Interstate 90 in Minnesota

Interstate 90
Interstate 90 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Mn/DOT
Length:	275.70 mi[1] (443.70 km)
Major junctions
West end:	I-90 at the South Dakota state line
	MN 23 near Beaver Creek US 75 at Luverne US 59 / MN 60 at Worthington US 71 at Jackson US 169 at Blue Earth I-35 near Albert Lea US 218 at Austin US 63 at Stewartville US 52 near Rochester US 14 / US 61 near La Crescent
East end:	I-90 at the Wisconsin state line
Location
Counties:	Rock, Nobles, Jackson, Martin, Faribault, Freeborn, Mower, Olmsted, Winona
Highway system
Main route of the Interstate Highway System Main • Auxiliary • Business Minnesota Trunk Highways Interstate • U.S. • State Inter-County • County roads • Legislative routes ← MN 89 MN 91 →

In the U.S. state of Minnesota, Interstate 90 traverses the southern side of the state, parallel to the Minnesota-Iowa state line. The route connects the cities of Worthington, Albert Lea, and Austin. The cities of Rochester and Winona are also in close proximity to I-90, with Winona about 10 miles away and Rochester less than one mile away.

Interstate 90 in Minnesota is 276 miles (444 km) in length. The route is located in the southwest, south-central, and southeast parts of the state.

Contents 1 Route description 2 History 3 Notes 4 Exit list 5 References

Route description

Interstate 90 enters the state from South Dakota near Beaver Creek. This part of Minnesota has flat to gently rolling terrain and is the beginnings of corn belt farmland. The flat terrain is often subject to blowing and drifting snow in colder months, and the western portions of the highway are closed multiple times each winter.

Rock County, where I-90 enters Minnesota, is one of the only counties in the state lacking a natural lake. The change from semi-arid to a wetter climate happens slowly moving eastbound on I-90 through southern Minnesota. The route passes through the cities of Luverne, Adrian, Worthington, Jackson, Fairmont, and Blue Earth. I-90 has a junction with I-35 at Albert Lea.

East of the city of Austin, I-90 changes direction slightly and heads towards Rochester, and the route enters a much more hilly landscape. This is the driftless area of southeast Minnesota. Unlike the rest of the state, where the most recent glaciations left terrain that is either flat or rolling under a deposit of glacial till, this area escaped the most recent glaciation. The bedrock to the top of the I-90 road cuts is noticeable at this point. The other notable feature of this area are deep, steep valleys cut by water that poured through this area as the ice cap melted.

I-90 drops into the scenic Mississippi River valley just west of Dresbach. The I-90 freeway lanes split apart as you drop down, then rejoin west of the junction with U.S. Highway 61. I-90 then parallels the Mississippi River before turning east and crossing into Wisconsin.

I-90 is atypical in that just across the Minnesota / Wisconsin state line, (immediately west of the community of Dakota) the median is wide enough that farms exist between the road beds.^[2]

Legally, the Minnesota section of Interstate 90 is defined as unmarked Legislative Route 391 in the Minnesota Statutes. Interstate 90 is not marked with this legislative number along the actual highway.

History

Interstate 90 in Minnesota was authorized as part of the original interstate network in 1956. The first section of I-90 in Minnesota constructed was the bypass of Austin in 1961.^[3] The wayside rest area near Blue Earth, Minnesota, is where the east-building I-90 and west-building I-90 teams linked up in 1978, thus completing construction in Minnesota and joining the 3,099.07 miles of the interstate.^[4] Plaques dedicating the pavement completion and describing the significance of this segment are on display at the rest area.

I-90 in Minnesota closely follows the route of old U.S. Highway 16 over most of its route except from just east of Austin, where I-90 turns toward Rochester and is constructed on a new alignment not previously covered by a highway. The section of I-90 east of Rochester was constructed just south of U.S. Highway 14 and south of the city of Winona.

I-90 served as a replacement for old U.S. 16 between the South Dakota state line and I-90's interchange with present day State Highway 16 at Dexter.

