U.S. Route 61 in Minnesota

For the route located in northeast Minnesota on the North Shore of Lake Superior numbered 61, see Minnesota State Highway 61.

This article is about the section of U.S. Route 61 in Minnesota. For the entire length of the highway, see U.S. Route 61.

U.S. Highway 61
Highway 61 highlighted in red.
Route information
Maintained by MnDOT
Length:	165.177 mi (265.827 km)
Existed:	November 26, 1926 – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 61 / US 14 at La Crescent, the Minnesota — Wisconsin state line
	I-90 at Dakota, near La Crescent US 14 / MN 43 at Winona MN 60 at Wabasha US 63 at Lake City US 63 / MN 19 at Red Wing MN 55 / MN 316 at Hastings US 10 / MN 95 at Cottage Grove I-494 at Newport I-94 / US 10 at Saint Paul MN 36 / I-694 at Maplewood US 8 / MN 97 at Forest Lake
North end:	I-35 at Wyoming, MN
Location
Counties:	Houston, Winona, Wabasha, Goodhue, Dakota, Washington, Ramsey, Chisago
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List • Bannered • Divided • Replaced Minnesota Trunk Highways Interstate • US • State • Legislative routes ← MN 60 MN 61 →

U.S. Highway 61 is a highway in southeast and east-central Minnesota, which runs from the River Bridge over the Mississippi River at La Crescent and continues north to its northern terminus at its junction with Interstate 35 at the city of Wyoming.

U.S. 61 in Minnesota is 165 miles (266 km) in length. The route connects the cities of La Crescent, Winona, Wabasha, Lake City, Red Wing, Hastings, Cottage Grove, Saint Paul, Forest Lake, and Wyoming.

Route description

U.S. Highway 61 enters the state of Minnesota at the city of La Crescent on the River Bridge over the Mississippi River between the cities of La Crosse and La Crescent. U.S. 61 is concurrent with U.S. 14 and State Highway 16 as it enters the state.

The four-lane divided highway continues north through La Crescent. U.S. 61 follows the Mississippi River through southeast Minnesota; through the cities of Winona, Wabasha, Lake City, and Red Wing. Highway 61 is a two-lane roadway between Wabasha and Red Wing.

U.S. 61 crosses the Mississippi River at Hastings over the Hastings High Bridge and joins U.S. 10 at Cottage Grove. U.S. 61 and U.S. 10 are concurrent as a freeway between Cottage Grove and the city of Saint Paul.

Within the city of Saint Paul, U.S. 61 follows Interstate 94 for a short distance, and then follows Mounds Boulevard, East 7th Street, and Arcade Street through the East Side of St. Paul.

U.S. 61 then proceeds north to Maplewood, where it becomes a four-lane highway again to White Bear Lake. After leaving White Bear Lake, U.S. 61 is a two-lane roadway again to Forest Lake and then to its northern terminus at the city of Wyoming.

Highway 61 closely parallels Interstate 35E and Interstate 35 from Saint Paul to Wyoming.

120 miles (190 km) of U.S. 61 from La Crescent to Cottage Grove in southeast Minnesota is officially designated the Disabled American Veterans Highway.

Legally, the Minnesota section of U.S. 61 is defined as unmarked legislative routes 3, 104, 102 and 1 in the Minnesota Statutes. U.S. 61 is not marked with these legislative numbers along the actual highway.

History

Highway 61 in Minnesota is an original U.S. Route, established on November 26, 1926.

In 1929, the only unpaved portions were from Hastings to Wabasha and from Winona to the state line. It was completely paved by 1940.

The expressway sections south of Wabasha were built in the 1960s and the 1970s. The four lane divided highway section between Red Wing and State Highway 316 near Miesville was completed in 1997. The freeway section of U.S. 61 between Cottage Grove and I-494 at Newport was completed in 2007.

Notes

The U.S. 61 Hastings High Bridge received considerable attention from increased bridge inspections in 2008 following the August 1, 2007 I-35W Bridge collapse in nearby Minneapolis. The Hastings High Bridge, a steel arch structure built in 1951, is structurally deficient and shows considerable deterioration. It is also a notorious traffic bottleneck because it has only one lane each way and dumps southbound U.S. 61 traffic into downtown Hastings. Starting in October 2010 the Hastings bridge will be replaced, with the projected completion in 2013.

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile	Destinations	Notes
Mississippi River		0.000	US 61 / US 14 / WIS 16
Houston	La Crescent	1.712	MN 16
Winona	Dresbach Township	4.074	I-90	South end of I-90 overlap
	Dakota	8.736	I-90	North end of I-90 overlap
	Winona	25.688	MN 43
		29.522	US 14	North end of US 14 overlap
	Rollingstone Township	46.118	MN 248
Wabasha	Weaver	46.740	MN 74
	Greenfield Township	53.979	MN 42
	Wabasha	60.172	MN 60
	Lake City	74.005	US 63	South end of US 63 overlap
Goodhue	Red Wing	88.957-89.424	MN 292	East and west ends of MN 292 loop
		91.047	MN 58 / US 63	North end of MN 63 overlap
		96.561	MN 19
	Welch Township	104.480	MN 316
Dakota	Douglas Township	107.588	MN 50
	Hastings	115.706	MN 316
		116.310	MN 291
		116.848	MN 55
Mississippi River		117.458-117.810	Hastings High Bridge
Washington	Denmark Township	119.120	US 10	South end of US 10 overlap
	Cottage Grove	119.966	MN 95 (Manning Avenue)
		122.826-123.270	CR 19	Interchange
		124.050-124.579	Jamaca Avenue	Interchange
		125.952	CR 39 west (Grange Blvd.)	Interchange
	St. Paul Park	127.730-128.236	CR 22	Interchange
	Newport	129.183-129.700	Glen Road	Interchange
		130.053-130.450	I-494	Interchange
Ramsey	St. Paul	135.550	I-94 / US 12	East end of I-94 overlap
		136.685	I-94 / US 12 / US 10	West end of I-94 overlap North end of US 10 overlap
		137.424	MN 5 (East 7th Street)	West end of MN 5 overlap
		138.014	MN 5 (East 7th Street)	East end of MN 5 overlap
	Maplewood	141.464-141.754	MN 36	Interchange
	Vadnais Heights	143.461-143.586	I-694	Interchange
	White Bear Lake	146.726	CR 96	Old MN 96
		147.822	MN 96
Washington	Forest Lake	159.295	MN 97	South end of MN 97 overlap
		159.615	MN 97	North end of MN 97 overlap
		161.567-161.705	US 8	Interchange
Chisago	Wyoming	164.858	CR 22 (Wyoming Trail)	Old MN 98
		165.111	CR 30 north (Forest Boulevard)	Historic route of US 61
		165.487	I-35, CR 22 ahead	Interchange
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

References

U.S. Route 61
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