Minnesota State Highway 371
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| Trunk Highway 371 |
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| Length: | 110 mi (177 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1973 | ||||||||
| South end: |  in Little Falls |
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| North end: |  in Cass Lake |
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| Major cities: | Walker Hackensack Pine River Pequot Lakes Nisswa Baxter |
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Minnesota State Highway 371 is a 110-mile long highway connecting Minnesota's northern lakes region with the Twin Cities. It runs from U.S. Route 10 in Little Falls to U.S. Route 2 in Cass Lake.
MN-371 was originally designated as U.S. Route 371 in 1931, before being re-designated as a state-numbered route in 1973. The former U.S. Route 371 designation was co-signed with U.S. Route 2 from Cass Lake to Bemidji.
On August 7, 2006, the highway was dedicated as the Purple Heart Memorial Highway in honor of veterans who have been wounded or died in combat.[1]
Most of Highway 371, except for the Brainerd bypass, is also officially designated the Paul Bunyan Expressway. This is a unique name designation because the portion of Highway 371 from Nisswa to Cass Lake is not built to expressway standards.
The 6-mile portion of Highway 371 bypass around Brainerd is officially designated the C. Elmer Anderson Memorial Highway.
[edit] Improvements
For the most part MN-371 has been a high-volume, two-lane highway. Because of increases in traffic, especially during times of peak recreational demand, MN-371 has been the focus of many highway upgrades in the area:
- In 2005, the remaining segment of the project that converted MN-371 to a four-lane expressway from Baxter to Little Falls was completed. This project included a bypass of Brainerd, which opened in 2000. (The former route of MN-371 through Brainerd is still part of the Minnesota State Highway System as Minnesota Business Highway 371)
- Plans are also in the works to upgrade the 16-mile segment of MN-371 from Nisswa to Pine River to a four-lane expressway, with construction tentatively scheduled to begin around 2011 (the stretch of MN-371 between Nisswa to Baxter had already been constructed as an expressway).
[edit] Reference
- Steve Riner (December 26, 2005). Details of Routes 288-694. Accessed March 11, 2006.
