Minnesota State Highway 55

Trunk Highway 55
Route information
Maintained by Mn/DOT
Length:	220.572 mi[1] (354.976 km)
Existed:	1933 – present
Major junctions
West end:	ND 11 at the Bois de Sioux River
	U.S. 59 , MN 79 at Elbow Lake MN 28 , MN 29 at Glenwood MN 4 , MN 23 at Paynesville MN 25 at Buffalo I-494 at Plymouth U.S. 169 at Plymouth , Golden Valley MN 100 at Golden Valley I-94 at Minneapolis MN 62 , MN 5 at Fort Snelling U.S. 52 at Rosemount
East end:	U.S. 61 in Hastings
Location
Counties:	Wilkin, Grant, Douglas, Pope, Stearns, Kandiyohi, Meeker, Wright, Hennepin, Dakota
Highway system
Minnesota Trunk Highways Interstate • U.S. • State Inter-County • County roads • Legislative routes ← MN 54 MN 56 →

Minnesota State Highway 55 is a highway in west-central, central, and east-central Minnesota, which runs from the North Dakota state line near Tenney and continues east and southeast to its eastern terminus at its intersection with U.S. Highway 61 in Hastings.

This route, signed east–west, runs roughly diagonally across the central part of Minnesota.

Highway 55 is 221 miles (356 km) in length.

Route description

Highway 55 serves as a northwest–southeast route between Elbow Lake, Glenwood, Paynesville, Annandale, Buffalo, Plymouth, Minneapolis, Mendota Heights, and Hastings.

Highway 55 begins at the Bois de Sioux River, at the Minnesota — North Dakota state line near Tenney. North Dakota Highway 11 is its counterpoint upon crossing the state line. Highway 55 continues east to Tenney, Nashua, and Wendell. The route has a junction with U.S. Highway 59 before entering the city of Elbow Lake. Highways 55 and 59 run concurrently for 11 miles until reaching Barrett.

Highway 55 then continues independently again to Hoffman, Kensington, Farwell, and Lowry before reaching the city of Glenwood. At Glenwood, Highway 55 has an intersection with State Highway 29 and an interchange with State Highway 28.

The route continues southeast to Sedan and Brooten before reaching its junction with U.S. Highway 71 in Belgrade. Highway 55 passes through Regal before reaching its junction with State Highways 4 and 23 at the city of Paynesville.

Highway 55 continues east to Eden Valley and Watkins before reaching its junction with State Highway 15 at Kimball.

The route has a junction with State Highway 24 in Annandale. Highway 55 continues to Maple Lake and then Buffalo, where it has a junction with State Highway 25.

Highway 55 enters the Twin Cities area at Rockford and Greenfield, continuing east to Medina and Plymouth. Highway 55 has a junction with I-494 in Plymouth. Highway 55 continues east and has a junction with U.S. Highway 169 at the Plymouth / Golden Valley boundary line. Highway 55 continues through Golden Valley to its junction with State Highway 100. The route then continues east and enters the city of Minneapolis.

The western portion of the highway coming into downtown Minneapolis is known as Olson Memorial Highway, named for Floyd B. Olson, a popular Minnesota governor of Norwegian ancestry. The part of Highway 55 southeast of downtown is known as Hiawatha Avenue. A light rail corridor, the Hiawatha Line, runs parallel to the highway for much of the Hiawatha Avenue stretch.

Olson Memorial Highway statue

In July 2005, the section of Highway 55 that runs through downtown Minneapolis was turned back to local maintenance. To fill the gap, Highway 55 was rerouted along Interstate 94. Westbound, 55 now exits just before downtown at the westbound I-94 exit, and leaves the concurrency at the exit for the Olson Highway, marked with the Highway 55 shield. Eastbound, 55 leaves the Olson Highway at the interchange for I-94 eastbound, and leaves the freeway at the exit for Hiawatha Avenue, which is also marked with the Highway 55 shield.

There has been some controversy with expansion of the highway. An area known as Camp Coldwater, considered by some as the "birthplace of Minnesota," was dug up during some construction. Highway 55 has a junction with State Highway 62 at this point.

Fort Snelling State Park is located near the junction of Highway 55 and State Highway 5. The park entrance is located on Highway 5 at Post Road.

Highway 55 crosses the Minnesota River via the Mendota Bridge, which was the longest continuous bridge made of poured concrete when it was completed in 1926. It is 4,119 feet (1,255 m) in length.

The Mendota Bridge between Fort Snelling and Mendota Heights carries Highway 55 over the Minnesota River

The route enters Mendota Heights and has a junction with State Highways 13 and 110.

