U.S. Highway 169 (U.S. 169) is a major north–south
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 the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
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 ...
, connecting the
Minnesota River
The Minnesota River ( dak, MnÃsota 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 ...
valley with the
Twin Cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...
and the
Iron Range
The term Iron Range refers collectively or individually to a number of elongated iron-ore mining districts around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada. Much of the ore-bearing region lies alongside the range of granite hills formed by ...
. Much of the route is built to
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 ...
or
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.
Route description
![US 169 North](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/US_169_North.jpg)
U.S. 169 enters Minnesota near
Elmore as a two-lane, undivided highway, continuing as such through the majority of
Blue Earth. Near the northern outskirts of the town, it expands to a four-lane, divided highway, subsequently crossing
Interstate Highway 90. Soon after, it reverts to its original two-lane size. Roughly 5 miles southwest of
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 ...
, U.S. 169 and
State Highway 60 merge to a single expressway through Mankato. In
North Mankato, Highway 60 moves from a
concurrency with U.S. 169 to another one with
U.S. 14
U.S. Route 14 (abbreviated U.S. 14 or US 14), an east–west route, is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It currently has a length of 1,398 miles (2,250 km), but it had a peak length of 1,429 miles (2,300 km). For ...
.
In Mankato and North Mankato, U.S. 169 functions as an arterial highway, passing directly through the cities' downtown area. From Mankato north to
Jackson Township, the route remains an expressway, except for the section passing through
St. Peter, where U.S. 169 is the main street through town.
of U.S. 169 from St. Peter to I-494 in
Bloomington is officially designated the ''John A. Johnson Memorial Highway''. This includes the
Bloomington Ferry Bridge
The Bloomington Ferry Bridge is a freeway bridge across the Minnesota River between Bloomington, Minnesota and Shakopee, Minnesota that carries U.S. Route 169 (US 169). The current bridge and the US 169 Shakopee Bypass were both ...
between Shakopee and Bloomington. This designation is marked as "Johnson Memorial Drive" on some maps, but not marked as such on directional signs, nor commonly known by this name.
In the
Twin Cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...
area, the route is constructed to freeway standards between
State Highway 41 in
Jackson Township and 109th Avenue North in
Brooklyn Park . The freeway between
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- ...
and
Interstate 694
Interstate 694 (I-694) is an east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway located in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area in the US state of Minnesota. The western terminus of the route is at its junction with I-94, I-494, and US Hi ...
was originally built by
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 ...
as ''County Road 18''. In 1988, ''County Road 18'' was transferred to the state of Minnesota and became the new alignment for Highway 169 in the Minneapolis area. In exchange, Hennepin County took over maintenance of two other highways that were formerly state routes. In the Minneapolis area, U.S. 169 is often congested, but the freeway passes close to residential neighborhoods in many locations, so any expansion of the freeway would disrupt housing stock in the surrounding area.
From 109th Avenue North to 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 ...
, U.S. 169 remains an expressway until Anoka, where it becomes a street. It then joins U.S. 10 west to Elk River. Those highways diverge at
Babcock Wayside on the Mississippi River.
North of the
Twin Cities metropolitan area, U.S. 169 continues as an expressway to
Mille Lacs Lake
Mille Lacs Lake (also called Lake Mille Lacs or Mille Lacs) is a large but shallow lake in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in the counties of Mille Lacs, Aitkin, and Crow Wing, roughly 75 miles north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul m ...
, an important resort area. The highway skirts the western shore of the lake. of U.S. 169 from
Elk River to
Garrison
A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
is officially designated the ''
POW
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
/
MIA
Mia, MIA, or M.I.A. may refer to:
Music Artists
* M.I.A. (rapper) (born 1975), English rapper and singer
* M.I.A. (band), 1980s punk rock band from Orange County, California
* MIA., a German rock/pop band formed in 1997
* Mia (singer) (born 1983) ...
