Minnesota State Highway 371

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Trunk Highway 371

Length:

107.411 mi^[1] (172.861 km)

Formed:

1973

South end:

US-10 in Little Falls

North end:

US-2 in Cass Lake

Major cities:

Little Falls
Baxter
Brainerd (via TH 371 Business)
Nisswa
Pequot Lakes
Walker
Cass Lake

Minnesota State Highways
< TH 361		I-394 >

Minnesota State Highway 371 is a 107-mile long highway connecting Minnesota's northern lakes region with the Twin Cities. It runs from the interchange of U.S. Highway 10 and Minnesota 371 in Little Falls and continues north to its northern terminus at the intersection of U.S. Highway 2 and Minnesota 371 in Cass Lake.

41-miles of the route is a four-lane expressway from Little Falls to Nisswa.

Minnesota Highway 371 passes through the communities of:

1 Notes
2 History
- 2.1 Minnesota 371 previously U.S. 371
3 Minnesota Highway 371 Business
4 Major Intersections
5 References

[edit] Notes

Minnesota Highway 371 serves as north-south arterial route between Little Falls, Brainerd, Baxter, Nisswa, Pequot Lakes, Walker, and Cass Lake in central Minnesota.

For part of its route (8-miles), Highway 371 overlaps Minnesota Highway 200 through the city of Walker.

Minnesota Highway 371 passes through the counties of:

Highway 371 passes through the Welsh Lake State Forest and the Chippewa National Forest in Cass County.

Highway 371 crosses the Mississippi River immediately south of Baxter.

[edit] Highway 371 designations

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. (August 2006 news article - Purple Heart Memorial Highway dedicated - Link)

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] State Park

Crow Wing State Park is located on Highway 371 at the confluence of the Mississippi and Crow Wing Rivers. The park is located immediately south of Brainerd and Baxter.

(Minnesota DNR website for Crow Wing State Park - Link)

[edit] Improvements

For the most part Highway 371 has been a high-volume, two-lane highway. Because of increases in traffic, especially during times of peak recreational demand, Highway 371 has been the focus of many highway upgrades in the area:

In 2005, the remaining segment of the project that converted Highway 371 to a four-lane expressway from Little Falls to Baxter was completed. This project included a bypass of Brainerd, which opened in 2000. The old route through Brainerd is now bannered as Minnesota Highway 371 Business.

Plans are also in the works to upgrade the 16-mile segment of Highway 371 from Nisswa to Pine River to a four-lane expressway, with construction tentatively scheduled to begin around 2015.^[2]

[edit] History

The U.S. 371 highway shield in Minnesota from 1931 to 1973

Minnesota Highway 371 was designated and signed in 1973.

[edit] Minnesota 371 previously U.S. 371

Minnesota 371 was originally designated as U.S. Route 371 from 1931 to 1973.

During 1973, U.S. Route 371 was re-designated Minnesota 371.

The former U.S. Route 371 designation was concurrent with U.S. Route 2 from 1931 to 1973 between Cass Lake and Bemidji.

[edit] Minnesota Highway 371 Business

The Minnesota Highway 371 Business highway shield

Before the opening of the Brainerd bypass in 2000, Highway 371 went through downtown Brainerd and then proceeded west on a two-mile overlap with Highway 210 before resuming north at its current intersection in Baxter. Due to the addition of new highway mileage from the new bypass, the old route of Highway 371 was a candidate for turnback to local jurisdiction. Because of local preference to keep the old routing of Highway 371 as part of the state trunk highway system, It was agreed that portions of other highways in the area would be turnback instead: Highway 18 from Highway 210 to Highway 25, and the two-block long Highway 322 would be given to the city of Brainerd, and Highway 25 north of Highway 210 to its terminus at Merrifield would be given to Crow Wing County as an extension of County Road 3. The old highway then became Minnesota Highway 371 Business (also known as Business Highway 371).

[edit] Major Intersections

County	Location	Mile	Roads intersected	Notes
Morrison	Little Falls	0.000	US 10	South end of TH 371; partial interchange: TH 371 north exits US 10 west, TH 371 south enters US 10 east
	Little Falls	2.149-2.273	CR 46 / CR 76	Interchange; provides access to County Road 76, which parallels TH 371 to the west
	E of Camp Ripley	4.759-4.802	TH 115 / CR 47	Interchange; east end of TH 115; County Road 47 is to the east.
Crow Wing	S of Baxter	23.031	TH 371 Business	Interchange; TH 371 Business is the primary route into Brainerd, as TH 371 bypasses Brainerd to the west
	Baxter	25.883	CR 48 (Highland Scenic Drive)
		27.498-27.512	TH 210
		30.046	CR 77 / CR 49	County Road 77 is to the west, County Road 49 to the east
	Nisswa	39.133	CR 77 / CR 13	County Road 77 is to the west, County Road 13 to the east
	Pequot Lakes	46.862	CR 11
Cass	Pine River	56.204	TH 84	South end of TH 84
	Backus	65.213	TH 87 west	South end of TH 87 overlap
	N of Backus	66.213	TH 87 east	North end of TH 87 overlap
	SE of Walker	81.798	TH 200 east	South end of TH 200 overlap
	SE of Walker	83.756	TH 290	TH 290 is the entrance to the Ah-Gwah-Ching Center
	Walker	86.524	TH 34
	NW of Walker	90.605	TH 200 west	North end of TH 200 overlap
	Cass Lake	107.411	US 2	North end of TH 371