Minnesota State Highway 23

Minnesota State Highway 23 (MN 23) is a state highway that stretches from southwest to northeast Minnesota. At 343.723 miles (553.169 km) in length, it is the second longest state route in Minnesota, after MN 1.

This route, signed east–west, runs roughly diagonally across Minnesota from southwest to northeast. It indirectly connects Duluth to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and passes through the cities of St. Cloud, Willmar, and Marshall.

MN 23 runs north from its interchange with Interstate 90 (I-90), 13 miles (21 km) east of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and then continues north and east across Minnesota to its terminus at its interchange with I-35 in Duluth.

1 Route description
2 History
3 Future
4 Major intersections
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Route description

MN 23 directly serves Pipestone, Marshall, Granite Falls, Willmar, Paynesville, Cold Spring, St. Cloud, Hinckley, Sandstone, and Duluth.

Portions of MN 23 that have been upgraded to a four-lane expressway include approximately 9 miles (14 km) in the Marshall area in addition to longer stretches between Willmar and New London, and between Richmond and Waite Park (St. Cloud). For a majority of the Willmar area, Highway 23 runs concurrently with U.S. Highway 71 (US 71), which includes a freeway bypass of the city. MN 23 crosses the Minnesota River at Granite Falls, and the Mississippi River in St. Cloud, over the Granite City Crossing bridge.

Running over surface streets in certain towns, Highway 23 is also known as:

Division Street in St. Cloud
Grand Avenue in Duluth; the section of Grand Avenue that is marked MN 23 is from 59th Avenue West and I-35 (in West Duluth) to Idaho Street (in the Morgan Park neighborhood)
Commonwealth Avenue in the Gary-New Duluth neighborhood of the city of Duluth
Evergreen Memorial Highway in the Fond du Lac neighborhood of the city of Duluth

Parks and Monuments

The highway serves:

Split Rock Creek State Park in Pipestone County at Ihlen
Pipestone National Monument
Camden State Park in Lyon County on the banks of the Redwood River
Banning State Park in Pine County on the banks of the Kettle River

Evergreen Memorial Scenic Drive

About 50 miles (80 km) of MN 23 that travel through Pine, Carlton, and Saint Louis counties is officially designated the Veterans Evergreen Memorial Scenic Drive. This portion is between I-35 near Askov and the Gary-New Duluth neighborhood of Duluth, near State Highway 39. The scenic roadway offers views of Banning State Park, the Saint Louis River valley, and nearby Jay Cooke State Park.

The 2005 Minnesota Legislature officially designated the MN 23 Bridge over the Saint Louis River at Duluth (Fond du Lac neighborhood) as the Biauswah Bridge. On June 28, 2008, this bridge was dedicated as such in honor of Native American Veterans.

A Minnesota Highway in Wisconsin

MN 23 has the rare distinction of being a state highway that passes through another state. At 133rd Avenue West, along the southern edge of Duluth, MN 23 crosses the Saint Louis River into Douglas County, Wisconsin, for half a mile (0.8 km) before re-entering Minnesota. On some maps, this section is designated "WISC-23", despite there being another Highway 23 in southern Wisconsin. There is no signage, however, along the highway that indicates the brief route across state lines. Nearby is the junction between MN 23 and MN 210 and Jay Cooke State Park.

History

MN 23 was authorized between Hinckley and Marshall in 1920; the remainder of the Highway was authorized in 1933. Various sections of the highway were paved from the 1930s through the 1950s; the entire length was paved by 1961.

The section of present-day MN 23 from its southern terminus to Marshall was originally designated MN 39 until 1940. The section between Marshall and Willmar was originally designated MN 17 until 1940. The MN 23 designation originally extended west from New London to Benson along the modern MN 9; which was also MN 17 from around 1940 to the 1960s. MN 23 originally ran through Sandstone proper to just west of Askov along the route that later became MN 123; this was redesignated c. 1946.

From 1934 to 1963, the northern terminus for MN 23 was its junction with old US 61 and US 2 in West Duluth. From 1963 to 1997, MN 23 continued farther into Duluth proper as a business route using several local arteries including Michigan Street, West 1st Street, East 2nd Street, East 3rd Street, and East Superior Street. The former northern terminus for MN 23 during this time period was at the intersection of US 61 (now MN 61) and 60th Avenue East in Duluth. In 1997, the official northern terminus changed to its junction with I-35 at Grand Avenue in Duluth.