Memorial Highway''. From Mille Lacs Lake, U.S. 169 continues northward to its junction with
U.S. 2 at
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
. Here, 169 turns northeasterly to reach the cities of the
Mesabi Iron Range
The Mesabi Iron Range is a mining district in northeastern Minnesota following an elongate trend containing large deposits of iron ore. It is the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Iron Range of Minnesota ...
.
At the eastern end of
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
, U.S. 169 becomes an expressway and remains such for 8 miles. An additional 1.5 miles, from
Taconite
Taconite () is a variety of iron formation, an iron-bearing (over 15% iron) sedimentary rock, in which the iron minerals are interlayered with quartz, chert, or carbonate. The name "taconyte" was coined by Horace Vaughn Winchell (1865–1923) †...
to
Itasca County
Itasca County (pronounced eye-ta-ska) is located in the U.S. state, State of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 45,014. Its county seat is Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Grand Rapids. The county is named af ...
Road 7; will be complete in 2016. It passes through the cities of
Hibbing
Hibbing is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 16,214 at the 2020 census. The city was built on mining the rich iron ore of the Mesabi Iron Range and still relies on that industrial activity today. At th ...
,
Chisholm, and
Mountain Iron before reaching
U.S. 53 at the city of
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. This four-lane stretch of 169 is also known as the ''Highway 169 Cross Range Expressway''. The northern terminus of U.S. 169 is at the city of Virginia.
State Highway 169 begins immediately north of Virginia in
Wuori Township; and continues northeast for to the cities of
Tower
A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...
,
Ely Ely or ELY may refer to:
Places Ireland
* Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely
* Ely Place, Dublin, a street
United Kingdom
* Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England
** Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral, formal ...
, and
Winton. State Highway 169 is numbered as an extension of U.S. 169.
U.S. 169 is one of three Minnesota U.S. marked highways to carry the same number as an existing state marked highway within the state. The others being Highways
61 and
65.
Legally, the Minnesota section of U.S. 169 is defined as all or part of Routes 5, 7, 383, 3, 18, and 35 in the Minnesota Statutes §§ 161.114(2) and 161.117(4
The route is not marked with those numbers.
History
![Exit 112 on US-169 in Minnesota](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Exit_112_on_US-169_in_Minnesota.jpg)
U.S. 169 was extended into Minnesota .
The route in Minnesota was paved by 1940.
[
Previously, U.S. 169 served as the northern terminus of U.S. 53 in Virginia. U.S. 169 then continued north into International Falls. Today, U.S. 53 serves as the terminus of U.S. 169 in Virginia.
U.S. 169, between the Junction (road), junction with State Highway 60 (south of ]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 ...
) and the Twin Cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...
, was upgraded to at least 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 ...
status over several stages. The 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 ...
section around Mankato and the adjoining expressway sections were completed in the early 1960s, along with bypasses of Le Sueur, Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
and Belle Plaine.
The U.S. 169 freeway bypass around Shakopee
Shakopee ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Minnesota, United States. It is located southwest of Minneapolis. Sited on the south bank bend of the Minnesota River, Shakopee and nearby suburbs comprise the southwest portion of ...
was built in the mid-1990s along a new alignment, which included the newly constructed Bloomington Ferry Bridge
The Bloomington Ferry Bridge is a freeway bridge across the Minnesota River between Bloomington, Minnesota and Shakopee, Minnesota that carries U.S. Route 169 (US 169). The current bridge and the US 169 Shakopee Bypass were both ...
. Prior to this realignment, U.S. 169 crossed the Minnesota River
The Minnesota River ( dak, MnÃsota 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 ...
from downtown Shakopee where it had been co-signed with State Highway 101. North of the river crossing, U.S. 169 had previously been co-signed with what was then U.S. 212 (''Flying Cloud Drive'') through Eden Prairie
Eden Prairie is a city southwest of downtown Minneapolis in Hennepin County and the 16th-largest city in the State of Minnesota, United States. As of the 2020 census, it has a population of 64,198. The city is adjacent to the north bank of th ...
until 1996.
