U.S. Route 52 in Minnesota

This article is about the section of U.S. Route 52 in Minnesota. For the entire route, see U.S. Route 52.

U.S. Highway 52
Map      US 52
Route information
Defined by MS § 161.%section%
Maintained by MnDOT
Length	374.703 mi (603.026 km) 243 miles along I-94
Existed	1934–present
Major junctions
South end	US 52 at Prosper
Major intersections	I-90 near Rochester US 14 / US 63 at Rochester I-494 in Inver Grove Heights I-94 / US 10 in St. Paul
North end	I-94 / US 52 at Moorhead
Location
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
Counties	Fillmore, Olmsted, Goodhue, Dakota, Ramsey, Hennepin, Wright, Stearns, Todd, Douglas, Grant, Otter Tail, Wilkin, Clay
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided Minnesota Trunk Highway System Interstate US State Legislative Scenic
← MN 51 → US 53

U.S. Highway 52 (US 52) enters the state of Minnesota at the unincorporated community of Prosper, north of the town of Burr Oak, Iowa. The route is marked north–south in Minnesota along its independent segment from the Iowa state line to downtown St. Paul. US 52 is not signed along the length of its concurrency with Interstate 94 (I-94) from downtown St. Paul to the North Dakota state line at Moorhead and Fargo.

Route description

US 52 is designated as the Amish Buggy Byway from MN 44 near Prosper to MN 16 near Preston.

US 52 in Rochester

US 52 enters Fillmore County and heads through the same Driftless Area it ran through in Iowa. The route heads through Preston and proceeds north to Chatfield. US 52 leaves the river bluffs near Chatfield and enters terrain typical of southern Minnesota. This area is mostly farmland for the rest of the length until the route enters the city of Rochester. US 52 has a folded diamond interchange with I-90 south of Rochester, and expands to a four-lane freeway north of this junction. The roadway expands further to six lanes around Rochester, from the junction with US 63 to County Road 14 (CR 14), which is at the northern tip city. US 14 is a major route, and connects Owatonna to Rochester. North of Rochester, US 52 becomes a four-lane expressway through the farmland of Olmsted and Goodhue counties. Zumbrota is bypassed by the highway, and the route heads to Dakota County.

In October 2014, an interchange was completed in Cannon Falls which eliminated the last two traffic lights between St. Paul and Rochester on US 52.

North of Coates, US 52 enters the edge of the Twin Cities area. The route enters Inver Grove Heights where it becomes the Lafayette Freeway north of Concord Boulevard. US 52 splits with State Highway 55 (MN 55) north of there. MN 55 heads to Minneapolis, while US 52 heads to St. Paul. I-494 intersects US 52 in the northern part of Inver Grove Heights. The St. Paul Downtown Airport is right off of US 52 in St. Paul. After US 52 crosses the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul, is intersects I-94 and follows I-94 to the North Dakota state line; US  52 is not signed along the length of this concurrency.

History

Preston Overlook, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, on US 52 in Fillmore County

US 52 was extended into the state of Minnesota in 1934. The road replaced the former routing of old US 55 from the Iowa state line to the Twin Cities, and the former route of old US 10S from Minneapolis west to North Dakota. I-94 replaced most of the routing of US 52 west of St. Cloud, and the routing from St. Cloud to Minneapolis was replaced by US 10, US 169, and CR 81. US 52 was routed along University Avenue through Minneapolis and St. Paul until about 1995 (In 1986, US 52 on University Avenue between I-35W and the St. Paul border was turned over to Hennepin County maintenance and renumbered CR 36/CR 37, creating a gap in US 52 until the 1995 route change). West of here, it turned west onto Washington Avenue that traversed directly through the University of Minnesota and Downtown Minneapolis. Progressing further, it took another left turn at Broadway Street before eventually curving to the northwest towards Robbinsdale, Crystal, Brooklyn Park and Osseo. Afterwards, it turned right onto what is now US 169 through Champlin and Anoka thus eventually merging onto US 10 towards Elk River and St. Cloud. It eventually turned onto city streets through St. Cloud and back onto the present-day I-94 alignment.

US 52 was routed along Robert Street through St. Paul, West St. Paul, and into Inver Grove Heights until 1995; when US 52 was moved onto the nearby Lafayette Freeway. The Lafayette Bridge which takes the highway across the Mississippi River near downtown St. Paul was originally built in 1968 and was a "fracture critical" structure which was in need of replacement. Construction of the new bridge, which carries six lanes of US 52, was completed in fall of 2015.

US 52 was built as an expressway from Rochester to St. Paul in the 1960s. The "ROC52" project expanded the section of US 52 in Rochester to a six-lane freeway in 2005–2006. Between Rochester and the Twin Cities, several at-grade intersections have been converted to interchanges since the 1990s. However, many at-grade intersections remain along this segment of highway.