After completion of the I-35 freeway, the state maintained MN 23 through Hinckley and Sandstone; now MN 23 is concurrent with I-35 from Hinckley to Sandstone.

The four-lane US 71 / MN 23 bypass of Willmar was proposed in the 1960s. However a financial crisis in the early 1980s led to the northbound lanes being unpaved, and the bypass had been scaled down to a two-lane facility by the time it opened in 1985. Construction in 2001 completed the bypass to its original four-lane design.^[2]^[3]

The MN 23 expressway from Spicer to New London, and the expressway from Richmond to Waite Park (St. Cloud), were both completed by 2005.

The DeSoto Bridge across the Mississippi River in St. Cloud was closed on March 20, 2008, after bent gusset plates were found in an inspection; similar to gusset plates that caused the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis to collapse on August 1, 2007. The DeSoto Bridge was demolished in October 2008; with a new replacement bridge, the Granite City Crossing, completed October 29, 2009.

Future

Mn/DOT has designated MN 23 as a medium-priority Interregional Corridor along the majority of its length. As such, there are long-range plans to expand significant portions of the highway from two to four lanes. The ultimate vision for MN 23 is a four-lane expressway running from its interchange with I-90 in the southwest corner of Minnesota northeastward to its interchange with I-35 near Hinckley, although severe funding shortages are currently limiting expansion to certain segments.

Currently, the section of highway that has the highest overall priority for expansion is the corridor between Willmar and St. Cloud. This is due in part to the corridor carrying a heavy volume of traffic (higher than what a standard two-lane highway is designed to safely carry), plus a subsequently higher-than-average accident rate. In addition, southwest Minnesota lacks four-lane access to both the Twin Cities (Minneapolis – Saint Paul) and the Interstate Highway System, and a MN 23 expressway from Willmar (which is the largest municipality in southwest Minnesota) to St. Cloud would greatly alleviate both these issues.

Originally, there were only two short stretches of four-lane along this segment of MN 23: its route through St. Cloud (also known as Division Street) on the northern end, and its concurrency with US 71 in the Willmar area on the southern end. However, additional portions of this segment have been expanded to four lanes in the last decade—most notably, from its concurrency with US 71 to New London, and from Richmond to its interchange with I-94 near St. Cloud. In addition, a new bypass around Paynesville is currently being constructed.

The Paynesville Bypass project began on April 26, 2010. The project consists of constructing a four-lane bypass around Paynesville, running from Kandiyohi County Road 6 to Stearns County Road 123. The three-year project is expected to be completed in August 2012. The length of the new bypass is 7.7 miles (12.4 km). The project includes grading, construction of eight bridges, surfacing and lighting. The 2010 cost of the bypass is $32.2 million.^[4]

Another project to expand MN 23 (to four lanes) from St. Cloud eastward to Foley is set to begin July 1, 2011, with a projected completion date sometime in late 2012. This project will expand an 8-mile (13 km) segment of the highway. While this section is technically part of the St. Cloud – I-35 portion of the corridor (and thus has less overall priority), the increase in traffic along this particular stretch still necessitates and warrants expansion, as there have been major safety and mobility issues the last couple decades due to growth in the St. Cloud area.

