Minnesota State Highway 23

Trunk Highway 23
MN 23 highlighted in red
Route information
Defined by MS § 161.%section%
Maintained by MnDOT
Length	343.723 mi (553.169 km)
Existed	1920–present
Major junctions
West end	I-90 near Beaver Creek
Major intersections	US 75 at Pipestone US 59 at Marshall US 212 at Granite Falls US 71 / US 12 at Willmar I-94 / US 52 at St. Cloud US 10 at St. Cloud US 169 at Milaca MN 65 at Mora I-35 at Hinckley and Sandstone
East end	I-35 / US 2 at Duluth
Location
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
Counties	Rock, Pipestone, Lincoln, Lyon, Yellow Medicine, Chippewa, Renville, Kandiyohi, Stearns, Benton, Mille Lacs, Kanabec, Pine, Carlton, Douglas (WI), St. Louis
Highway system
Minnesota Trunk Highway System Interstate US State Legislative Scenic
← MN 22 → MN 24

Minnesota State Highway 23 (MN 23) is a state highway that stretches from southwestern to northeastern Minnesota. At 343.723 miles (553.169 km) in length, it is the second longest state route in Minnesota, after MN 1.

This route, signed east–west, runs roughly diagonally across Minnesota from southwest to northeast. It indirectly connects Duluth to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and passes through the cities of St. Cloud, Willmar, and Marshall.

MN 23 runs north from its interchange with Interstate 90 (I-90), 13 miles (21 km) east of Sioux Falls and then continues north and east across Minnesota to its terminus at its interchange with I-35 in Duluth.

Route description

MN 23 directly serves Pipestone, Marshall, Granite Falls, Willmar, Paynesville, Cold Spring, St. Cloud, Foley, Milaca, Mora, Hinckley, Sandstone, and Duluth.

Portions of MN 23 that have been upgraded to a four-lane expressway include approximately nine miles (14 km) in the Marshall area in addition to longer stretches between Willmar and New London, and between Richmond and Waite Park (St. Cloud). For a majority of the Willmar area, MN 23 runs concurrently with U.S. Highway 71 (US 71), which includes a freeway bypass of the city. MN 23 crosses the Minnesota River at Granite Falls, and the Mississippi River in St. Cloud, over the Granite City Crossing bridge.

Running over surface streets in certain towns, MN 23 is also known as:

• Division Street in St. Cloud
• 4th Street in downtown Milaca
• Forest Avenue East in Mora, between MN 65 and Oslin Road
• Grand Avenue in Duluth; the section of Grand Avenue that is marked MN 23 is from 59th Avenue West and I-35 (in West Duluth) to Idaho Street (in the Morgan Park neighborhood)
• Commonwealth Avenue in the Gary-New Duluth neighborhood of the city of Duluth
• Evergreen Memorial Highway in the Fond du Lac neighborhood of the city of Duluth

Parks and monuments

The highway serves:

• Split Rock Creek State Park in Pipestone County at Ihlen
• Pipestone National Monument
• Camden State Park in Lyon County on the banks of the Redwood River
• Banning State Park in Pine County on the banks of the Kettle River

Evergreen Memorial Scenic Drive

About 50 miles (80 km) of MN 23 that travels through Pine, Carlton, and Saint Louis counties is officially designated the Veterans Evergreen Memorial Scenic Drive. This portion is between I-35 near Askov and the Gary-New Duluth neighborhood of Duluth, near MN 39. The scenic roadway offers views of Banning State Park, the Saint Louis River valley, and nearby Jay Cooke State Park.

The 2005 Minnesota Legislature officially designated the MN 23 Bridge over the Saint Louis River at Duluth (Fond du Lac neighborhood) as the Biauswah Bridge. On June 28, 2008, this bridge was dedicated as such in honor of American Indian veterans.