In November 2013, a diverging diamond interchange (DDI), the Elk Run interchange, was completed in New Haven Township, Olmsted County, between Oronoco and Pine Island, at a relocated CR 12; in addition, CR 31 was relocated, direct accesses to US 52 from 120th and 520th streets were closed, a frontage road system was created and roundabouts were constructed on surrounding roads; the project cost was $34.3 million.

An experimental installation of Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance Systems–Stop Sign Assist (CICAS–SSA) was installed at the at-grade intersection with CR 9 near Cannon Falls, making use of dynamic message signs to show when it is safe to cross or turn onto the highway. A full-scale field test began in January 2010, though a previous version had also been tried at the intersection a few years earlier. This intersection was later converted to a full grade-separated interchange, with the work completed in late 2014.

Prior to October 2014, US 52 had an incomplete junction with North Main Street on the north side of Pine Island, straddling the Pine Island Township line. Southbound there is an exit to Main. Continuing south, there was an intersection with Main that crossed the southbound lanes of US 52 at-grade before crossing the median, then merging onto the left-hand side of US 52's northbound lanes; at the same intersection there was a right-turn lane to southbound US 52; there was no access from northbound US 52 to Main. Over the previous ten years, there had been 26 crashes at this junction, including one fatality. By September 2014, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) had decided to close most of this access, however, a permanent closure was not possible, as access to US 52 still has to be available during emergencies, such as a 2010 flood; in fact, Pine Island's exit to the south at CR 11 often floods in the winter. Instead, it was decided that a moveable gate would be placed on Main blocking access to the at-grade intersection; the southbound exit ramp would be retained. On October 29, a gate was put in place, with road striping and signage placed accordingly. During the week of May 4, 2015, the roadway through the median began to be removed. Pine Island and Goodhue County officials decried the design of the closure as "awkward", noting that during heavy snows, vehicles could go around the gate and still access US 52. The officials called for an interchange or some other solution to restore access to US 52 from the north side of Pine Island, but no funding or junction design had been identified as of 2015.