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile^[1]	Destinations	Notes
Rock	Beaver Creek Township	1.297	I-90	Interchange
Pipestone	Jasper	18.686	MN 269 west	East terminus of MN 269
	Pipestone	29.707	MN 30 west	West end of MN 30 overlap
		29.933	US 75 south / MN 30 east	East end of MN 30 overlap; south end of US 75 overlap
		30.550	US 75 north	North end of US 75 overlap
Lyon	Florence	52.549	US 14	US 14 crosses bridge over railroad and MN 23; road just to the north connects the highways
	Coon Creek Township	59.413	MN 91 south
	Marshall	73.679	US 59
	Marshall	75.057	MN 19 / MN 68
Yellow Medicine	Minnesota Falls Township	100.984	MN 274 south
	Granite Falls	103.151	MN 67 east	South end of MN 67 overlap
	Granite Falls	103.364	US 212 / MN 67 west	West end of US 212 overlap; north end of MN 67 overlap
Chippewa	Granite Falls Township	111.569	US 212 east	East end of US 212 overlap
Chippewa	Stoneham Township	125.066	MN 7
Kandiyohi	Willmar Township	141.483	CR 5	An interchange is planned for this intersection during the 2008-2014 time frame
	Willmar	144.515	US 71 south US 71 Bus. north	Interchange; south end of US 71 overlap; access into Willmar via US 71 Bus. (city road)
		141.034– 141.223	Lakeland Drive	Interchange; southbound exit and southbound entrance
		141.501	CR 23 (Willmar Avenue)	Interchange; northbound exit and northbound entrance
		142.666– 142.677	US 12	Interchange
		143.900– 143.960	Civic Center Drive	Interchange
		144.948	MN 294 south / US 71 Bus.	Interchange: southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Dovre Township	152.420	US 71 north	Interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance; north end of US 71 overlap
	Green Lake Township	153.253	CR 9	Interchange
	New London	160.927	MN 9 west	Eastern terminus of MN 9
Stearns	Paynesville	173.741	MN 4 / MN 55
	Richmond	186.069	MN 22 south	Northern terminus of MN 22
	St. Joseph Township	199.420	I-94	Interchange
	St. Cloud	204.150	MN 15 south, CR 75 east	South end of MN 15 overlap; CR 75 continues east, MN 23 follows MN 15 north
		204.401	MN 15 north, CR 75 west	North end of MN 15 overlap; CR 75 is to the west, and MN 23 continues to the east
		206.480– 206.638	10th Avenue	Interchange
Benton		207.860	US 10	Interchange
	Minden Township	212.403	MN 95 east	Western terminus of MN 95
	Gilmanton Township	220.925	MN 25
Mille Lacs	Milaca	236.357– 236.374	US 169	Interchange
Kanabec	Ogilvie	247.418	MN 47 north	West end of MN 47 overlap
	Ogilvie	248.481	MN 47 south	East end of MN 47 overlap
	Mora	254.577	MN 65 south	South end of MN 65 overlap
	Mora	256.180	MN 65 north	North end of MN 65 overlap
Pine	Brook Park Township	266.615	MN 107	Northern terminus of MN 107
	Mission Creek Township	273.737	I-35 south	Interchange; south end of I-35 overlap
	Hinckley	272.459	MN 48 east	Western terminus of MN 48
	Sandstone	285.237	I-35 north	Interchange; north end of I-35 overlap
	Sandstone	285.641	MN 123 north	Southern terminus of MN 123
	Finlayson Township	289.708	MN 18 west	Eastern terminus of MN 18
		290.190	I-35	Interchange
		293.017	MN 123 south	Northern terminus of MN 123
Carlton	No major junctions
Douglas (WI)	No major junctions
St. Louis	Duluth	335.948	MN 210 west	Eastern terminus of MN 210
		338.725	MN 39 east	Western terminus of MN 39
		345.020	I-35 / US 2	Interchange
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus • Closed/Former • Incomplete access • Unopened

References

^ ^a ^b "Trunk Highway Log Point Listing" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Transportation. September 6, 2011. http://www.dot.state.mn.us/roadway/data/reports/logpoint/statelpt.pdf. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
^ Korsgaard, Kay. "Willmar bypass opens". Mn/DOT Newsline (Minnesota Department of Transportation). http://www.newsline.dot.state.mn.us/archive/01/nov/14.html#6. Retrieved November 10, 2007.
^ District 8 Staff (November 19, 2001). "Willmar Bypass Opens with Silver Ribbon Cutting" (Press release). Minnesota Department of Transportation. http://www3.dot.state.mn.us/d8/newsrels/01/1119bypassribboncutting.html. Retrieved November 10, 2007.
^ "Highway 23 Paynesville Bypass project". Minnesota Department of Transportation. April 26, 2010. http://www.dot.state.mn.us/d8/projects/paynesvillebypass/. Retrieved January 29, 2011.

External links

MN 23 at The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page