- Minnesota State Highway 62 (east)
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For the route located in southwest Minnesota numbered 62 between Fulda and Windom, see Minnesota State Highway 62 (west).
Trunk Highway 62
Route information Maintained by Mn/DOT Length: 12.350 mi (19.875 km) Existed: 1988 – present Major junctions West end: 
I-494 , Hennepin C.R. 62
at Eden Prairie , Minnetonka
US 169, US 212 at Eden Prairie
MN 100 at Edina
I-35W at Richfield , Minneapolis
MN 77 at MinneapolisEast end: 
MN 55 at Minneapolis , Fort SnellingLocation Counties: Hennepin Highway system Minnesota Trunk Highways
Interstate • U.S. • State
Inter-County • County roads • Legislative routes← 
MN 61US 63 
→
Minnesota State Highway 62 is a highway in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota. The route was part of Hennepin County Road 62 until 1988, when a portion of the route was inherited by the state. The western terminus of the route is at Interstate Highway 494 in Eden Prairie, where the roadway continues west as Hennepin County Road 62 to Hennepin County Road 101. The eastern terminus of the route is at State Highway 55 near the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in Minneapolis. Locally, the route is known as "the Crosstown," though there is no signage to reflect this on the roadway.[1] Highway 62 is 12 miles (19 km) in length.
Contents
Route description
State Highway 62 serves as an east–west route between Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Edina, Richfield, Minneapolis, and Fort Snelling. The route is constructed to freeway standards for most of its length, except for the western 1/2 mile, which is an expressway with two signal-controlled intersections. The route is located in Hennepin County.
Due to the existence of a second State Highway 62 in the southwest corner of the state between Fulda and Windom, the stretch of Highway 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 Hennepin County Roads 101 and 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
State Highway 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 Highway 62 do stray from the 62nd Street plane, as near the eastern terminus, Highway 62 runs along the plane of 58th Street.
Highway 62 previously had a traffic light at its eastern terminus at Highway 55 until an interchange was reconstructed during construction of the Hiawatha Line light rail in 2004.
I-35W and Highway 62 Crosstown Commons reconstruction project
A typical traffic jam 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' Highway 62 has one of the most notorious junctions in the region where it interweaves with Interstate Highway 35W. This mile-long stretch is known as the Crosstown Commons, and the highway itself is known as the Crosstown Highway (but there is no signage on the roadway to reflect these names). Plans to "unweave" and expand this section of roadway to improve traffic flow have come and gone for many years, frustrating the 200,000 drivers who use it daily. Construction of the current design was expected to begin in July 2006, but was delayed due to failure on the part of the Pawlenty Administration to fund it. The project was adequately funded and bids were received in April 2007, and construction began in May 2007. The new interchange features three through-lanes for I-35W (including one HOV lane) in each direction and two separate through-lanes for Highway 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.[1]
The 2007 bid was won by the Ames, Lunda, and Schafer consortium for $288 million. 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]
Exit list
The entire route is in Hennepin County.
Location Mile[3] Destinations Notes Eden Prairie 103.592 I-494, CR 62 westMinnetonka 104.510-104.942 
CR 61 (Shady Oak Road)Eden Prairie 105.459-105.541 US 212 westWestbound exit and eastbound entrance 105.706-105.814 US 169 northboundEdina 105.907-106.025 US 169 southbound106.240-106.679 
CR 158 (Gleason Road)107.171-107.481 Tracy Avenue 108.124-108.512 MN 100109.062-109.102 Valley View Road Eastbound exit and westbound entrance 109.292-109.602 
CR 17 (France Avenue)Edina-Richfield 109.882-110.142 
CR 31 (Xerxes Avenue)Richfield 110.352-110.632 
CR 32 (Penn Avenue)111.032-111.172 
MN 121111.362 Lyndale Avenue Eastbound exit and westbound entrance 111.421-111.475 I-35W south – Albert LeaWest end of I-35W overlap I-35W: 11.134-11.163 Lyndale Avenue Westbound exit and eastbound entrance 112.032-112.267 I-35W north – MinneapolisEast end of I-35W overlap 112.412-112.612 
CR 35 (Portland Avenue)Westbound entrance, eastbound exit and entrance Minneapolis 113.242-113.282 Bloomington Avenue Eastbound exit and entrance 113.462-113.852 
MN 77 south / CR 152 north (Cedar Avenue)114.202-114.532 28th Avenue 114.722-114.962 34th Avenue Fort Snelling 115.683-115.982 MN 55 west (Hiawatha Avenue) / Minnehaha Avenue1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
Concurrency terminus • Closed/Former • Incomplete access • UnopenedReferences
- Adam Froehlig (November 23, 2003). Minnesota Highway 62 (I). MN Highway Endings. Accessed August 26, 2004.
- Adam Froehlig (March 18, 2003). Minnesota Highway 62 (II). MN Highway Endings. Accessed August 26, 2004.
- Steve Riner (December 27, 2003). Details of Routes 51-75. Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Accessed August 26, 2004.
- ^ "Mn/DOT invites contractors to bid on I-35W/Crosstown project". Minnesota Department of Transportation. http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/news/07/02/05crosstownbids.html. Retrieved May 31, 2007.
- ^ Olson, Dan (May 15, 2007). "Untangling the infamous Crosstown Commons now underway". Minnesota Public Radio. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/05/15/morecrosstown/. Retrieved May 31, 2007.
- ^ "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 November 15, 2010.
External links
Categories:- State highways in Minnesota
- Freeways in the United States
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