Minnesota State Highway 62 (Hennepin–Dakota counties)

Minnesota State Highway 62 (MN 62) is a highway in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota. The route was part of County Road 62 (CR 62) until 1988, when a portion of the route was inherited by the state. The western terminus of the highway is at Interstate 494 (I-494) in Eden Prairie, where the roadway continues west as CR 62 to CR 101. The eastern terminus of the route is at the junction with I-494 in Inver Grove Heights. Locally, the original portion of the route in Hennepin County is known as "the Crosstown," though signage with this name does not appear on the highway itself, but only on local streets adjacent to the road. It is also used as an alternate name, even by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT).[1] The route is 18.6 miles (29.9 km) in length.

Trunk Highway 62
Crosstown Highway
MN 62 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MnDOT
Length18.599 mi (29.932 km)
Existed1988–present
Major junctions
West end I-494 / CR 62 at Eden Prairie
 
East end I-494 at Inver Grove Heights
Location
CountiesHennepin, Dakota
Highway system
  • Minnesota Trunk Highways
← MN 61MN 62 →

Route description

MN 62 serves as an east–west route between Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Edina, Richfield, Minneapolis, Fort Snelling, Mendota Heights and Inver Grove Heights. The route is constructed to freeway standards for most of its length, except for the western 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km), which is an expressway with two signal-controlled intersections. The eastern section is also an expressway except for the last mile between Mendota Road and I-494, which is again a freeway. The route is located in Hennepin and Dakota counties.

Due to the existence of a second State Highway 62 in the southwest corner of the state between Fulda and Windom, the stretch of MN 62 in the Twin Cities area starts its numbering at milepost 100. This is unorthodox in that the two state highways have a combined length of 36 miles (58 km). "Mile 100" is calibrated where CR 101 and CR 62 meet at the Eden Prairie–Minnetonka boundary line; though the mileposts themselves, starting with mile 104, do not appear until the state-maintained section inside the I-494 beltway.

History

MN 62 in the Twin Cities area was authorized in 1988. Prior to 1988, the route was designated as Hennepin County Road 62. The route was built mostly in the late 1960s by Hennepin County.

The original Hennepin County numbering of 62 corresponded with 62nd Street in Minneapolis. However, some portions of MN 62 do stray from the 62nd Street plane, as near the eastern terminus, MN 62 runs along the plane of 58th Street.

MN 62 previously had a traffic light at its eastern terminus at MN 55 until an interchange was reconstructed during construction of the METRO Blue Line light rail in 2004.

I-35W and Highway 62 Crosstown Commons reconstruction project
A typical traffic jam, before reconstruction, in the Crosstown Commons. The atypical part was that this picture was taken on a Saturday afternoon, not during a Monday thru Friday rush hour.

The Twin Cities' MN 62 had one of the most notorious junctions in the region where it interwove with I-35W. This mile-long stretch was known informally as the "Crosstown Commons". Plans to "unweave" and expand this section of roadway to improve traffic flow had come and gone for many years, frustrating the 200,000 drivers who used it daily. Construction of the current design was expected to begin in July 2006, but was delayed due to state budget deficits.

The project was adequately funded during Governor Tim Pawlenty's second term and bids were received in April 2007. The bid was won by the Ames, Lunda, and Schafer consortium for $288 million. Construction began in May 2007. The project included 25 new bridges, 63 lane-miles of highway, and expanded the total roadway width from 6 lanes to 12 lanes at Lyndale Avenue. The bridges were cast in Coates, Minnesota, and trucked in for on-site erection. The new design includes transit/HOV lanes and was completed in November 2010.[2] The new interchange features three through-lanes for I-35W (including one HOV lane) in each direction and two separate through-lanes for MN 62 in each direction, eliminating the need to weave across traffic. The 2007 cost of correcting the deficiencies in that short stretch of highway was estimated to be $285 million.[3]

