Biking infrastructure around Downtown East will get a boost through the $1.027 billion Minnesota Vikings stadium project.

The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority plans to build a separated bike lane along the south side of the stadium between 11th Avenue and Chicago Avenue in addition to other amenities designed to capture cyclists and pedestrians.

As part of the arrangement, the city of Minneapolis plans to sell land to the MSFA that currently functions as a portion of Fifth Street South between 11th and Chicago avenues, which will no longer serve as a public street. The two-way bike lane would be constructed on the existing alignment of Fifth Street South that runs parallel to Sixth Street along with a sidewalk and buffer space. A vehicle lane would be added to busy Sixth Street, which is a heavily used route to reach Interstate 94 and the east metro.

No project cost was immediately available.

The city sees the new connection as a significant improvement over the single on-street bike lane there today, said Jeff Handeland, principal engineer for Minneapolis Public Works. Planning for bike infrastructure around the stadium takes into account the needs of cyclists traveling to the stadium for events and Vikings games, as well as the needs of cyclists passing through the area daily, Handeland said.

Bringing the bike lane through the stadium property is a plus, said Michele Kelm-Helgen, chair of the MSFA.

“We’re definitely anticipating and encouraging as much bike ridership as possible,” she said, adding that the new bike lane will connect to the network of existing bike lanes and trails that serve the stadium — like the Hiawatha trail that runs parallel to the Blue Line throughout much of Minneapolis.

Once lane is complete, cyclists and pedestrians will be able to travel around the entire perimeter of the 1.75 million-square-foot stadium, Kelm-Helgen said. The authority aims to encourage access rather than block it as was the case with the former Metrodome, which had fences and barriers.

The authority expects biking to be a significant part of the transportation network around the stadium — especially with the new 4.2-acre Downtown East park along Fifth Street South near the stadium, she said. In addition to the number of bike parking racks included in the project, the authority is looking at installing Nice Ride bike-share stands.

While the Metrodome was more of a barrier for cyclists, the new stadium could be a destination like Target Field, where the Twins play on the other side of downtown, said Hilary Reeves, with Transit for Livable Communities and Bike/Walk Twin Cities. Popular bike routes, like the Cedar Lake Trail, combined with facilities around the stadium get cyclists close to the ballpark.

“That would be great if that was also the case for the new Vikings stadium, especially given the park feature,” she said.

Reeves noted that while many of downtown’s most popular trails lead to the stadium as well as the Twins ballpark, it’s more of a matter of closing the gaps and providing enough end-of-trip facilities to encourage cycling.

“There’s going to be pretty good separated facilities coming pretty close to the stadium,” she said. “I would think that the issues would be those last little bits.”

Another factor that will play into bike accessibility around the stadium is how the stadium plans to manage traffic coming from multiple modes, Reeves said. A lot of people might choose not to bike if the area is perceived as dangerous.

The MSFA is developing a traffic management plan that will help direct traffic coming from all modes. Metro Transit also plans a new pedestrian bridge from the stadium to its Downtown East light rail transit stop at Fourth Street South and Chicago Avenue to create a protective crossing separating pedestrians from buses and light rail trains.