Segment in Wisconsin

MN 23 has the rare distinction of being a state highway that passes through another state. At 133rd Avenue West, along the southern edge of Duluth, MN 23 crosses the Saint Louis River into Douglas County, Wisconsin, in the Town of Superior, for one-half mile (800 m) before re-entering Minnesota. On some maps, this section is designated "WISC-23", despite there being another Highway 23 in southern Wisconsin. There is no signage, however, along the highway that indicates the brief route across state lines. Nearby is the junction between MN 23 and MN 210 and Jay Cooke State Park.

History

MN 23 was authorized November 2, 1920, from Paynesville to Mission Creek, south of Hinckley. By 1933, the highway was paved between Roscoe and Cold Spring and from St. Cloud to Mission Creek. It was extended west to Benson and east to Duluth in 1934. Various sections of the highway were paved from the 1930s through the 1950s; the entire length was paved by 1961.

The section of present-day MN 23 from its southern terminus to Marshall was originally designated MN 39 until 1940. The section between Marshall and Willmar was originally designated MN 17 until 1940. The MN 23 designation originally extended west from New London to Benson along the modern MN 9; which was also MN 17 from around 1940 to the 1960s. MN 23 originally ran through Sandstone proper to just west of Askov along the route that later became MN 123; this was redesignated c. 1946.

From 1934 to 1963, the northern terminus for MN 23 was its junction with old US  61 and US 2 in West Duluth. From 1963 to 1997, MN 23 continued farther into Duluth proper as a business route using several local arteries including Michigan Street, West 1st Street, East 2nd Street, East 3rd Street, and East Superior Street. The former northern terminus for MN 23 during this time period was at the intersection of US 61 (now MN 61) and 60th Avenue East in Duluth. In 1997, the official northern terminus changed to its junction with I-35 at Grand Avenue in Duluth.

After completion of the I-35 freeway, the state maintained MN 23 through Hinckley and Sandstone; now MN 23 runs concurrently with I-35 from Hinckley to Sandstone.

The four-lane US 71 / MN 23 bypass of Willmar was proposed in the 1960s. However a financial crisis in the early 1980s led to the northbound lanes being unpaved, and the bypass had been scaled down to a two-lane facility by the time it opened in 1985. Construction in 2001 completed the bypass to its original four-lane design.

The MN 23 expressway from Spicer to New London, and the expressway from Richmond to Waite Park (St. Cloud), were both completed by 2005.

In February 2008, a bus crash occurred on MN 23 near Cottonwood when a school bus carrying 28 students from Lakeview Public Schools was struck by a driver who ran through a stop sign which caused the bus to fall onto a pickup killing four students and injuring 17 others.

The DeSoto Bridge across the Mississippi River in St. Cloud was closed on March 20, 2008, after bent gusset plates were found in an inspection; similar to gusset plates that caused the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis to collapse on August 1, 2007. The DeSoto Bridge was demolished in October 2008, and a new replacement bridge, the Granite City Crossing, was completed on October 29, 2009.

The Paynesville Bypass project began on April 26, 2010. The project consists of constructing a four-lane bypass around Paynesville, running from County Road 6 (CR 6) in Kandiyohi County to CR 123 in Stearns County. The project was completed in July 2012. The length of the new bypass is 7.7 miles (12.4 km). The project includes grading, construction of eight bridges, surfacing and lighting, and it cost $32.2 million (equivalent to $45.3 million in 2023).

Another project expanded MN 23 to four lanes from St. Cloud eastward to Foley, which began July 1, 2011, and finished sometime in late 2012. This project expanded an eight-mile (13 km) segment of the highway. While this section is technically part of the St. Cloud-to-I-35 portion of the corridor (and thus has less overall priority), the increase in traffic along this particular stretch still necessitates and warrants expansion, as there have been major safety and mobility issues the last couple decades due to growth in the St. Cloud area.

Future

MnDOT has designated MN 23 as a medium-priority Interregional Corridor along the majority of its length. As such, there are long-range plans to expand significant portions of the highway from two to four lanes. This resulted in the creation of the Highway 23 Coalition, and its ultimate vision for MN 23 is a four-lane expressway running from its interchange with I-90 in the southwest corner of Minnesota northeastward to its interchange with I-35 near Hinckley, although severe funding shortages are currently limiting expansion to certain segments.