A new U.S. 169 interchange with State Highway 19, near Henderson Henderson may refer to:
People
*Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname
*Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan
Places Argentina
*Henderson, Buenos Aires
Australia
*Henderson, Western Australia
Canada
* H ...
, was completed in 2002.[
An expressway section of Highway 169 through southern ]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 ...
was converted to full freeway in 2006, with new interchanges constructed at ''Pioneer Trail'' and ''Anderson Lakes Parkway''. At-grade intersections with traffic signals have been removed at the recently constructed 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- ...
interchange, which was previously a point of frequent congestion.
North of the Twin Cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...
, Highway 169 has been upgraded to an expressway between Elk River and the southern end of Mille Lacs Lake
Mille Lacs Lake (also called Lake Mille Lacs or Mille Lacs) is a large but shallow lake in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in the counties of Mille Lacs, Aitkin, and Crow Wing, roughly 75 miles north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul m ...
, with bypasses of Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...
and Milaca
Milaca ( ) is a city and the county seat of Mille Lacs County, Minnesota. The population was 2,946 at the time of the 2010 census. It is situated on the Rum River.
History
A post office has been in operation at Milaca since 1883. The name Mila ...
built in the late 1980s.
U.S. 169 between Hill City and Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
has been built to super-2
A super two, super two-lane highway or wide two-lane is a two-lane surface road built to highway standards with wide lanes and other safety features normally present on a freeway with more lanes, typically including partial control of access, o ...
standards.
The expressway section between Pengilly and the city of Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
was built in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In 2008, construction began on a new Highway 169 interchange with County Road 81 and 85th Avenue North in Brooklyn Park. This interchange is also known as ''The Devil's Triangle'', or simply as "The Triangle", because of the major traffic congestion during rush hour, especially in the afternoon. Construction was completed on August 11, 2011.
During the flooding of September 2010, flood waters destroyed a 150-foot section of the northbound lanes of Highway 169 between St. Peter and Le Sueur. MnDOT
The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT, ) oversees transportation by all modes including land, water, air, rail, walking and bicycling in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The cabinet-level agency is responsible for maintaining the state' ...
believes, "when the flood waters rose up it found a weak spot in the slope or the dirt bank and got under the grass and started mining under the pavement. Finally, it just sucked all the dirt out and the pavement just dropped into a hole." Traffic was detoured to the southbound lanes of 169 for a month, resulting in a temporary two lane expressway, until the northbound section was repaired.
In November 2010, construction began on a completely redesigned Highway 169 interchange at 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- ...
, where three traffic signals
Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic.
Traffic lights ...
had existed. The new interchange features six roundabouts, new flyover bridges, and two new bridges over I-494 that will carry West 78th Street and Washington Avenue. Major construction began in March 2011. Construction continued in spring 2012 with the completion of reconstructing surrounding roads and remaining ramps. MnDOT completed the entire project in November 2012. The 2010 cost of the construction project was $140 million.
In 2016, exit numbers have started appearing on the Shakopee portion of the freeway section in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area.
Future
A study to convert U.S. 169 to a freeway between U.S. 10 in Elk River to ''277th Avenue'' north of Zimmerman was completed in late 2009. A complete review of the project by MnDOT will occur in 2011. A complete construction schedule and timeline will then by released by MnDOT. Allocation of funds for the project is currently underway and the only thing holding back from starting the project. The project is expected to cost around $178 Million. In the meantime, the 14 miles between U.S. 10 in Elk River to ''277th Avenue'' north of Zimmerman will be resurfaced during the 2012 construction season. The construction will begin in May 2012.[http://projects.dot.state.mn.us/srf/169elkriver/index.html ]
Major intersections
See also
*
*
References