U.S. Route 52 in Minnesota
 U.S. Highway 52 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
_map.svg) | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by MnDOT | ||||
| Length | 377 mi (607 km) 243 miles along I-94 | |||
| Existed | 1934–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  US 52 at Prosper | |||
 I-90 near Rochester
   I-35E / I-94 / US 10 in St. Paul | ||||
| North end | I-94 / US 52 at Fargo, ND | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Minnesota | |||
| Counties | Fillmore, Olmsted, Goodhue, Dakota, Ramsey, Hennepin, Wright, Stearns, Todd, Douglas, Grant, Otter Tail, Wilkin, Clay | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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U.S. Highway 52 (US 52 or Highway 52) enters the state of Minnesota at the unincorporated community of Prosper, north of the town of Burr Oak, Iowa. The route is marked north–south in Minnesota along its independent segment from the Iowa state line to downtown St. Paul. Highway 52 is not signed along the length of its concurrency with Interstate 94 (I-94) from downtown St. Paul to the North Dakota state line at Moorhead and Fargo.
Route description
U.S. 52 enters Fillmore County and heads through the same Driftless Area it ran through in Iowa. The route heads through Preston and proceeds north to Chatfield. Highway 52 leaves the river bluffs near Chatfield and enters terrain typical of southern Minnesota. This area is mostly farmland for the rest of the length until the route enters the city of Rochester. Highway 52 intersects Interstate 90 south of Rochester, and expands to a four-lane freeway north of this junction. The roadway expands further to six lanes around Rochester, from the junction with U.S. 63 to County Road 14, which is at the northern tip city. U.S. 14 is a major route, and connects Owatonna to Rochester. North of Rochester, Highway 52 becomes a four-lane expressway through the farmland of Olmsted and Goodhue counties. Zumbrota is bypassed by the highway and the route heads to Dakota County. In Cannon Falls, Highway 52 has two traffic lights in the southern part of town. Mn/DOT plans to remove these and put in an interchange.[1] North of Coates, Highway 52 enters the edge of the Twin Cities area. The route enters Inver Grove Heights where it becomes the Lafayette Freeway north of Concord Boulevard. Highway 52 splits with State Highway 55 north of there. Highway 55 heads to Minneapolis, while Highway 52 heads to St. Paul. Interstate 494 intersects 52 in the northern part of Inver Grove Heights. The St. Paul Downtown Airport is right off of Highway 52 in St. Paul. After Highway 52 crosses the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul, the route intersects Interstate 94 and follows I-94 to the North Dakota state line; U.S. 52 is not signed along the length of this concurrency.
History
U.S. Highway 52 was extended into the state of Minnesota in 1934. The road replaced the former routing of old U.S. Highway 55 from the Iowa state line to the Twin Cities, and the former route of old U.S. Highway 10S from Minneapolis west to North Dakota. Interstate 94 replaced most of the routing of Highway 52 west of St. Cloud, and the routing from St. Cloud to Minneapolis was replaced by U.S. Highway 10, U.S. Highway 169, and Hennepin County Road 81. Highway 52 was routed along University Avenue through Minneapolis and St. Paul until about 1995 (In 1986, Highway 52 on University Avenue between I-35W and the St. Paul border was turned over to Hennepin County maintenance and renumbered County 36 / 37, creating a gap in Highway 52 until the 1995 route change).
52 was routed along Robert Street through St. Paul, West St. Paul, and into Inver Grove Heights until 1995; when 52 was moved onto the nearby Lafayette Freeway. The Lafayette Bridge which takes the highway across the Mississippi River near downtown St. Paul was built in 1968 and is a "fracture critical" structure which is in need of replacement. Construction of the new bridge is planned to begin in 2011.[2]
U.S. Highway 52 was built as an expressway from Rochester to St. Paul in the 1960s. The "ROC52" project expanded the section of Highway 52 in Rochester to a 6-lane freeway in 2005–2006.[3] Between Rochester and the Twin Cities, several at-grade intersections have been converted to interchanges since the 1990s.
