Minnesota State Highway 22 (MN 22) is a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...

in south-central and central

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 ...

, which runs from Winnebago County Road R50 at the

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

state line near Kiester and continues north to its northern terminus at its intersection with

State Highway 23 Route 23, or Highway 23, can refer to: International * European route E23 Australia * Federal Highway (Australia) * Monaro Highway * (South Australia) * Dorat Road (not signed everywhere) Austria * Autobahn Südosttangente Wien Canada * Albe ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, west of St. Cloud.

Route description

State Highway 22 serves as a north–south route between

Wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...

Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Minnesota, and the 5th-largest outside of the Minnea ...

, St. Peter, Gaylord, Glencoe, Hutchinson, Litchfield, and

. Highway 22 parallels State Highway 15 throughout its route. Highway 22 also intersects with Highway 15 at Hutchinson. The route crosses the Minnesota River between St. Peter and Kasota. Highway 22 is built as a four-lane

divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

on the east side of

. The southern terminus for Highway 22 is at the

state line, near Kiester, where Highway 22 becomes Winnebago County Road R50 (140th Avenue) upon crossing the state line.

History

State Highway 22 was authorized in 1920 from St. Peter to Paynesville. In 1934, it was extended south to the Iowa state line, and its northernmost section between Eden Valley and Paynesville became part of State Highway 55. The section of Highway 22 between

and St. Peter follows the original route of U.S. Highway 169. When the parallel route west of the Minnesota River was first completed in the late 1950s, it originally carried the ''Highway 22'' designation for a few years until it was redesignated U.S. 169 and Highway 22 reverted to its original alignment. From 1934 to 1961, the northern terminus for Highway 22 was at its intersection with State Highway 55 in Eden Valley. The Highway 22 designation was extended north to

in 1961. Highway 22 will be redone from Mapleton to CO RD 90 just south of Mankato starting March 27, 2017, with the project finalizing in 2019. It will be a 3 part project, with the first stage being Mapleton to Beauford in 2017. In 2018 from Beauford to CO RD 90. Finally in 2019 the Victory Drive Memorial will be finished. Highway 22 was paved in its entirety by 1953. The new alignment section of Highway 22 on the southeast side of

to U.S. Highway 14 was constructed .

Major intersections

References

{{Reflist 022 Transportation in Stearns County, Minnesota Transportation in Meeker County, Minnesota Transportation in McLeod County, Minnesota Transportation in Sibley County, Minnesota Transportation in Nicollet County, Minnesota Transportation in Blue Earth County, Minnesota Transportation in Le Sueur County, Minnesota Transportation in Faribault County, Minnesota U.S. Route 169