U.S. Route 52 in Minnesota

U.S. Highway 52
Route information
Maintained by Mn/DOT
Length:	377 mi (607 km) 243 miles along I-94
Existed:	1934 – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 52 at Prosper
	I-90 near Rochester US 14 / US 63 at Rochester I-494 in Inver Grove Heights I-35E / I-94 / US 10 in St. Paul
North end:	I‑94 / US 52 at Fargo, ND
Location
Counties:	Fillmore, Olmsted, Goodhue, Dakota, Ramsey, Hennepin, Wright, Stearns, Todd, Douglas, Grant, Otter Tail, Wilkin, Clay
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List Bannered Divided Replaced Minnesota Trunk Highways Interstate US State Legislative routes ← MN 51 US 53 →

U.S. Highway 52 (US 52 or Highway 52) enters the state of Minnesota at the unincorporated community of Prosper, north of the town of Burr Oak, Iowa. The route is marked north–south in Minnesota along its independent segment from the Iowa state line to downtown St. Paul. Highway 52 is not signed along the length of its concurrency with Interstate 94 (I-94) from downtown St. Paul to the North Dakota state line at Moorhead and Fargo.

Route description

U.S. Highway 52 in Rochester. The independent segment of Highway 52 is the only non-Interstate Highway in Minnesota to carry numbered exits.

U.S. 52 enters Fillmore County and heads through the same Driftless Area it ran through in Iowa. The route heads through Preston and proceeds north to Chatfield. Highway 52 leaves the river bluffs near Chatfield and enters terrain typical of southern Minnesota. This area is mostly farmland for the rest of the length until the route enters the city of Rochester. Highway 52 intersects Interstate 90 south of Rochester, and expands to a four-lane freeway north of this junction. The roadway expands further to six lanes around Rochester, from the junction with U.S. 63 to County Road 14, which is at the northern tip city. U.S. 14 is a major route, and connects Owatonna to Rochester. North of Rochester, Highway 52 becomes a four-lane expressway through the farmland of Olmsted and Goodhue counties. Zumbrota is bypassed by the highway and the route heads to Dakota County. In Cannon Falls, an interchange completed in October 2014, eliminated the last two traffic lights between St. Paul and Rochester on Highway 52. ^[1] North of Coates, Highway 52 enters the edge of the Twin Cities area. The route enters Inver Grove Heights where it becomes the Lafayette Freeway north of Concord Boulevard. Highway 52 splits with State Highway 55 north of there. Highway 55 heads to Minneapolis, while Highway 52 heads to St. Paul. Interstate 494 intersects 52 in the northern part of Inver Grove Heights. The St. Paul Downtown Airport is right off of Highway 52 in St. Paul. After Highway 52 crosses the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul, the route intersects Interstate 94 and follows I-94 to the North Dakota state line; U.S. 52 is not signed along the length of this concurrency.

History

Preston Overlook, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, on U.S. Highway 52 in Fillmore County.

U.S. Highway 52 was extended into the state of Minnesota in 1934. The road replaced the former routing of old U.S. Highway 55 from the Iowa state line to the Twin Cities, and the former route of old U.S. Highway 10S from Minneapolis west to North Dakota. Interstate 94 replaced most of the routing of Highway 52 west of St. Cloud, and the routing from St. Cloud to Minneapolis was replaced by U.S. Highway 10, U.S. Highway 169, and Hennepin County Road 81. Highway 52 was routed along University Avenue through Minneapolis and St. Paul until about 1995 (In 1986, Highway 52 on University Avenue between I-35W and the St. Paul border was turned over to Hennepin County maintenance and renumbered County 36 / 37, creating a gap in Highway 52 until the 1995 route change).

52 was routed along Robert Street through St. Paul, West St. Paul, and into Inver Grove Heights until 1995; when 52 was moved onto the nearby Lafayette Freeway. The Lafayette Bridge which takes the highway across the Mississippi River near downtown St. Paul was built in 1968 and is a "fracture critical" structure which is in need of replacement. Construction of the new bridge is planned to begin in 2011.^[2]

U.S. Highway 52 was built as an expressway from Rochester to St. Paul in the 1960s. The "ROC52" project expanded the section of Highway 52 in Rochester to a 6-lane freeway in 2005–2006.^[3] Between Rochester and the Twin Cities, several at-grade intersections have been converted to interchanges since the 1990s.

