Legislative route (Minnesota)
In the U.S. state of Minnesota, a legislative route is a highway number defined by the Minnesota State Legislature. The routes from 1 to 70 are constitutional routes, defined as part of the Babcock Amendment to the Minnesota State Constitution, passed November 2, 1920. All of them were listed in the constitution until a 1974 rewrite. Though they are now listed separately in §161.114 of the Minnesota Statutes, the definitions are legally considered to be part of the constitution, and cannot be altered or removed without an amendment. Legislative routes with numbers greater than 70 can be added or deleted by the legislature.
Until 1933 Constitutional Routes corresponded exactly to the number marked on the highways, but this is no longer necessarily the case. In fact it's common for CR highways to be composed of several different trunk highways. When the U.S. Highway system was created in 1926, many of these roads were made up of one or more U.S. highways. Today, they now use a mix of Minnesota state highways, U.S. highways, and Interstate highways.
Constitutional Route 1 is currently one of the most complex routes, composed of:
However, the route can be considered to be superseded along almost its entire length by Interstate 35 (and I-35E) and Minnesota State Highway 61. By contrast, Constitutional Route 58 still has the same marked number and extent that it did in 1920.
There is some ambiguity in how literally the Minnesota Department of Transportation must interpret the constitutional routes. In some cases, the routes no longer directly serve communities they were once designated for, but are routed along nearby highways instead.
List of routes
Constitutional Routes 1-70
- Constitutional Route 1: Iowa to Ontario via Albert Lea, Owatonna, Faribault, Northfield, Farmington, St. Paul, White Bear, Forest Lake, Wyoming, Rush City, Pine City, Hinckley, Sandstone, Moose Lake, Carlton, Duluth, Two Harbors, and Grand Marais
- Constitutional Route 2: Duluth to North Dakota via Carlton, McGregor, Aitkin, Brainerd, Motley, Staples, Wadena, Detroit, and Moorhead
- Constitutional Route 3: Wisconsin to North Dakota via La Crescent, Winona, Kellogg, Wabasha, Lake City, Red Wing, Hastings, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Osseo, Champlin, Anoka, Elk River, Big Lake, St. Cloud, Albany, Sauk Centre, Alexandria, Elbow Lake, Fergus Falls, and Breckenridge
- Constitutional Route 4: Iowa to International Falls via Jackson, Windom, Sanborn, Redwood Falls, Morton, Olivia, Willmar, Paynesville, Sauk Centre, Long Prairie, Wadena, Park Rapids, Itasca State Park, and Bemidji
- Constitutional Route 5: Iowa to Swan River via Blue Earth, Winnebago, Mankato, St. Peter, Le Sueur, Jordan, Shakopee, Minneapolis, Cambridge, Mora, and McGregor
- Constitutional Route 6: Iowa to Manitoba via Luverne, Pipestone, Lake Benton, Ivanhoe, Canby, Madison, Bellingham, Odessa, Ortonville, Graceville, Dumont, Wheaton, Breckenridge, Moorhead, Kragnes, Georgetown, Perley, Hendrum, Ada, Crookston, Warren, Donaldson, and Hallock
- Constitutional Route 7: Winona to South Dakota via St. Charles, Rochester, Kasson, Dodge Center, Claremont, Owatonna, Waseca, Mankato, St. Peter, New Ulm, Springfield, Tracy, and Lake Benton
- Constitutional Route 8: Duluth to North Dakota via Floodwood, Swan River, Grand Rapids, Cass Lake, Bemidji, Bagley, Erskine, Crookston, and East Grand Forks
- Constitutional Route 9: La Crescent to South Dakota via Hokah, Houston, Rushford, Lanesboro, Preston, Fountain, Spring Valley, Austin, Albert Lea, Blue Earth, Fairmont, Jackson, Worthington, and Luverne
- Constitutional Route 10: Minneapolis to Wheaton via Montrose, Cokato, Litchfield, Willmar, Benson, Morris, and Herman
- Constitutional Route 11: Duluth to Donaldson via Eveleth, Virginia, Cook, Orr, Cusson, International Falls, Baudette, Warroad, Roseau, and Greenbush
- Constitutional Route 12: Wisconsin to Madison via St. Paul, Minneapolis, Hopkins, Norwood, Glencoe, Olivia, Granite Falls, Montevideo, and Dawson
- Constitutional Route 13: Albert Lea to Jordan via Waseca, Waterville, Montgomery, and New Prague
- Constitutional Route 14: Ivanhoe to Gaylord via Marshall, Redwood Falls, Morton, and Winthrop
- Constitutional Route 15: Iowa to Winthrop via Fairmont, Madelia, and New Ulm
- Constitutional Route 16: southwest of Mankato to Worthington via Madelia, St. James, Windom, and Fulda
- Constitutional Route 17: Fulda to Granite Falls to Slayton, Garvin, and Marshall
- Constitutional Route 18: Elk River to east of Brainerd via Princeton, Milaca, and Onamia
- Constitutional Route 19: Brainerd to Cass Lake via Pine River and Walker
