Minnesota State Highway 15 (MN 15) 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 ...

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

Iowa Highway 15 Iowa Highway 15 (Iowa 15) is a north–south state highway in northern Iowa. It is long. The southern end of Iowa 15 is east of Pocahontas at an intersection with Iowa Highway 3. The northern end is at the Minnesota border, where the highway ...

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 and continues north to its northern terminus at its interchange with

U.S. Highway 10 U.S. Route 10 or U.S. Highway 10 (US 10) is an east–west United States highway located in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the United States. Unlike most U.S. routes with "0" as the last digit of its route number, US 10 ...

outside of Sartell and Sauk Rapids, north of St. Cloud.

Route description

MN 15 serves as a north–south highway between Fairmont, Madelia, New Ulm, Hutchinson, and St. Cloud in south-central and central Minnesota. MN 15 parallels MN 4 throughout its route in south-central and central Minnesota.

Flandrau State Park Flandrau State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, on the Cottonwood River adjacent to the city of New Ulm. Initially called Cottonwood River State Park, it was renamed in 1945 to honor Charles Eugene Flandrau, a leading citiz ...

is located near MN 15 in Brown County on the Cottonwood River. The park is located just south of New Ulm. MN 15 is a four-lane highway on the west side of St. Cloud from

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

(I-94) to

(US 10). MN 15 crosses the

Bridge of Hope The Bridge of Hope is a concrete girder bridge that spans the Mississippi River between Sartell, Minnesota and Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. The bridge was completed eight months early, aided by favorable weather and trouble-free construction. It was ...

at the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

between Sartell and Sauk Rapids.

History

MN 15 was authorized in 1920, 1933, and 1950. The section of MN 15 between New Ulm and the

state line was originally Minnesota

Constitutional Route In the U.S. state of Minnesota, a legislative route is a highway number defined by the Minnesota State Legislature. The routes from 1 to 70 are constitutional routes, defined as part of the Babcock Amendment to the Minnesota State Constitution, p ...

15, dating back to 1920. The section of MN 15 between St. Cloud and Kimball was originally part of Constitutional Route 24. The middle section of MN 15 was authorized in 1933, the northernmost section in 1950. This northerly section was originally part of old MN 152 and was routed through downtown St. Cloud. Now, it bypasses central St. Cloud to the west side of town. By 1940, only two short gravel sections of MN 15 remained, both paved by 1953. In the 1970s, MN 15 through the St. Cloud area was planned to be constructed as a

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 ...

, providing a high-speed connection between I-94 and US 10. However, funding fell short of completing the freeway beyond Minnesota State Highway 23, MN 23 and County Road 75 (CR 75, 2nd Street South). As a result, it was eventually decided that right-of-way needed to build interchanges would be sold off so the remaining segment of MN 15 across the

, connecting to US 10, could be built. Therefore, from 2nd Street South to US 10, the highway is currently built as an

expressway Expressway may refer to: * Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. * Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road. *Expressway, the fictional s ...

with signalized intersections. As of now, MN 15 is able to serve traffic, with stretches posted at a speed limit. However, continuing increases in traffic in the St. Cloud area will require the highway to be eventually converted to a freeway in the long term (post 2030).

Major intersections

References

{{reflist 015 Transportation in Benton County, Minnesota Transportation in Brown County, Minnesota Transportation in Martin County, Minnesota Transportation in Meeker County, Minnesota Transportation in McLeod County, Minnesota Transportation in Nicollet County, Minnesota Transportation in Sibley County, Minnesota Transportation in Stearns County, Minnesota Transportation in Watonwan County, Minnesota New Ulm, Minnesota