U.S. Route 52 in Minnesota

This article is about the section of U.S. Route 52 in Minnesota. For the entire route, see U.S. Route 52.

U.S. Highway 52
Route information
Maintained by MnDOT
Length	377 mi (607 km) 243 miles along I-94
Existed	1934–present
Major junctions
South end	US 52 at Prosper
Major intersections	I-90 near Rochester US 14 / US 63 at Rochester I-494 in Inver Grove Heights I-35E / I-94 / US 10 in St. Paul
North end	I-94 / US 52 at Fargo, ND
Location
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided Minnesota Trunk Highway System Interstate US State Legislative Scenic
← MN 51 → US 53

U.S. Highway 52 (US 52 or Highway 52) enters the state of Minnesota at the unincorporated community of Prosper, north of the town of Burr Oak, Iowa. The route is marked north–south in Minnesota along its independent segment from the Iowa state line to downtown St. Paul. Highway 52 is not signed along the length of its concurrency with Interstate 94 (I-94) from downtown St. Paul to the North Dakota state line at Moorhead and Fargo.

Route description

U.S. Highway 52 in Rochester. The independent segment of Highway 52 is the only non-Interstate Highway in Minnesota to carry numbered exits.

U.S. Highway 52 enters Fillmore County and heads through the same Driftless Area it ran through in Iowa. The route heads through Preston and proceeds north to Chatfield. Highway 52 leaves the river bluffs near Chatfield and enters terrain typical of southern Minnesota. This area is mostly farmland for the rest of the length until the route enters the city of Rochester. Interstate 90 intersects Highway 52 south of Rochester, and is a major junction. Highway 52 expands to a four-lane freeway north of the junction. The roadway expands further to six-lanes around Rochester, from the junction with U.S. Highway 63 to County Road 14, which is at the northern tip city. U.S. Highway 14 is a major route, and connects Owatonna to Rochester. North of Rochester, Highway 52 becomes a four-lane expressway through the farmland of Olmsted and Goodhue counties. Zumbrota is bypassed by the highway and the route heads to Dakota County. In Cannon Falls, Highway 52 has two traffic lights in the southern part of town. Mn/DOT plans to remove these and put in an interchange. North of Coates, Highway 52 enters the edge of the Twin Cities area. The route enters Inver Grove Heights where it becomes the Lafayette Freeway north of Concord Boulevard. Highway 52 splits with State Highway 55 north of there. Highway 55 heads to Minneapolis, while Highway 52 heads to St. Paul. Interstate 494 intersects 52 in the northern part of Inver Grove Heights. The St. Paul Downtown Airport is right off of Highway 52 in St. Paul. After Highway 52 crosses the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul, the route intersects Interstate Highway 94 and follows that route all the way to the North Dakota state line. U.S. Highway 52 is not signed along the length of its concurrency with Interstate 94 between downtown St. Paul and the North Dakota state line.

History

Preston Overlook, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, on U.S. Highway 52 in Fillmore County.

U.S. Highway 52 was extended into the state of Minnesota in 1934. The road replaced the former routing of old U.S. Highway 55 from the Iowa state line to the Twin Cities, and the former route of old U.S. Highway 10S from Minneapolis west to North Dakota. Interstate 94 replaced most of the routing of Highway 52 west of St. Cloud, and the routing from St. Cloud to Minneapolis was replaced by U.S. Highway 10, U.S. Highway 169, and Hennepin County Road 81. Highway 52 was routed along University Avenue through Minneapolis and St. Paul until about 1995 (In 1986, Highway 52 on University Avenue between I-35W and the St. Paul border was turned over to Hennepin County maintenance and renumbered County 36 / 37, creating a gap in Highway 52 until the 1995 route change).

52 was routed along Robert Street through St. Paul, West St. Paul, and into Inver Grove Heights until 1995; when 52 was moved onto the nearby Lafayette Freeway. The Lafayette Bridge which takes the highway across the Mississippi River near downtown St. Paul was built in 1968 and is a "fracture critical" structure which is in need of replacement. Construction of the new bridge is planned to begin in 2011.

U.S. Highway 52 was built as an expressway from Rochester to St. Paul in the 1960s. The "ROC52" project expanded the section of Highway 52 in Rochester to a 6-lane freeway in 2005–2006. Between Rochester and the Twin Cities, several at-grade intersections have been converted to interchanges since the 1990s.