Future

Currently, the junction of US 52 and I-90 is a folded diamond interchange; as such, it is not free-flowing; four of the movements require left turns across traffic, with southbound US 52 to eastbound I-90 responsible for a 2022 daily average of 92%, or 6789, of left turns at the interchange. In the five years preceding 2022, there were 27 crashes, many T-bone, involving vehicles making the southbound US 52 to eastbound I-90 movement; in the same period, there were 25 crashes involving vehicles making the westbound I-90 to northbound US 52 movement, many of the run-off-the-road variety. MnDOT plans to add a flyover ramp to handle the southbound US 52 to eastbound I-90 movement, otherwise retain the folded diamond configuration, but with replaced and realigned ramps, and replace the I-90 bridges over US 52; these changes are to improve safety and traffic flow at the interchange. The project is scheduled to be constructed in 2024 and 2025, at an estimated cost of $25 million.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Fillmore	Prosper	0.000	0.000		US 52 south – Decorah	Continuation into Iowa
		1.005	1.617		MN 44 east – Mabel
	Harmony	9.256	14.896		MN 139 south – Cresco	Formerly MN 44 west
	Preston	17.070	27.472		MN 16 east (Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway) – Lanesboro, Rushford	Southern end of MN 16 overlap
		20.728	33.358		MN 16 west (Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway / Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway) – Spring Valley	Northern end of MN 16 overlap
	Fountain	24.902	40.076		MN 80 west – Wykoff
	Chatfield	34.357	55.292		MN 30 east / MN 74 north / CSAH 2 – St. Charles, Rushford	Southern end of MN 30 overlap
Olmsted		34.856	56.095		MN 30 west – Stewartville	Northern end of MN 30 overlap
	Marion Township	46.491	74.820		I-90 – La Crosse, Austin	Southern end of freeway section; folded diamond interchange; I-90 exit 218
		47.668	76.714	47	CSAH 36 north (Marion Road) / CSAH 111 south
		51.009	82.091	50	CSAH 1 (11th Avenue SE)
	Rochester	52.180	83.976	51	US 63 south (Broadway Avenue / Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway) to I-90 west – Stewartville	Southern end of US 63 overlap; access to Rochester International Airport
		54.346	87.461	53	CSAH 25 (16th Street SW)
		54.746	88.105	54A	US 14 east (12th Street SW) – Winona	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; southern end of US 14 overlap
				54B	CSAH 22 west (Salem Road)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		54.797	88.187	55A	6th Street SW	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		55.399	89.156	55B	CSAH 34 west (2nd Street) / Hospital
		56.466	90.873	56A–B	US 14 west (Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway) / Civic Center Drive – Owatonna, Mayo Clinic	Partial cloverleaf; signed as exits 56A (Civic Center) and 56B (US 14); northern end of US 14 overlap
		57.345	92.288	56C	19th Street NW / Elton Hills Drive	Single-point urban interchange
		58.699– 58.981	94.467– 94.921	58	CSAH 22 east (37th Street NW) / 41st Street NW	Southern end of CSAH 22 overlap
		60.048	96.638	59	CSAH 22 west (West Circle Drive) / 55th Street NW	Northern end of CSAH 22 overlap
		61.057	98.262	60	65th Street NW
		62.059	99.874	61	US 63 north / CSAH 14 west (75th Street NW)	Northern end of US 63 overlap
	Oronoco Township	64.629	104.010	64	CSAH 12 west / CR 112 east – Oronoco	Southern end of CSAH 12 overlap
	New Haven Township	66.618	107.211	68	CSAH 12 east / CSAH 31 south – Oronoco, Plainview	Diverging diamond interchange; northern end of CSAH 12 overlap; northern end of freeway section
Goodhue	Pine Island	71.624	115.268	—	CSAH 11 – Pine Island	Interchange
	Pine Island Township	72.573	116.795	—	Pine Island	Interchange; southbound exit only
		76.232	122.684	—	MN 60 east – Mazeppa, Wabasha	Southern end of MN 60 overlap; southern end of freeway section
	Zumbrota	77.621	124.919	77	MN 58 north / CSAH 10 – Zumbrota, Red Wing	Converted to roundabout interchange
		78.669	126.605	—	MN 60 west – Wanamingo, Kenyon, Zumbrota	Northern end of MN 60 overlap; northern end of freeway section
	Hader	86.604	139.376	86	MN 57 south / CSAH 8 – Wanamingo, Mantorville	Former at-grade intersection; interchange; northbound ramps opened on November 4, 2022, southbound ramps opened on November 15, 2022
	Leon Township	89.822	144.554	89	CSAH 9 – Dennison, Goodhue	Interchange
	Cannon Falls	96.889	155.928	96	CR 24 – Cannon Falls	Interchange
		98.445	158.432	98	MN 19 – Cannon Falls, Northfield	Interchange
Dakota	Randolph Township	101	163	100	CSAH 86	Interchange; opened in 2016
	Hampton	106.056	170.681		MN 56 south / MN 50 – Farmington, Red Wing	Interchange; MN 56 not signed northbound
		107.158	172.454		CSAH 47 – Hampton	Interchange
	Coates	113.982	183.436		CSAH 46	Interchange
	Rosemount	115.950	186.603		CSAH 42 – Rosemount	Interchange
		117.753	189.505	—	MN 55 east – Hastings	Southern end of MN 55 overlap; interchange southbound, access via connector road northbound; southern end of freeway section
		118.669	190.979	—	117th Street
	Inver Grove Heights	121.338	195.275	—	CSAH 56 north (Concord Boulevard)
		122.007	196.351	121	MN 55 west – Minneapolis	Northern end of MN 55 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		122.854	197.714	—	To MN 55 west / 80th Street East	Northbound signed as "80th Street East" only
		123.843	199.306	—	CSAH 26 (70th Street East)
		125.073	201.285	—	Upper 55th Street East
		125.717	202.322	125B-C	I-494 / MN 62	I-494 exit 66; Signed as exits 125B (east) and 125C (west) Previously MN 110 before 110 was resigned as an extension of MN 62
	South St. Paul	126.453	203.506	126	Southview Boulevard / Mendota Road
	South St. Paul–West St. Paul line	127.384	205.005	127	Wentworth Avenue / Thompson Avenue
		128.386	206.617	128	Butler Avenue
Ramsey	Saint Paul	129.493	208.399	129A	MN 156 south (Concord Street)
		129.717	208.759	129B	Eaton Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		130.398	209.855	130	Plato Boulevard / Fillmore Avenue	Access to St. Paul Downtown Airport; Fillmore Avenue not signed southbound
		131.334	211.362	131A	MN 5 (7th Street)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		131.352	211.391	131B	I-94 / US 10 east (US 12 east)	I-94 exit 242D; southern end of I-94 overlap
Unmarked overlap with I-94 to North Dakota state line
Red River of the North		374.703	603.026		I-94 west / US 52 west	Continuation into North Dakota
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

• Froehlig, Adam. "US Route 52 Exit List". Twin Cities Highways. Retrieved August 5, 2007.
• Riner, Steve. "Details of Routes 51-75". The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
• Salek, Matt. "US 52 Exits: SE Minnesota". Upper Midwest Freeway Exit Guides. Retrieved August 5, 2007.