Highway 55 continues southeast through Eagan, joining briefly with State Highway 149. The route then has a junction with State Highway 3 in Inver Grove Heights. Highway 55 then runs concurrent with U.S. Highway 52 through Inver Grove Heights and into Rosemount. At Rosemount, Highway 55 leaves U.S. 52. Highway 55 continues independently again to its eastern terminus at its intersection with U.S. Highway 61 in the city of Hastings.

History

Highway 55 was authorized in 1933.^[2]

In late December 2006, someone added a 7-foot (2.1 m) painting of Pac-Man near one of the anti-tailgating dots on the road. This is located on the portion of Highway 55 between Buffalo and Rockford, traveling east of Buffalo.[1]

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile[3][4][5][1]	Destinations	Notes
Bois de Sioux River		0.000	ND 11
Wilkin	Campbell Township	3.503	US 75
	Champion Township	10.706	MN 9
Grant	Pomme de Terre Township	27.841	US 59	North end of US 59 overlap
	Elbow Lake	31.218	MN 79
		31.880	MN 54
	Barrett	38.826	US 59	South end of US 59 overlap
	Hoffman	45.704	MN 27
Pope	Ben Wade Township	61.151	MN 114	West end of MN 114 overlap
	Lowry	61.814	MN 114	East end of MN 114 overlap
	Reno Township	68.816	MN 29
	Glenwood	70.824-71.070	MN 28	Interchange
Stearns	Belgrade	93.667	US 71	West end of US 71 overlap
	Crow River Township	94.649	US 71	East end of US 71 overlap
Kandiyohi	Roseville Township	106.064	MN 4	West end of MN 4 overlap
Stearns	Paynesville	108.569	MN 23
Meeker	Union Grove Township	113.517	MN 4	East end of MN 4 overlap
	Eden Valley	119.491	MN 22
Stearns	Kimball	131.973	MN 15 / MN 24	West end of MN 24 overlap
Wright	Annandale	141.631	MN 24	East end of MN 24 overlap
	Buffalo	155.200	MN 25 (Central Avenue)
Hennepin	Plymouth	180.435-180.592	I-494	Interchange
	Plymouth / Golden Valley	183.813-184.247	US 169	Interchange
	Golden Valley	186.487-186.746	MN 100	Interchange
	Minneapolis	189.651	I-94	West end of I-94 overlap
		191.914	I-94	East end of I-94 overlap
		192.248-192.574	CR 152 (Cedar Avenue)	Interchange
		193.163-193.464	CR 3 (Lake Street)	Interchange
	Fort Snelling	197.142-197.233	MN 62	Interchange
		197.800-198.217	MN 5	Interchange
Minnesota River		198.227	Mendota Bridge
Dakota	Mendota Heights	199.151	MN 110
		199.935	MN 13
	Eagan	202.163-202.171	MN 149	North end of MN 149 overlap
		202.705	MN 149	South end of MN 149 overlap
	Inver Grove Heights	204.557-204.974	MN 3 (South Robert Trail)	Interchange
		205.929-205.930	CR 73 (Barnes Avenue)	Interchange
		206.515	US 52	North end of US 52 overlap
		US 52: 120.705-120.943	CR 56 (Concord Boulevard)	Interchange, old MN 56
	Inver Grove Heights / Rosemount	US 52: 118.059-118.565	117th Street	Interchange
	Rosemount	210.836	US 52	South end of US 52 overlap
	Hastings	220.306-220.313	US 61
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Trunk Highway Log Point Listing - Construction District 5" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Transportation. August 20, 2010. http://www.dot.state.mn.us/roadway/data/reports/logpoint/metrolpt.pdf. Retrieved October 23, 2010. 
2. ^ Riner, Steve. "Details of routes 51-75". The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. http://www.steve-riner.com/mnhighways/r51-75.htm#55. Retrieved October 23, 2010. ^{[unreliable source]}
3. ^ "Trunk Highway Log Point Listing - Construction District 4" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Transportation. August 23, 2010. http://www.dot.state.mn.us/roadway/data/reports/logpoint/d4.pdf. Retrieved October 23, 2010. 
4. ^ "Trunk Highway Log Point Listing - Construction District 3" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Transportation. August 23, 2010. http://www.dot.state.mn.us/roadway/data/reports/logpoint/d3.pdf. Retrieved October 23, 2010. 
5. ^ "Trunk Highway Log Point Listing - Construction District 8" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Transportation. August 23, 2010. http://www.dot.state.mn.us/roadway/data/reports/logpoint/d8.pdf. Retrieved October 23, 2010.