Currently, the section of highway that has the highest overall priority for expansion is the corridor between Willmar and St. Cloud. This is due in part to the corridor carrying a heavy volume of traffic (higher than what a standard two-lane highway is designed to safely carry), plus a subsequently higher-than-average accident rate. In addition, southwest Minnesota lacks four-lane access to both the Twin Cities (Minneapolis–Saint Paul) and the Interstate Highway System, and a MN 23 expressway from Willmar (which is the largest municipality in southwest Minnesota) to St. Cloud would greatly alleviate both these issues.

The "Gaps" project is a multi-stage project to widen MN 23 to four lanes in the two remaining two-lane sections between Willmar and St. Cloud. The nine-mile (14 km) North Gap started expansion in May 2022, and is expected to complete in November 2023. The 7-mile (11 km) South Gap is planned to begin in 2023 and be completed in 2024.

Major intersections

State	County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Minnesota	Rock	Beaver Creek Township	0.000	0.000	US 16	Programmed mile 0; now CSAH 4
			1.297	2.087	I-90 / CSAH 17 – Sioux Falls, Luverne	Current southern terminus; interchange; exit 1 on I-90; roadway continues as CSAH 17
	Pipestone	Jasper	18.686	30.072	MN 269 west – State Line	Eastern terminus of MN 269
		Pipestone	29.707	47.809	MN 30 west – Madison, SD	Western end of MN 30 concurrency
			29.933	48.172	US 75 south / MN 30 east – Luverne, Slayton	Eastern end of MN 30 concurrency; southern end of US 75 concurrency
			30.550	49.165	US 75 north – Lake Benton	Northern end of US 75 concurrency
	Lyon	Florence	52.549	84.569	US 14 – Tyler, Balaton	US 14 crosses bridge over railroad and MN 23; road just to the north connects the highways
		Coon Creek Township	59.413	95.616	MN 91 south – Lake Wilson
		Marshall	73.679	118.575	US 59 – Slayton, Marshall	Access to Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center
			75.057	120.793	MN 19 / MN 68 – Redwood Falls, Marshall	Access to Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center
	Yellow Medicine	Minnesota Falls Township	100.984	162.518	MN 67 east – Wood Lake, Echo	Western end of MN 67 concurrency; formerly MN 274
		Granite Falls	103.151	166.005	MN 167 east – Upper Sioux Agency State Park
			103.364	166.348	US 212 west / MN 67 west / Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway	Western end of US 212 concurrency; eastern end of MN 67 concurrency
	Chippewa	Granite Falls Township	111.569	179.553	US 212 east / Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway – Olivia	Eastern end of US 212 concurrency
		Stoneham Township	125.066	201.274	MN 7 – Cosmos, Montevideo
	Kandiyohi	Willmar Township	141.483	227.695	CSAH 15 / CSAH 5	Interchange planned for this intersection
		Willmar	144.515	232.574	US 71 south / US 71 Bus. north / Bus. MN 23 east (1st Street) – Willmar, Olivia	Western end of US 71 concurrency; interchange; access to Carris Health Rice Memorial Hospital
			141.501	227.724	CSAH 23 (Willmar Avenue)	Interchange
		Willmar Township	142.666– 142.677	229.599– 229.616	US 12 – Willmar, Litchfield	Interchange
		Willmar	143.900– 143.960	231.585– 231.681	Civic Center Drive	Interchange
			144.948	233.271	US 71 Bus. south / Bus. MN 23 west / Glacial Ridge Trail	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; interchange; former MN 294; western end of Glacial Ridge Trail concurrency; access to Carris Health Rice Memorial Hospital