Extension

In August 2018, the MN 62 designation was extended from its former eastern terminus at MN 55 near the Mendota Bridge to a new terminus at I-494 in the city of Inver Grove Heights. This new extension is cosigned as MN 55/MN 62 across the Mendota Bridge. Beyond the bridge, MN 62 replaces the former MN 110 in its entirety to I-494. This project has been designated "One route. One name" by MnDOT. The reason for the change was to assign a single highway number to this continuous route as opposed to the three different highway numbers (MN 62, MN 55, MN 110) that the route formerly had. MnDOT believes this will lessen the potential for motorist confusion. Now MN 62 in the Twin Cities area both originates and terminates at I-494, travelling across Hennepin and Dakota counties.

Exit list

Some exits have been numbered.

CountyLocationmi[4]kmExitDestinationsNotes
HennepinEden Prairie–Minnetonka line103.592166.715 I-494 / CSAH 62 west (62nd Street)At-grade intersection; western terminus; road continues as CSAH 62 (62nd Street)
104.727168.542 CSAH 61 (Shady Oak Road)
Eden Prairie–Edina line105.867170.376 US 169Cloverleaf interchange
106.354171.160 US 212 westWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
Edina106.473171.352 CSAH 158 (Gleason Road)
107.369172.794Tracy Avenue
108.342174.360 MN 100Cloverleaf interchange
109.183175.713Valley View RoadEastbound exit and westbound entrance
109.422176.098 CR 17 (France Avenue)
Edina–Richfield–
Minneapolis tripoint		110.002177.031 CR 31 (Xerxes Avenue)
Richfield–Minneapolis line110.502177.836 CR 32 (Penn Avenue)
111.278179.085111A I-35W south – Albert LeaI-35W exit 11; westbound entrance from I-35W NB includes direct entrance ramp from MN 121
111.538179.503Lyndale Avenue
111.6179.6112A I-35W north – MinneapolisI-35W exit 11
112.512181.071 CR 35 (Portland Avenue)No westbound entrance
Minneapolis113.322182.374Bloomington AvenueEastbound exit and entrance
113.642182.889 MN 77 south / CR 152 north (Cedar Avenue)
114.367184.056 CSAH 54 north (28th Avenue)
114.842184.82034th Avenue
Unorganized Territory of Fort Snelling115.982186.655115 MN 55 west (Hiawatha Avenue) / Minnehaha Avenue / Federal DriveFormer eastern terminus of MN 62; Federal Drive not signed
116.293187.155116ABloomington Road – Fort Snelling Historic SiteFt. Snelling not signed eastbound
116.454187.415116B/C MN 5 – Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, St. Paul
Minnesota River116.479–
116.869		187.455–
188.082		Mendota Bridge
DakotaMendota Heights116.946188.206117 MN 55 eastEastbound exit and westbound entrance
117.333188.829 MN 13 to MN 55 east
118.442190.614 I-35E – St. Paul, Albert LeaI-35E north exit 101, south exits 101A-B; interchange
119.113191.694 MN 149 (Dodd Road)
Inver Grove Heights121.416195.400 MN 3 (South Robert Trail)Interchange
122.191196.647 I-494 / US 52 – St. Paul, RochesterI-494 exit 67; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
gollark: Wow, Macron is actually really cool now.
gollark: I wonder if Valgrind can detect issues in MOV-based Turing machines.
gollark: osmarkslisp™ ships with a great quicksort.
gollark: GTech™ primary piscilibrariocore.
gollark: Yes.

References
  2. Olson, Dan (May 15, 2007). "Untangling the infamous Crosstown Commons now underway". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved May 31, 2007.
  3. "MnDOT invites contractors to bid on I-35W/Crosstown project". Minnesota Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on August 20, 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2007.
  4. Minnesota Department of Transportation. "Statewide Trunk Logpoint Listing" (PDF). St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 1, 2018.

KML is from Wikidata
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.