Tulsa, OK to Minot, ND?

[bugo]

Looks like I'm making a trip from T-town to Minot next week.  Is the best
route 44 east to 71 north to 29 north to 94 west to 83 north?  Or is there a
better, shorter, quicker, or more interesting route?  Any construction zones
to look out for?  This trip will add one new state (ND) to my collection.

[agentsteel53]

44 to 40 to 83, 83, 83 all the way should work.  you'll be heading through some very rural areas; 83 doesn't have much traffic on it out there

[bugo]

OK the plans have been pretty much finalized: I'll be taking a bus there (as far as Bismarck anyway) and driving back.  I looked on Greyhound.com and found the route the bus takes on the way up: north from Tulsa to KC by way of Bartlesville, Coffeyville and Chanute; I-35 from KC to Minneapolis, I-94 to St Cloud, US 10-MN 371-MN 210-US 10 to Fargo via Little Falls and Brainerd.  I-94 to Bismarck, then a car ride to Minot.  So I'll get to see some new places, notably Minneapolis-St Paul.  I'll also have a 2 hour layover in Minneapolis but it will be at 6 in the morning.  Looks like the bus station is at 950 Hawthorne Ave.  Is that area of town somewhere somebody from out of town should avoid at 6 am?  I was thinking about doing some walking around if it's a safe area.

I'm probably just going to stick to 83-94-29-71-540-271-112-59 for the return trip (to Mena, AR.)  What's the status on road construction on this route?  I'm most concerned about KC.  Is I-29 open over the Paseo Bridge, and is there any major construction on the W part of I-435 from I-29 to the Grandview Triangle?

[Bickendan]

950 Hawthorne is essentially downtown Minneapolis. It's near the Target Center arena and such. Whether it's safe for someone 'out-of-town', well, that's hard to say. While I wouldn't worry about it were I there, being from Portland, you might see it differently. But if you do want to explore, head north on Hennepin Ave to the Mississippi River, then east on the bank (Hennepin doesn't directly connect to the West River Parkway) to the Mill Ruins Park, the Stone Arch Bridge, St Anthony Falls and a good view of the new I-35W bridge.

[bugo]

As long as it's not a horrible ghetto area (it looks like a really nice area on Google Street View) I'll probably walk around for a bit.

[dislocatedkid]

Also of note the "Skyway Walkway Sysytem" ties into the Greyhound Station there if your worried about safety, which i wouldnt, but then again i lived down there for a couple years and know where i'm going.

[andytom]

I'm probably just going to stick to 83-94-29-71-540-271-112-59 for the return trip (to Mena, AR.)  What's the status on road construction on this route?  I'm most concerned about KC.  Is I-29 open over the Paseo Bridge, and is there any major construction on the W part of I-435 from I-29 to the Grandview Triangle?

I went through the KC area a couple of weekends ago and there were construction signs all over town concerning the Paseo Bridge.  I would recommend using I-435 and going around KC.  There are no projects on it north of I-70 (I didn't go south of I-70 as I was going from the airport to Columbia and wanted to get I-670 on one of the trips).

--Andy

[Coelacanth]

950 Hawthorne is essentially downtown Minneapolis. It's near the Target Center arena and such. Whether it's safe for someone 'out-of-town', well, that's hard to say. While I wouldn't worry about it were I there, being from Portland, you might see it differently. But if you do want to explore, head north on Hennepin Ave to the Mississippi River, then east on the bank (Hennepin doesn't directly connect to the West River Parkway) to the Mill Ruins Park, the Stone Arch Bridge, St Anthony Falls and a good view of the new I-35W bridge.

If you only have  a 2 hour layover, this might be pushing it. This is roughly a mile-and-a-half walk each way, with signalized intersections at basically every corner until you get to the River Road. Not that the Falls, the museum, the Stone Arch Bridge, the Guthrie and the 35W bridge aren't beautiful, but I'd hate for you to miss your bus.

Also, unless you must go thru Bismarck on your way back for some reason, you can save about 40 miles by taking 52/281 and pick up I94 at Jamestown rather than 83 to Bismarck.