Minnesota State Highway 77 (MN 77) 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-access ...

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 its

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their i ...

with 138th Street (north of Dakota County Road 42) in Apple Valley and continues north to its northern terminus at its interchange with State Highway 62 in

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 ...

. MN 77 is also known as

Cedar Avenue Cedar Avenue is a roadway that runs from Minneapolis to Northfield in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The roadway is known as Minnesota State Highway 77 in the busiest portion of the route, from Minneapolis to Apple Valley. The portions north and ...

. The southern end of MN 77 continues in Apple Valley as Dakota County Road 23 (Cedar Avenue). At the north end, MN 77 continues in Minneapolis as Hennepin County Road 152 (Cedar Avenue).

Route description

MN 77 serves as a north–south route between the cities of Apple Valley,

Eagan Eagan may refer to: People * Daisy Eagan (born 1979), American actress * Dennis Eagan (1926–2012), British field hockey player * Eddie Eagan (1897–1967), American sportsman * James Eagan (1926-2000), American politician from Missouri * John J. ...

, Bloomington, Richfield, and

. The route is constructed to

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

standards over its entire length. Most of the route is posted 65 MPH speed limit. The route is located in

Dakota County Dakota County may refer to: *Dakota County, Minnesota in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area of east-central Minnesota *Dakota County, Nebraska Dakota County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of th2020 United States Census the populati ...

and

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its county seat is Minneapolis, the state's most populous city. The county is named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. The county extends from Minneapol ...

. MN 77 is

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with the right of way of Cedar Avenue between County 38 (McAndrews Road) in Apple Valley and Highway 62 in south Minneapolis. South of Old Shakopee Road, which is just north of the

Minnesota River The Minnesota River ( dak, Mnísota Wakpá) is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa. It ris ...

, MN 77 is co-signed "Cedar Avenue" at all interchanges. The route crosses the

at the Cedar Avenue Bridge between Bloomington and Eagan. The two most notable landmarks along the length of the route is the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, which sits just northeast of the junction of MN 77 and

Interstate 494 Interstate 494 (I-494) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway making up part of a beltway of I-94, circling through the southern and western portions of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area in Minnesota. The road is coupled with I- ...

/ MN 5, the best way to access the airport from this route is to exit on Interstate 494/MN 5 East. The

Mall of America Mall of America (MOA) is a large shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States. Located within the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the mall lies southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway ...

which sits just southeast of the junction of MN 77 and Interstate 494/MN 5 is the other most notable landmark. The best way to access the Mall of America from this route is to exit on Killebrew Drive or Lindau Lane.

History

MN 77 was authorized in 1949; and was originally numbered 36 from 1949 to 1980 as part of MN 36. The section of the route between MN 13 at

and MN 62 at

was renumbered 77 in 1980. Present day State Highway 36 still runs from Roseville to Stillwater. From 1980 to 1985, the southern terminus of MN 77 was at its junction with Interstate 35E at the Apple Valley–

boundary line. From 1985 to 1994, the southern portion of MN 77 followed McAndrews Road (present day County 38) eastbound along its route to the

Minnesota Zoo The Minnesota Zoo (formerly the Minnesota Zoological Garden), is an AZA-accredited zoo in Apple Valley, Minnesota. It is one of two state-supported zoos in the United States, with the other being the North Carolina Zoo. When it opened on May 22, 1 ...

, where the route had its southern terminus. In 1985, MN 77's mile markers were calibrated with "Mile 0" at the

Zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological g ...

. In the present day, the mile markers are calibrated with the zero point at the

of Dakota County Roads 23 and 42. Much of the original

is still in existence, beginning at its intersection with Washington Avenue at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and ending in

Northfield Northfield may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Northfield, Aberdeen, Scotland * Northfield, Edinburgh, Scotland * Northfield, Birmingham, England * Northfield (Kettering BC Ward), Northamptonshire, England United States * Northfield, Connec ...

, with the only major change being the upgrade of MN 77 as a freeway. Cedar Avenue is signed as Galaxie Avenue and Foliage Avenue between Eureka Township and Northfield.

Exit list

References

{{Reflist 077 Transportation in Dakota County, Minnesota Transportation in Hennepin County, Minnesota Freeways in the United States