Three lanes each way have been constructed on I-90 between its two junctions with U.S. Highway 61 at the communities of Dresbach and Dakota to facilitate commuter traffic between La Crosse and Winona.

Notes

The future replacement of the I-90 Dresbach Bridge across the Mississippi River, near La Crescent, is scheduled to begin construction in 2012. The new bridge is expected to be completed by 2015.

Exit list

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Rock			1	MN 23 / CR 17 – Jasper, Pipestone	Also leads to Manley one mile (1.6 km) to the south.
			3	CR 4 – Beaver Creek	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
			5	CR 6 – Beaver Creek, Hills
	Luverne		12	US 75 – Luverne, Rock Rapids
			18	CR 3 – Magnolia, Kanaranzi
Nobles			26	MN 91 – Lake Wilson, Adrian
			33	CR 13 – Wilmont, Rushmore
	Worthington		42	I-90 Bus. east / CR 25 – Wilmont
			43	US 59 – Slayton, Worthington
			45	I-90 Bus. west / MN 60 – Windom
			47	CR 53	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
			50	MN 264 / CR 1 – Brewster, Round Lake
Jackson
			57	CR 9 – Heron Lake
			64	MN 86 – Lakefield
	Jackson		73	US 71 – Jackson, Windom
			80	CR 29 – Alpha
Martin	Sherburn		87	MN 4 – St. James, Sherburn
			93	MN 263 / CR 27 – Welcome, Ceylon
			99	I-90 Bus. east / CR 39 – Fairmont
	Fairmont		102	I-90 Bus. west / MN 15 – Madelia, Fairmont
			107	MN 262 / CR 53 – Granada, East Chain
Faribault			113	CR 1 – Huntley, Guckeen
	Blue Earth		119	US 169 – Mankato, Blue Earth
			128	MN 254 / CR 17 – Easton, Frost
			134	MN 253 / CR 21 – Minnesota Lake, Bricelyn
			138	MN 22 – Wells, Kiester
Freeborn	Alden		146	MN 109 / CR 6 – Alden, Mankato
			154	MN 13 – Waseca, Albert Lea
	Albert Lea		157	CR 22 – Albert Lea
			159	I-35 – Albert Lea, Des Moines, Minneapolis	Signed as exits 159A (south) and 159B (north)
			163	CR 26 – Hayward
			166	CR 46 (Oakland Road), Petran, Oakland
Mower	Austin		175	I-90 Bus. east / MN 105 / CR 46 (Oakland Avenue)
			177	US 218 north (14th Street Northwest) – Owatonna	West end of U.S. 218 overlap
			178A	4th Street Northwest
			178B	6th Street Northeast
			179	11th Drive Northeast
			180A	I-90 Bus. west (Oakland Place)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			180B	US 218 south (21st Street Northeast)	East end of U.S. 218 overlap
			181	28th Street Northeast
			183	MN 56 – Brownsdale, Rose Creek
			187	CR 20
			189	CR 13 – Elkton
	Dexter		193	MN 16 – Dexter, Preston
Olmsted			205	CR 6
			209	US 63 / MN 30 – Stewartville, Rochester	Signed as exits 209A (south/east) and 209B (north/west)
			218	US 52 – Chatfield, Rochester
			224	MN 42 / CR 7 – Eyota
			229	CR 10 – Dover
Winona			233	MN 74 – St. Charles, Chatfield
			242	CR 29 – Lewiston
			249	MN 43 south – Rushford	West end of MN 43 overlap
			252	MN 43 north – Winona	East end of MN 43 overlap
			257	MN 76 – Houston
			266	CR 12 – Nodine
			269	US 14 west / US 61 north – Winona	West end of U.S. 14 / U.S. 61 overlap; no eastbound exit (use exit 270)
	Dakota		270	To US 61 north – Dakota
			272A	Dresbach	Westbound exit is part of exit 272B
			272B	Dresbach
			275	US 14 east / US 61 south – La Crescent	East end of U.S. 14 / U.S. 61 overlap

References

*Steve Riner Details of Routes 76 to 100. Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Accessed January 12, 2009.

Interstate 90
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