U.S. Route 52 in Minnesota

Infobox MN state highway
type=US
article_route=52
length_mi=377
length_notes=243 miles along I-94
yrcom=1934
direction_a=South
terminus_a=
junction=
direction_b=North
terminus_b=
browse=
previous_type=MN
previous_route=51
next_type=US
next_route=53|

U.S. Route 52 enters the state of Minnesota at Prosper, Minnesota, north of the town of Burr Oak, Iowa. The road is marked north-south in Minnesota along its independent segment. Highway 52 is not signed along Interstate Highway 94 from downtown St. Paul to the North Dakota border in Moorhead.

Route Description

U.S. Highway 52 enters Fillmore County and heads through the same Driftless Area it ran through in Iowa. The road 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 road enters Rochester. Interstate 90 intersects Highway 52 south of Rochester, and is a major junction. Highway 52 expands to a 4-lane freeway north of the junction. The road expands further to 6-lanes around Rochester, from the junction with U.S. Route 63 to north of the city. U.S. Route 14 is a major route, and connects Owatonna to Rochester. North of Rochester, Highway 52 becomes a 4-lane expressway through the farmland of Olmsted and Goodhue Counties. Zumbrota is bypassed by the highway and the road heads to Dakota County. In Cannon Falls, Highway 52 has two traffic lights in the southern part of town. North of Coates, the road enters the edge of the Twin Cities area. The road enters Inver Grove Heights where it becomes the Lafayette Freeway north of Concord Blvd. Highway 52 splits with Minnesota State Highway 55 north of there. Highway 55 heads to Minneapolis, while Highway 52 heads to St. Paul. I-494 intersects 52 in the northern part of Inver Grove Heights. The St. Paul Downtown Airport is right off of Highway 52 in Saint Paul. After Highway 52 crosses the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul, the road intersects Interstate Highway 94 and follows that road all the way to the North Dakota border. U.S. Highway 52 is not signed along the length of its concurrency with I-94 between downtown St. Paul and the North Dakota border.

History

U.S. Highway 52 was extended into the state of Minnesota in 1934. The road replaced the former routing of U.S. Route 55 from the Iowa border to the Twin Cities, and the former route of 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 81. Highway 52 was routed along University Avenue through Minneapolis and St. Paul until about 1995 (In 1986, Highway 52 on University between I-35W and the St. Paul border was turned over to Hennepin County and renamed County 36/37, creating a gap in Highway 52 until the 1995 route change; however, a sign still stands indicating this routing today when entering Minneapolis City Limits on Westbound University Avenue). The highway was routed along Robert Street through St. Paul and into Inver Grove Heights until 1995, when Highway 52 was moved onto the Lafayette Freeway. U.S. Highway 52 was built as an expressway from Rochester to St. Paul in the 1960s. The road was expanded to a 6-lane freeway through Rochester in 2005.

Miscellanea

Highway 52's freeway portion in the Rochester area is the only non-Interstate Highway in Minnesota to carry numbered exits.

Junction/Exit list

References

*Steve Riner [http://www.steve-riner.com/mnhighways/r51-75.htm Details of Routes 51-75.] The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Accessed March 24, 2007.
*Adam Froehlig [http://www.ajfroggie.com/roads/minnesota/exits/exits52.htm US Route 52 Exit List] Twin Cities Highways. Accessed August 5, 2007.
*Matt Salek [http://www.mesalek.com/exits/us52roch.html US 52 Exits: SE Minnesota] Upper Midwest Freeway Exit Guides. Accessed August 5, 2007.