Minnesota Notes

[mgk920]

According to RVDroz's old website, Minnesota finished theirs first.  But it was all submitted through and approved by AASHTO at the same time for all three states.

IIRC, I-90 wasn't completed in Minnesota until late 1976 or sometime in 1977.  A section that runs for an interchange or two on either side of Blue Earth, MN was the last to open.  It was completed through South Dakota by then, except for possibly a tiny part by the Wyoming state line (this is west of Rapid City, SD, where US 16 diverges from it, anyways).

Mike

[froggie]

^ Mike, it was late 1978 when I-90 was completed near Blue Earth.  The SD/MN/WI submission and AASHTO's approval on US 16 actually predated the completion by a few months.  But MnDOT and WisDOT beat out SD on removing US 16 first.

[texaskdog]

I was surprised MN 110 has not been changed to MN 62 yet

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I was surprised MN 110 has not been changed to MN 62 yet

It has now.

[bschultzy]

I was surprised MN 110 has not been changed to MN 62 yet

Yeah, signs have been up for a couple of weeks now. Haven't tried to get a good photo while driving on it #safety

[Mdcastle]

High Mast LED streetlights are coming

IMG_0494 by North Star Highways, on Flickr

[MNHighwayMan]

I was surprised MN 110 has not been changed to MN 62 yet

Yeah, signs have been up for a couple of weeks now. Haven't tried to get a good photo while driving on it #safety

I found this picture on reddit, which isn't specifically of the sign changes but does include one in the background. This is old MN-110 at Dodd Rd/MN-149, and you can see by the lack of fading around the 62 shield that MnDOT just removed the old 110 shield and put a new MN-62 one on the same green panel.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

The signs on old 110 itself are patch jobs, but all-new signage with exit numbers was added along the MN 55 duplex. The mileage for the exits is based on MN 62.

[froggie]

Exit numbers...?

[citation needed]

[triplemultiplex]

The Vikings have a sponsorship deal with chewing tobacco?  Losers.

[MNHighwayMan]

The Vikings have a sponsorship deal with chewing tobacco?  Losers.

I hope you're just being sarcastic, because it's derived from the Scandinavian word skål meaning, roughly, "cheers!" Has nothing to do with the company by that name.

[triplemultiplex]

I should've used an emoji.

[n0ax]

Looks like Scott County has selected a contractor and produced visualizations of the US-169 freeway conversion from TH-41 to CSAH-14 https://www.scottcountymn.gov/1778/US-169-TH-41CH-78-Interchange-Design-Pro. According to their website, stage one construction should begin sometime this September...

[DJ Particle]

Exit numbers...?

[citation needed]

I can concur.  MN-55 West (Hiawatha) is Exit 115 (though the exit number is only posted on westbound 62), Bloomington Rd. is 116A, 5 West is 116B, 5 East is 116C, and 55 East/13 South is 117.  Also, the gore signs on Crosstown Commons for the left exits off 62 West to 35W South and 62 East to 35W North got the exit numbers 111A and 111B respectively.  And so far that's all for exit numbers on 62.

[froggie]

Saw the exit numbers for myself this past week while I was back on vacation.  And it wasn't just 62 I saw exit numbers for....need to start a log to keep track of what does and what doesn't on the non-Interstates now...

[discochris]

I was in Brainerd this weekend, and I noticed a green Minnesota Business 371 sign. I'd never seen a sign like that before. Is this new, or are there others?

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I was in Brainerd this weekend, and I noticed a green Minnesota Business 371 sign. I'd never seen a sign like that before. Is this new, or are there others?

Those were installed when that section of 371 was relocated onto the bypass around 2000. There's also signed BUS MN 23 in Willmar, but those are white signs with green numbers for some reason.

[froggie]

^ Because the business route in Willmar is not a state highway and was signed locally before MnDOT created design specs for a business shield.  Business 371 in Brainerd is still a state highway, though that may change once the current reconstruction plan is finished.

[DJ Particle]

Saw the exit numbers for myself this past week while I was back on vacation.  And it wasn't just 62 I saw exit numbers for....need to start a log to keep track of what does and what doesn't on the non-Interstates now...

The ones I know of are:
US-52 through Rochester (the first non-interstate to get numbers)
US-169 Shakopee to Hennepin CSAH-1
MN-62 Fort Snelling to Mendota Heights, the left exits at Crosstown Commons

What others did you see?

[froggie]

52 at 55 also had an exit number.  As do the first few exits on 610 coming off 94, but I believe that was intended as part of constructing that last segment west of County 81.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Others with exit numbers:
US 10/61 along the duplex
10 at 35W (north junction)

[froggie]

^ Not every interchange (CR 19 for example), but yes I recall a few of the 10/61 interchanges too.

[DJ Particle]

Others with exit numbers:
US 10/61 along the duplex
10 at 35W (north junction)

Cool... and the 10 at 35W one is understandable, since they're making sure left exits are properly signed.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

A thing I have yet to see are any expressway exits or "standalone" exits numbered.

[DJ Particle]

A thing I have yet to see are any expressway exits or "standalone" exits numbered.

MNDoT told me on Facebook that they would eventually number most of those, too.