- Constitutional Route 20: Iowa to Douglas via Canton, Harmony, Preston, Fountain, Chatfield, Oronoco, Pine Island, Zumbrota, and Cannon Falls
- Constitutional Route 21: Zumbrota to St. Peter via Kenyon, Faribault, Le Sueur Center, and Cleveland
- Constitutional Route 22: St. Peter to Paynesville via Gaylord, Glencoe, Hutchinson, and Litchfield
- Constitutional Route 23: Paynesville to south of Hinckley via St. Cloud, Foley, Milaca, Ogilvie, and Mora
- Constitutional Route 24: Litchfield to St. Cloud
- Constitutional Route 25: Belle Plaine to Big Lake via Norwood, Watertown, Montrose, Buffalo, and Monticello
- Constitutional Route 26: Benson to Ortonville
- Constitutional Route 27: St. Cloud to Brainerd via Sauk Rapids, Royalton, and Little Falls
- Constitutional Route 28: Little Falls to South Dakota via Sauk Centre, Glenwood, Starbuck, Morris, Graceville, and Browns Valley
- Constitutional Route 29: Glenwood to west of Wadena via Alexandria, Parkers Prairie, and Deer Creek
- Constitutional Route 30: Fergus Falls to Erskine via Pelican Rapids, Detroit, and Mahnomen
- Constitutional Route 31: Ada to Mahnomen
- Constitutional Route 32: east of Crookston to Greenbush via Red Lake Falls, Thief River Falls, and Middle River
- Constitutional Route 33: Thief River Falls to Warren
- Constitutional Route 34: Detroit to west of Grand Rapids via Park Rapids, Walker, and Remer
- Constitutional Route 35: Mille Lacs Lake to Ely via Aitkin, Grand Rapids, Hibbing, Chisholm, Buhl, Mountain Iron, Virginia, Gilbert, McKinley, Biwabik, Aurora, and Tower
- Constitutional Route 36: Fergus Falls to east of Henning
- Constitutional Route 37: Little Falls to Motley
- Constitutional Route 38: Montevideo to Starbuck via Benson
- Constitutional Route 39: Mankato to west of Albert Lea via Mapleton, Minnesota Lake, and Wells
- Constitutional Route 40: Iowa to Owatonna via Lyle, Austin, and Blooming Prairie
- Constitutional Route 41: Blooming Prairie to Hayfield
- Constitutional Route 42: east of Rochester to Kellogg via Elgin and Plainview
- Constitutional Route 43: Rushford to Winona
- Constitutional Route 44: Hokah to Canton via Caledonia
- Constitutional Route 45: Wisconsin to St. Paul via Stillwater and Lake Elmo
- Constitutional Route 46: Wisconsin to Wyoming via Taylors Falls and Center City
- Constitutional Route 47: Slayton to Pipestone
- Constitutional Route 48: west of Granite Falls to Canby via Clarkfield
- Constitutional Route 49: east of Montevideo to south of Willmar via Clara City
- Constitutional Route 50: Cannon Falls to Minneapolis via Farmington
- Constitutional Route 51: Shakopee to north of Shakopee
- Constitutional Route 52: south of Minneapolis to Fort Snelling towards St. Paul
- Constitutional Route 53: Hastings to South St. Paul
- Constitutional Route 54: Elbow Lake to Herman
- Constitutional Route 55: northwest of Carlton to Cloquet
- Constitutional Route 56: east of Austin to Kenyon via Brownsdale, Hayfield, Dodge Center, and West Concord
- Constitutional Route 57: Mantorville to south of Mantorville
- Constitutional Route 58: Zumbrota to Red Wing
- Constitutional Route 59: Iowa to Lake City via Spring Valley, Stewartville, Rochester, Zumbro Falls
- Constitutional Route 60: Faribault to Madison Lake via Morristown and Waterville
- Constitutional Route 61: Deer River to Big Falls
- Constitutional Route 62: Anoka to St. Paul
- Constitutional Route 63: south of Forest Lake to Minneapolis
- Constitutional Route 64: north of Fergus Falls to south of Moorhead via Rothsay and Barnesville
- Constitutional Route 65: Bagley to south of Red Lake Falls via Clearbrook, Gonvick, Gully, Brooks, and Terrebonne
- Constitutional Route 66: Montevideo to north of Appleton
- Constitutional Route 67: Echo to Granite Falls
- Constitutional Route 68: Marshall to Canby via Minneota
- Constitutional Route 69: Buffalo to Paynesville via Maple Lake, Annandale, and Eden Valley
- Constitutional Route 70: west of New Ulm to Hector via Fort Ridgely and Fairfax
Legislative Routes 71-211
Legislative Routes 212-396
Routes 380 to 385 were defined in and after 1975, and "may be added by order of the commissioner of transportation to the trunk highway system"; only 383, 384, and 385 have been added, and 385 no longer exists.
Routes 390 to 396 were defined in and after the 1950s as portions of the Interstate Highway System "to take advantage of federal aid made available by the United States to the state of Minnesota for highway purposes".
Interstate 394 is not a separate legislative route, instead being parts of Route 10 and Route 107, which carried U.S. Highway 12 along the same alignment before I-394 was built.
See also
References
External links