US 218 and 52 in Minnesota

 

US 218 in Minnesota

US 218
Begin Lyle
End Owatonna
Length 46 mi
Length 74 km
Route
Iowa

Austin

Blooming Prairie

Owatonna

According to foodezine, US 218 is a US Highway in the US state of Minnesota. The road forms a north-south route in the southeastern part of the state, from the Iowa border through Austin to Interstate 35 at Owatonna. US 218 is 74 kilometers long in Minnesota.

Travel directions

US 218 in Iowa comes from Waterloo and then reaches the Minnesota border in the signature prairie area. The road heads from south to north and curves slowly to Interstate 35 toward the northwest. In Austin one crosses Interstate 90 and at Owatonna the US14. The route is single carriageway.

History

US 218 was created in 1926 and its northern terminus was Owatonna at the time. In 1934-1935 the route was temporarily extended to St. Paul, but then shortened again to Owatonna. US 218 has never been of major transit importance in Minnesota, the route is more important in Iowa than in Minnesota.

US 52 in Minnesota

US 52
Get started Moorhead
End Prosper
Length 370 mi
Length 595 km
Route
North Dakota

Moorhead – St. Paul:

St. Paul freeway

Lafayette Bridge

Plato Boulevard

Cesar Chavez Street

County Road 14

Thompson Avenue

Wentworth Avenue

Southview Boulevard

County Road 18

70th Street

80th Street

State Highway 55

Concord Boulevard

Cannon Falls

Zombrota

Rochester freeway

County Road 12

75th Street

Circle Drive

41st Street

37th Street

Elton Hills Drive

Wilder Road

Downtown Rochester

Salem Road

16th Street

South Rochester

11th Avenue

50th Avenue

chatfield

Preston

Prosper

Iowa

According to bittranslators, US 52 is a US Highway in the US state of Minnesota. The road forms a diagonal north-south route in the south and west of the state. The road is double -numbered with Interstate 94 between the border with North Dakota and St. Paul. South of St. Paul, the road forms an individual route. The total route is 595 kilometers long, 390 kilometers of which coincide with I-94.

Travel directions

US 52 in St. Paul.

Western Minnesota

West of St. Paul, US 52 is double numbered with I-94. See Interstate 94 in Minnesota for the main topic.

St. Paul – Iowa

US 52 at Rochester.

US 52 exits from I-94 on the east side of downtown St. Paul to form the Lafayette Expressway, a highway from St. Paul to the southern suburbs. The highway section is approximately 22 kilometers long. The Lafayette Bridge crosses the Mississippi River and crosses Interstate 494 in the suburb of Inver Grove Heights. The freeway ends at a refinery south of St. Paul, after which US 52 becomes a 2×2 divided highway.

This is followed by a more than 100 kilometers long route across the countryside to the city of Rochester. The entire route has 2×2 lanes, with occasional grade-separated intersections. From Oronoco, US 52 is a freeway for nearly 22 miles, passing through the city of Rochester and adjacent areas. The US 52 is the main access road to this city and partly has 2×3 lanes. There is also a short double numbering with US 14. South of Rochester is a connection to Interstate 90, where the highway ends.

US 52 is a more minor road through southeastern Minnesota after I-90. There are no longer any larger towns on the route and US 52 is a single-lane road here. The area is slightly hilly with some more forest. After Canton, the border with Iowa follows, after which US 52 in Iowa continues to Dubuque.

History

US 52 was created in 1926. The route did not extend beyond Fowler in northwest Indiana at the time. In 1934, the route was extended to Moorhead, in northwestern Minnesota. A further extension to Portal, North Dakota followed in 1935.

The route west of St. Paul was completely replaced by the construction of Interstate 94 in Minnesota between 1962 and 1983. Despite this, US 52 was not deleted, a very long double numbering system was created from Moorhead to St. Paul.

St. Paul

The highway section in the St. Paul area is called the Lafayette Freeway and connects St. Paul to the southern suburb of Inver Grove Heights. In 1968, the Lafayette Bridge opened between St. Paul and South St. Paul. In the 1970s and 1980s this was extended by South St. Paul, around 1985 the interchange with I-494 was constructed. The highway along the Inver Grove Heights suburb was only extended southwards in phases in the early to mid-1990s.

St. Paul – Rochester

The 100 kilometer stretch from St. Paul to Rochester was widened to a 2×2 divided highway in the 1960s. No Interstate Highway was planned in this corridor, so US 52 itself was upgraded. It is the main connection within Minnesota that is not an Interstate Highway.

Rochester

The freeway through Rochester was built in the 1960s. Originally 41st Street NW was the northernmost grade separated intersection of US 52 through Rochester. Three new connections between Oronoco and Rochester were built between 2003 and 2006, but this section was not fully freeway until 2008 with the elimination of at-grade intersections. In 2015, a diverging diamond interchange was constructed between Pine Island and Oronoco.

The original freeway through Rochester had a narrow profile. To the west of the city, the highway was in a narrow trench, and the interchange with US 14 was a very tight and stretched cloverleaf cloverleaf. Between 2004 and 2006, US 52 was upgraded through Rochester and widened to 2×3 lanes.

Traffic intensities

The highway section south of St. Paul has about 65,000 vehicles per day on 2×2 lanes.

US 52 in Minnesota