Interstate 94 (I-94) runs east–west through the central portion of the US state of

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

Route description

Eastbound, the route enters from

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

Beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

and passes Dickinson, Bismarck, Jamestown, Valley City, and West Fargo before entering Fargo, where it exits the state at the

Red River of the North The Red River (french: rivière Rouge or ) is a river in the north-central United States and central Canada. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota, it fl ...

and continues into

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, southeast to

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. The route passes to the south of

Theodore Roosevelt National Park Theodore Roosevelt National Park is an American national park of the badlands in western North Dakota comprising three geographically separated areas. Honoring U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, it is the only American national park named direct ...

's southern unit; access to the northern unit is by US Highway 85 (US 85) north from Belfield. Eastbound, I-94 changes timezones at the Stark–

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton ...

county line southwest of

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East J ...

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

time (UTC−7) is observed in Stark County (and west) and

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

time (UTC−6) in the rest of the state. The speed limit on I-94 is in rural areas. Between exits 152 and 159 in the Bismarck–Mandan area, the speed limit is . In the West Fargo–Fargo area, the speed limit is between exits 346 and 347, and from exit 347 to the Red River of the North. I-94 has two lanes in each direction through most of the state, expanding briefly to three lanes in each direction in the Bismarck–Mandan area (from exit 155 to 156) and in Fargo from 45th Street (exit 348) to the Red River of the North.

Points of interest

The route enters at

and passes through the

badlands Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, m ...

near Medora and the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. A public rest area about east of Medora provides an awe-inspiring view, especially at sunset, and an opportunity to hike through some of the scenery on the Painted Canyon Trail. Further east, I-94 provides access to the north unit of the national park, then passes through the cities of Dickinson, Mandan–Bismarck, Jamestown, and Valley City on the way to West Fargo and Fargo, where it leaves the state and crosses into Minnesota. Through North Dakota, I-94 travels nearly due east–west, generally following both the railroad route and the former route of US 10 (called "The Old Red Trail" or "The National Parks Trail") to exit 343 in West Fargo, where the current US 10 has its western terminus. The highway intersects with the

Enchanted Highway The Enchanted Highway is a collection of the world's largest scrap metal sculptures constructed at intervals along a stretch of two-lane highway in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of North Dakota. Description The road has no highway n ...

east of Dickinson at exit 72. At New Salem, it passes Salem Sue, a sculpture of a

Holstein cow Holstein Friesians (often shortened to Holsteins in North America, while the term Friesians is often used in the UK and Ireland) are a breed of dairy cattle that originated in the Dutch provinces of North Holland and Friesland, and Schleswig-Ho ...

that is clearly visible on the south side of the highway; the road to Sue allows a vantage point to view a panoramic landscape. Between Mandan and Bismarck, I-94 crosses the Missouri River with a view of the Northern Pacific (now

BNSF BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

) Railway Bridge to the south. At

Steele Steele may refer to: Places America * Steele, Alabama, a town * Steele, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Steele, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Steele, Missouri, a city * Lonetree, Montana, a ghost town originally called Steele ...

, it passes the world's largest sculpture of a

sandhill crane The sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis'') is a species of large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird refers to habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills on t ...

, tall and named "Sandy", on the south side of I-94, just east of exit 200. At Jamestown, it passes the world's largest sculpture of a buffalo (actually

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...

) named "Dakota Thunder", in height and on the north of the highway. Continental Divide Sign

At approximately milemarker 275 on the westbound lanes between Jamestown and Valley City, the highway crosses the

Laurentian Divide The Laurentian Divide also called the Northern Divide and locally the ''height of land'', is a continental divide in central North America that separates the Hudson Bay watershed to the north from the Gulf of Mexico watershed to the south and th ...

, at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. The rivers that are west of this divide flow south into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

from the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

, while the rivers that are east of the divide flow north into

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

. The

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

, that flows through Jamestown, feeds into the Atlantic Ocean, while the

Sheyenne River The Sheyenne River is one of the major tributaries of the Red River of the North, meandering U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 8, 2011 across eastern North Dakota, Uni ...

, that flows through Valley City ( east of Jamestown), feeds into Hudson Bay. In Fargo, a well-known yet unnamed

pedestrian bridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

crosses over I-94; opened in 1976, in time for the

US Bicentennial The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event ...

. While providing a unique crossing for the surrounding neighborhoods, it serves as a landmark for commuters and travelers. Westbound, it is one of the first North Dakota landmarks visible from the highway.

History

Through the state, I-94 follows the route once taken by US 10 west from Fargo. This route was originally called "The Old Red Trail". I-94 roughly follows the route of the former

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whic ...

mainline (now a

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

route) across North Dakota. Many of the towns and cities that I-94 serves first grew as railroad towns in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The first section of I-94 completed with funds from the

Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, also known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, was enacted on June 29, 1956, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law. With an original authorization of $25 billion for t ...

was a section between Jamestown and Valley City, North Dakota. It was opened on October 16, 1958, and cost $15 million (equivalent to $ in ) to construct. On October 7, 1964, a section of I-94 between

North Dakota Highway 25 North Dakota Highway 25 (ND 25) is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of North Dakota. ND 25's southern terminus is at Interstate 94 (I-94) and I-94 Business west of Bismarck, and the northern terminus is at ND&nbs ...

and Fryburg was dedicated, with traffic permitted to use the section from New Salem to Dickinson.

Exit list

Spur routes

*—a short spur route into Bismarck ( Bismarck Expressway); unsigned

Business routes

* Medora Business Loop—Pacific Street * Dickinson Business Loop—30th Avenue West, Villard Street, and 36th Street Southwest * Mandan–Bismarck Business Loop—Business Loop 94, Main Street, Memorial Highway, Main Avenue, and Bismarck Expressway * Valley City Business Loop—Main Street * Fargo–Moorhead Business Loop—Main Avenue, 24th Avenue South, and 34th Street South

References

External links