However, many at-grade intersections remain along this segment of highway. An experimental installation of Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance Systems–Stop Sign Assist (CICAS–SSA) was installed at the intersection with Goodhue County Road 9, making use of dynamic message signs to show when it is safe to cross or turn onto the highway. It uses a diagram that looks like a divided highway sign A full-scale field test began in January 2010, though a previous version had also been tried at the intersection a few years earlier. The study will run through 2012.

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile	Destinations	Notes
Fillmore	Prosper	0.000	US 52	Continuation into Iowa
		1.048	MN 44 east
	Harmony	9.257	MN 139 south
	Preston	17.035	MN 16 east	South end of MN 16 concurrency
		20.648	MN 16 west	North end of MN 16 concurrency
	Fountain	24.815	MN 80 west
	Chatfield	34.312	MN 30 east / MN 74 north	South end of MN 30 concurrency
Olmsted		34.811	MN 30 west	North end of MN 30 concurrency
	Marion	46.505	I-90 east – La Crosse
		47.625	CR 36 (Marion Rd)
	Rochester	50.400	CR 1 (11th Ave SE)
		51.904	US 63 (Broadway) – Stewartville	6-lane freeway begins
		53.948	CR 25 (16th Street SW)
		54.297	US 14 east (12th Street SW) – Winona	No access northbound, south end of US 14 concurrency
		55.399	2nd Street SW	access to Mayo Clinic, Saint Marys Hospital
		56.077	US 14 west – Owatonna, Civic Center Drive NW	Partial cloverleaf, north end of US 14 concurrency
		56.956	19th Street NW, Elton Hills Dr NW	Single point urban interchange
		58.320	CR 22 east (37th Street NW)
		59.663	55th Street NW
		61.670	CR 14 (75th Street NW)	6-lane freeways ends, remains a 4-lane freeway Partial cloverleaf
	Oronoco	64.244	CR 12 / CR 112 – Oronoco
Goodhue	Pine Island	71.261	CR 11 – Pine Island
	Zumbrota	75.853	MN 60 east – Mazeppa, Zumbro Falls	South end of MN 60 concurrency
		77.231	MN 58 / CR 10 – Zumbrota, Red Wing
		78.280	MN 60 west	North end of MN 60 concurrency
	Hader	86.213	MN 57 / CR 8 – Wanamingo, Mantorville
	Wastedo	89.420	CR 9 – Goodhue, Dennison
		91.247	CR 1 south
		91.472	CR 1 north
	Cannon Falls	96.489	CR 24 north (65th Avenue)
		96.897	CR 24 west
		98.060	MN 19 – Cannon Falls, Northfield
Dakota	Hampton	105.686	MN 50 / MN 56 / CR 47 – Farmington, Kenyon
	Coates	113.435	CR 46
	Rosemount	115.573	CR 42 – Rosemount
		117.501	MN 55 east – Hastings	Intersection northbound and Exit southbound
		118.174	117th St
	Inver Grove Heights	120.837	CR 56 (Concord Boulevard)
		121.679	MN 55 west – Minneapolis	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		122.677	To MN 55 westModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated
		123.505	CR 26 (70th Street East)
		124.735	Upper 55th Street East
		125.379	I-494 / MN 110
	South St. Paul	126.116	Southview Boulevard, Mendota Road
	South St. Paul/West St. Paul	127.295	Wentworth Avenue, Thompson Avenue
		128.048	Butler Avenue
Ramsey	St. Paul	129.155	MN 156 (Concord Street)
		129.469	Eaton Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		130.253	Plato Boulevard, Fillmore Avenue
		130.858	I-94 east / US 10	Northbound exit
		130.937	I-94 west / US 10 west / US 52 north to I-35E	Southbound entrance
US 52 continues unsigned, overlapping Interstate 94.

References

• Steve Riner Details of Routes 51-75. The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Accessed March 24, 2007.
• Adam Froehlig US Route 52 Exit List Twin Cities Highways. Accessed August 5, 2007.
• Matt Salek US 52 Exits: SE Minnesota Upper Midwest Freeway Exit Guides. Accessed August 5, 2007.