U.S. Route 63 in Minnesota

U.S. Highway 63
U.S. 63 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Mn/DOT
Length:	91.881 mi[1] (147.868 km)
Existed:	1934 – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 63 at the Iowa state line
	I-90 near Stewartville US 52 in Rochester US 14 in Rochester US 61 in Lake City and Red Wing
North end:	US 63 at the Mississippi River
Location
Counties:	Fillmore, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha, Goodhue
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List Bannered Divided Replaced Minnesota Trunk Highways Interstate US State Legislative routes ← MN 62 MN 64 →

U.S. Route 63 (US 63) is a highway in southeastern Minnesota that runs from the Minnesota-Iowa border south of Spring Valley to the Mississippi River at Red Wing. It connects the cities of Spring Valley, Stewartville, Rochester, and Lake City.

The route in Minnesota is 92 miles (148 km) in length.

Route description

U.S. 63 enters the state in Fillmore County, just north of Chester, Iowa. It travels north to Spring Valley where it becomes concurrent with State Highway 16, following it west for five miles entering Mower County. It continues north through Racine, then into Stewartville, after passing into Olmsted County, where it becomes a divided highway. Immediately after Stewartville, it intersects Interstate 90, near Rochester International Airport. The highway then enters Rochester 1 mile after the I-90 junction, where it is an expressway south of U.S. 52 (slowly becoming a freeway). It then follows U.S. 52 west of downtown Rochester to 75th Street NW, where it departs from U.S. 52. It follows 75th Street eastward to Olmsted County 33, where it continues north from a roundabout.

It continues north through Olmsted and Wabasha counties. It meets U.S. Highway 61 at Lake City and overlaps it into the city of Red Wing. U.S. 63 turns southeast on State Highway 58 for one block and then turns northeast on 3rd Street. It then curves back northwest to cross over 61, and then reaches the Red Wing Bridge where it crosses the Mississippi River and enters the state of Wisconsin.

Nearly all of the route is legally defined as Constitutional Route 59 in the Minnesota Statutes,^[2] except for the part between Red Wing and the Mississippi River, which is Legislative Route 161.^[3]

History

U.S. 63 was extended into Minnesota in 1934.^[4][5] The route had previously been marked the year before as U.S. 59, except for the segment running from U.S. 61 to the river crossing, which had been State Highway 58.^[4] U.S. 63 was an original 1926 U.S. Route and terminated in Des Moines, Iowa until it was extended north. The U.S. 59 designation was simultaneously reassigned to a new highway running from Laredo, Texas to Pembina, North Dakota.

The route was paved when it was marked.^[5]

In the spring of 2014, it was rerouted to follow U.S. Highway 52 west of downtown Rochester. This makes the route longer, but reduces transit time due to higher speed limits and fewer traffic lights. The segment of the old route 63 between 37th Street NE and 75th Street NE was turned over to Olmsted County, and renamed County route 33. Plans for the change were announced in April, 2012.^[6]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Howard	Chester			US 63 south	Continuation into Iowa
		0.000	0.000	Iowa–Minnesota state line
Fillmore	Beaver Township	0.503	0.810	MN 56
	Spring Valley	13.569	21.837	MN 16	East end of MN 16 overlap
Mower	Frankford Township	18.601	29.935	MN 16	West end of MN 16 overlap
Olmsted	Stewartville	28.714	46.211	MN 30 (1st Street E.)	South end of MN 30 overlap
	High Forest Township	30.702– 30.954	49.410– 49.816	I-90	Interchange
		31.206	50.221	MN 30	North end of MN 30 overlap
	Rochester	35.514	57.154	48th Street SW/SE	Interchange
		36.213	58.279	40th Street SW/SE	Interchange
		37.144– 37.543	59.777– 60.420	US 52	Interchange
		39.549	63.648	US 14 (12th Street SW/SE)
	Farmington Township	51.225	82.439	MN 247
Wabasha	Zumbro Falls	59.914	96.422	MN 60 (Main Street)
	Lake City	74.864	120.482	US 61 (Lake Shore Drive)	South end of US 61 overlap
Goodhue	Red Wing	91.136	146.669	US 61 (Main Street) MN 58 (Plum Street)	North end of US 61 overlap North end of MN 58 overlap
		91.208	146.785	MN 58	South end of MN 58 overlap
Mississippi River		91.632	147.467	Red Wing Bridge (Minnesota–Wisconsin state line)
Pierce	Hager City			US 63 north	Continuation into Wisconsin
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

Future

The Minnesota Department of Transportation also has plans to turn Highway 63 into an controlled-access freeway between U.S. 52 and Interstate 90.

References

External links

Route map: Bing

• U.S. Highway 63 at the Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page

U.S. Route 63
Previous state: Iowa	Minnesota	Next state: Wisconsin