		Dovre Township	145.353	233.923	CR 90 / Glacial Ridge Trail	Eastern end of Glacial Ridge Trail concurrency
			152.420	245.296	US 71 north – Sauk Centre	Eastern end of US 71 concurrency; interchange; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		Green Lake Township	153.253	246.637	CSAH 9	Interchange
		New London	160.927	258.987	MN 9 west – New London	Eastern terminus of MN 9
			161.230	259.475	CSAH 40 / Glacial Ridge Trail
	Stearns	Paynesville	167.909– 168.077	270.223– 270.494	Veterans Drive	Interchange
			168.453– 168.841	271.099– 271.723	MN 4 / MN 55 – Belgrade, Paynesville	Interchange
		Richmond	186.069	299.449	MN 22 south – Eden Valley	Northern terminus of MN 22
		St. Joseph Township	199.420	320.935	I-94 / US 52 – Alexandria, Minneapolis, Saint Paul	Interchange; exit 164 on I-94
		St. Cloud	204.150	328.548	MN 15 south / CSAH 75 east / I-94 Alt. east	Western end of MN 15/CSAH 75 concurrency
			204.401	328.952	MN 15 north / CSAH 75 west / I-94 Alt.	Eastern end of MN 15/CSAH 75 concurrency; former US 52 west
			205.109	330.091	27th Avenue	Former MN 152 south
			205.397	330.554	22nd Avenue	Former MN 152 north
			206.404	332.175	11th Avenue	Former MN 15 north
			206.480– 206.638	332.297– 332.552	10th Avenue, 9th Avenue	RIRO interchange; signed 10th Avenue westbound and 9th Avenue eastbound
	Benton		207.860	334.518	US 10 – Little Falls, Saint Paul	Interchange
		Minden Township	212.403	341.829	MN 95 east – Princeton	Western terminus of MN 95
		Gilmanton Township	220.925	355.544	MN 25 – Pierz
	Mille Lacs	Milaca	236.357– 236.374	380.380– 380.407	US 169 – Princeton, Onamia	Interchange
	Kanabec	Ogilvie	247.418	398.181	MN 47 north – Isle	Western end of MN 47 concurrency
			248.481	399.891	MN 47 south – Anoka	Eastern end of MN 47 concurrency
		Mora	254.577	409.702	MN 65 south – Cambridge	Southern end of MN 65 concurrency
			256.180	412.282	MN 65 north – McGregor	Northern end of MN 65 concurrency
	Pine	Brook Park Township	266.615	429.075	MN 107 – Braham	Northern terminus of MN 107
		Mission Creek Township	273.737	440.537	I-35 south / CSAH 61 / Old US 61 – Minneapolis, Saint Paul	Southern end of I-35 concurrency; interchange; exit 180 on I-35
		Hinckley	272.459	438.480	MN 48 east / CSAH 61 – Hinckley	Western terminus of MN 48
		Sandstone	285.237	459.044	I-35 north / CSAH 61 south / Old US 61 / St. Croix Scenic Byway south – Duluth	Eastern end of I-35 concurrency; western end of CSAH 61 / St. Croix Scenic Byway concurrency; interchange; exit 191 on I-35
			285.641	459.695	MN 123 east	Western terminus of MN 123
		Finlayson Township	289.708	466.240	MN 18 west / CSAH 61 north / Old US 61 – Rutledge, Finlayson	Eastern end of CSAH 61 concurrency; eastern terminus of MN 18
			290.190	467.016	I-35 / St. Croix Scenic Byway ends – Duluth, Saint Paul, Minneapolis	Exit 195 on I-35; interchange; northern terminus of St. Croix Scenic Byway; western terminus of Veterans Memorial Evergreen Scenic Byway
			293.017	471.565	MN 123 west – Sandstone	Northern terminus of MN 123
	Carlton	No major intersections
Wisconsin	Douglas	No major intersections
Minnesota	St. Louis	Duluth	335.948	540.656	MN 210 west – Jay Cooke State Park, Carlton	Eastern terminus of MN 210
			338.725	545.125	MN 39 east – Superior, WI	Western terminus of MN 39
			345.020	555.256	I-35 / US 2	Access to northbound I-35 only; interchange; exit 251B southbound on I-35;
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

See also

• Wisconsin State Trunk Highway System

External links

• MN 23 at The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page