However, many at-grade intersections remain along this segment of highway. An experimental installation of Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance Systems–Stop Sign Assist (CICAS–SSA) was installed at the intersection with Goodhue County Road 9, making use of dynamic message signs to show when it is safe to cross or turn onto the highway. It uses a diagram that looks like a divided highway sign A full-scale field test began in January 2010, though a previous version had also been tried at the intersection a few years earlier. The study will run through 2012.^[4][5]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[6]	km	Destinations	Notes
Fillmore	Prosper	0.000	0.000	US 52	Continuation into Iowa
		1.048	1.687	MN 44 east
	Harmony	9.257	14.898	MN 139 south
	Preston	17.035	27.415	MN 16 east	South end of MN 16 concurrency
		20.648	33.230	MN 16 west	North end of MN 16 concurrency
	Fountain	24.815	39.936	MN 80 west
	Chatfield	34.312	55.220	MN 30 east / MN 74 north	South end of MN 30 concurrency
Olmsted		34.811	56.023	MN 30 west	North end of MN 30 concurrency
	Marion Township	46.505	74.843	I-90 east – La Crosse
		47.625	76.645	County 36 (Marion Rd)
		50.400	81.111	County 1 (11th Ave SE)
	Rochester	51.904	83.531	US 63 south / S Broadway – Stewartville	Southern end of US-63 concurrency
		53.948	86.821	County 25 (16th Street SW)
		54.297	87.383	US 14 east (12th Street SW) – Winona	No access northbound, southern end of US 14 concurrency
		54.797	88.187	6th Street SW	No southbound access
		55.399	89.156	2nd Street SW	Access to Mayo Clinic, Saint Marys Hospital
		56.077	90.247	US 14 west / Civic Center Drive NW – Owatonna	Partial cloverleaf, north end of US 14 concurrency
		56.956	91.662	19th Street NW, Elton Hills Dr NW	Single point urban interchange
		58.320	93.857	County 22 east (37th Street NW/41st Street NW)
		59.663	96.018	55th Street NW
		61.053	98.255	65th Street NW
		61.670	99.248	US 63 north / 75th St NW – Zumbro Falls, Lake City	Northern end of US-63 concurrency
	Oronoco Township	63.971	102.951	100th Street NW
	Pine Island	64.244	103.391	County 12 / County 112 – Oronoco	Diverging diamond interchange (the first in the state); new interchange, opened September 2013[7][8]
Goodhue		71.261	114.683	County 11 – Pine Island
	Zumbrota	75.853	122.074	MN 60 east – Mazeppa, Zumbro Falls	Southern end of MN 60 concurrency
		77.231	124.291	MN 58 / County 10 – Zumbrota, Red Wing
		78.280	125.979	MN 60 west	Northern end of MN 60 concurrency
	Hader	86.213	138.746	MN 57 / County 8 – Wanamingo, Mantorville
	Cannon Falls	96.897	155.941	County 24 west
		98.060	157.812	MN 19 – Cannon Falls, Northfield
Dakota	Hampton	105.686	170.085	MN 50 / MN 56 – Farmington, Kenyon
		106.987	172.179	County 47 / Northfield Blvd – Hampton
	Coates	113.435	182.556	County 46
	Rosemount	115.573	185.997	County 42 / 145th Street E – Rosemount
		117.501	189.100	MN 55 east – Hastings	South end of MN TH-55 concurrency. Intersection northbound and interchange southbound
		118.174	190.183	117th Street
	Inver Grove Heights	120.837	194.468	County 56 (Concord Boulevard)
		121.679	195.823	MN 55 west – Minneapolis	North end of MN TH-55 concurrency. Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		122.677	197.429	80th Street East
		123.505	198.762	70th Street East
		124.735	200.742	Upper 55th Street East
		125.379	201.778	I-494 / MN 110
	South St. Paul	126.116	202.964	Southview Boulevard, Mendota Road E
	South St. Paul–West St. Paul	127.295	204.861	Wentworth Avenue E, Thompson Avenue E
		128.048	206.073	Butler Avenue E
Ramsey	St. Paul	129.155	207.855	MN 156 / Concord Street, Cesar Chavez Street
		129.469	208.360	Eaton Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		130.253	209.622	Plato Boulevard, Fillmore Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		130.858	210.596	E 7th Street, Fort Road
		130.937	210.723	I-94 / US 10 to I-35E	Southern end of I-94 concurrency
Unmarked concurrency with I-94 to North Dakota state line
Red River of the North				I‑94 / US 52 continue into North Dakota
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

Route map: Bing

• Steve Riner Details of Routes 51-75. The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Accessed March 24, 2007.
• Adam Froehlig US Route 52 Exit List Twin Cities Highways. Accessed August 5, 2007.
• Matt Salek US 52 Exits: SE Minnesota Upper Midwest Freeway Exit Guides. Accessed August 5, 2007.

U.S. Route 52
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