However, many at-grade intersections remain along this segment of highway. An experimental installation of Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance Systems–Stop Sign Assist (CICAS–SSA) was installed at the intersection with Goodhue County Road 9, making use of dynamic message signs to show when it is safe to cross or turn onto the highway. It uses a diagram that looks like a divided highway sign A full-scale field test began in January 2010, though a previous version had also been tried at the intersection a few years earlier. The study will run through 2012.[4][5]
Major intersections
| County | Location | mi[6] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fillmore | Prosper | 0.000 | 0.000 | US 52 | Continuation into Iowa |
| 1.048 | 1.687 |   MN 44 east | |||
| Harmony | 9.257 | 14.898 |   MN 139 south | ||
| Preston | 17.035 | 27.415 |  MN 16 east | South end of MN 16 concurrency | |
| 20.648 | 33.230 |  MN 16 west | North end of MN 16 concurrency | ||
| Fountain | 24.815 | 39.936 |  MN 80 west | ||
| Chatfield | 34.312 | 55.220 |    MN 30 east / MN 74 north | South end of MN 30 concurrency | |
| Olmsted | 34.811 | 56.023 | MN 30 west | North end of MN 30 concurrency | |
| Marion Township | 46.505 | 74.843 | I-90 east – La Crosse | ||
| 47.625 | 76.645 |  CR 36 (Marion Rd) | |||
| 50.400 | 81.111 |  CR 1 (11th Ave SE) | |||
| Rochester | 51.904 | 83.531 |   US 63 south – Stewartville | Southern end of US-63 concurrency | |
| 53.948 | 86.821 |  CR 25 (16th Street SW) | |||
| 54.297 | 87.383 |   US 14 east (12th Street SW) – Winona | No access northbound, southern end of US 14 concurrency | ||
| 54.797 | 88.187 | 6th Street SW | No southbound access | ||
| 55.399 | 89.156 | 2nd Street SW | Access to Mayo Clinic, Saint Marys Hospital | ||
| 56.077 | 90.247 |  US 14 west – Owatonna | Partial cloverleaf, north end of US 14 concurrency | ||
| 56.956 | 91.662 | 19th Street NW, Elton Hills Dr NW | Single point urban interchange | ||
| 58.320 | 93.857 |  CR 22 east (37th Street NW/41st Street NW) | |||
| 59.663 | 96.018 | 55th Street NW | |||
| 61.053 | 98.255 | 65th Street NW | |||
| 61.670 | 99.248 |  US 63 north – Zumbro Falls, Lake City | Northern end of US-63 concurrency | ||
| Oronoco Township | 63.971 | 102.951 | 100th Street NW | ||
| Pine Island | 64.244 | 103.391 |   CR 12 / CR 112 – Oronoco | Diverging diamond interchange (the first in the state); new interchange, opened September 2013[7][8] | |
| Goodhue | 71.261 | 114.683 |  CR 11 – Pine Island | ||
| Zumbrota | 75.853 | 122.074 |  MN 60 east – Mazeppa, Zumbro Falls | Southern end of MN 60 concurrency | |
| 77.231 | 124.291 |   MN 58 / CR 10 – Zumbrota, Red Wing | |||
| 78.280 | 125.979 | MN 60 west | Northern end of MN 60 concurrency | ||
| Hader | 86.213 | 138.746 |   MN 57 / CR 8 – Wanamingo, Mantorville | ||
| Cannon Falls | 96.897 | 155.941 |  CR 24 west | ||
| 98.060 | 157.812 |  MN 19 – Cannon Falls, Northfield | |||
| Dakota | Hampton | 105.686 | 170.085 |   MN 50 / MN 56 – Farmington, Kenyon | |
| 106.987 | 172.179 |  CR 47 – Hampton | |||
| Coates | 113.435 | 182.556 |  CR 46 | ||
| Rosemount | 115.573 | 185.997 |  CR 42 – Rosemount | ||
| 117.501 | 189.100 |  MN 55 east – Hastings | South end of MN TH-55 concurrency. Intersection northbound and interchange southbound | ||
| 118.174 | 190.183 | 117th Street | |||
| Inver Grove Heights | 120.837 | 194.468 |  CR 56 (Concord Boulevard) | ||
| 121.679 | 195.823 | MN 55 west – Minneapolis | North end of MN TH-55 concurrency. Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| 122.677 | 197.429 | 80th Street East | |||
| 123.505 | 198.762 | 70th Street East | |||
| 124.735 | 200.742 | Upper 55th Street East | |||
| 125.379 | 201.778 |   I-494 / MN 110 | |||
| South St. Paul | 126.116 | 202.964 | Southview Boulevard, Mendota Road E | ||
| South St. Paul–West St. Paul | 127.295 | 204.861 | Wentworth Avenue E, Thompson Avenue E | ||
| 128.048 | 206.073 | Butler Avenue E | |||
| Ramsey | St. Paul | 129.155 | 207.855 |  MN 156 | |
| 129.469 | 208.360 | Eaton Street | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| 130.253 | 209.622 | Plato Boulevard, Fillmore Avenue | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| 130.858 | 210.596 | E 7th Street, Fort Road | |||
| 130.937 | 210.723 |  I-94 / US 10 to I-35E | Southern end of I-94 concurrency | ||
| Unmarked concurrency with I-94 to North Dakota state line | |||||
| Red River of the North | I-94 / US 52 continue into North Dakota | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
- ^ "Hwy 52 Interchange". Minnesota Department of Transportation. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
- ^ "Lafayette Bridge - Hwy 52 Mississippi River Crossing". Minnesota Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
- ^ "Design-build on Hwy 52 in Rochester". Minnesota Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
- ^ "Electronic signs at Highway 52/County Road 9 go live on Jan. 20". Minnesota Department of Transportation. January 18, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
- ^ "Rural Unsignalized Intersections". University of Minnesota ITS Institute. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
- ^ "Statewide Trunk Logpoint Listing" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
- ^ "Elk Run Interchange". Minnesota Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
- ^ "Unusual Elk Run interchange opens to traffic". Post-Bulletin. Rochester, Minnesota. September 3, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
- Steve Riner Details of Routes 51-75. The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Accessed March 24, 2007.
- Adam Froehlig US Route 52 Exit List Twin Cities Highways. Accessed August 5, 2007.
- Matt Salek US 52 Exits: SE Minnesota Upper Midwest Freeway Exit Guides. Accessed August 5, 2007.
