Minnesota State Highway 55

Minnesota State Highway 55 (MN 55) is a state highway that runs 221 miles (356km) across the central part of state taking a diagonal route from its western most at the North Dakota state line near Tenney to its easternmost point at the intersection with U.S. Highway61 (US61) in Hastings. In Minneapolis and Golden Valley, portions of the route are also signed as Olson Memorial Highway.

Route description

MN55 serves as a northwest–southeast route between Elbow Lake, Glenwood, Paynesville, Annandale, Buffalo, Plymouth, Minneapolis, Mendota Heights, and Hastings.

MN55 begins at the Bois de Sioux River, at the Minnesota—North Dakota state line near Tenney. North Dakota Highway 11 (ND11) is its counterpoint upon crossing the state line. MN55 continues east to Tenney, Nashua, and Wendell. The route has a junction with U.S. Highway59 (US59) before entering the city of Elbow Lake. US59/MN55 runs concurrently for 11 miles (18km) until reaching Barrett.

MN55 then continues independently again to Hoffman, Kensington, Farwell, and Lowry before reaching the city of Glenwood. At Glenwood, MN55 has an intersection with MN29 and an interchange with MN28.

The route continues southeast to Sedan and Brooten before reaching its junction with US71 in Belgrade. MN55 passes through Regal before reaching its junction with MN4 and MN23 at the city of Paynesville.

MN55 continues east to Eden Valley and Watkins before reaching its junction with MN15 at Kimball.

The route has a junction with MN24 in Annandale. MN55 continues to Maple Lake and then Buffalo, where it has a junction with MN25.

MN55 enters the Twin Cities area at Rockford and Greenfield, continuing east to Medina and Plymouth. MN55 has a junction with Interstate 494 (I-494) in Plymouth. MN55 continues east and has a junction with US169 at the Plymouth–Golden Valley boundary line. MN55 continues through Golden Valley to its junction with MN100. The route then continues east and enters the city of Minneapolis.

The highway has been designated Olson Memorial Highway, named for Floyd B. Olson, a popular Minnesota governor of Norwegian ancestry. Olson grew up in North Minneapolis, near where the highway runs. While the entire route is designated as the Olson Memorial Highway, it is only consistently signed as such between Interstate 494 and N 7th Street in Minneapolis. The part of MN55 southeast of downtown is known as Hiawatha Avenue. Light rail trains on the Blue Line, and Little Earth Trail and Hiawatha LRT Trail for bicyclists/pedestrians, run parallel to the highway for much of the Hiawatha Avenue stretch.

MN55 runs concurrently along I-94/US52. MN55 exits just before downtown at the westbound I-94/northbound US52 exit, and leaves the concurrency at the exit for the Olson Highway, marked with the MN55 shield. Eastbound, MN55 leaves the Olson Highway at the interchange for I-94 eastbound/US52 southbound, and leaves the freeway at the exit for Hiawatha Avenue, which is also marked with the MN55 shield.

There has been some controversy with expansion of the highway.[citation needed] An area known as Camp Coldwater, considered by some as the "birthplace of Minnesota", was dug up during some construction. MN55 joins with MN62 at this point.

Fort Snelling State Park is located near the junction of MN55 and MN5. The park entrance is located on MN5 at Post Road.

MN55 crosses the Minnesota River via the Mendota Bridge, which was the longest continuous bridge made of poured concrete when it was completed in 1926. It is 4,119 feet (1,255m) in length.

The route enters Mendota Heights, diverges from MN62, and then has a junction with MN13.

MN55 continues southeast through Eagan, joining briefly with MN149. The route then has a junction with MN3 in Inver Grove Heights. MN55 then runs concurrently with US52 through Inver Grove Heights and into Rosemount. At Rosemount, MN55 leaves US52. MN55 continues independently again to its eastern terminus at its intersection with US61 in the city of Hastings.

History

MN55 was authorized in 1933.

The original alignment for MN55 in Minneapolis was along old US52 (now County State-Aid Highway81, CSAH81) to Rockford Road, then Rockford Road to MN55's present-day alignment (now CSAH9). The present-day alignment was constructed in the early 1950s.

In July 2005, the section of MN55 that runs through downtown Minneapolis was turned back to local maintenance. To fill the gap, MN55 was rerouted along I-94/US52.

Major intersections