

Metro Transit said they’re continuing to coordinate closely with city and county partners and strongly encourage commuters to stay updated through Metro Transit and MnDOT newsletters, which share detour maps, completion timelines and alternative routes.

For now, students like Eyob and Sabrin hope for clearer communication — and for the day when campus roads, sidewalks and bus stops return to normal.

Originally reported by Sara Hussein in The Minnesota Daily.