Minnesota State Highway 23 (MN 23) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

that stretches from southwestern to northeastern

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. At 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 Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

, and passes through the cities of St. Cloud, Willmar, and

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

. MN 23 runs north from its interchange with

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

(I-90), east of the South Dakota line and east of Sioux Falls and then continues north and east across Minnesota to its terminus at its interchange with

I-35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexico–Uni ...

in Duluth.

Route description

MN 23 directly serves Pipestone,

, Granite Falls, Willmar, Paynesville, Cold Spring, St. Cloud, Foley,

Milaca Milaca ( ) is a city and the county seat of Mille Lacs County, Minnesota. The population was 3,021 at the time of the 2020 census. It is situated on the Rum River. History A post office has been in operation at Milaca since 1883. The name M ...

Mora Mora may refer to: People * José Maria Mora (1847–1926), Cuban-American photographer, often credited as "Mora" * Mora (singer) (born 1996), a Puerto Rican singer * Mora (surname), a Spanish name (includes a list of people with the name) Plac ...

Hinckley Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England, administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughborough, and is about halfway between L ...

Sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

, and

. Portions of MN 23 that have been upgraded to a four-lane expressway include approximately 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 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 ...

bypass of the city. MN 23 crosses the

Minnesota River The Minnesota River () 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 rises in southwestern ...

at Granite Falls, and the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

in St. Cloud, over the

Granite City Crossing The Granite City Crossing is a bridge that carries Minnesota State Highway 23 across the Mississippi River in the city of St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. It was built to replace the DeSoto Bridge in the same location. Constructio ...

bridge. Running over surface streets in certain towns, MN 23 is also known as: *Division Street in St. Cloud *4th Street in downtown

*Forest Avenue East in

, between MN 65 and Oslin Road *Grand Avenue in

; the section of Grand Avenue that is marked MN 23 is from 59th Avenue West and

(in

West Duluth West Duluth refers to an official neighborhood district in the west–central part of Duluth, Minnesota, United States. Grand Avenue, Central Avenue, Cody Street, and Interstate Highway 35 are four of the main routes in West Duluth. Other main ...

) 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 Split Rock Creek State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, located in Ihlen, or just south of Pipestone. The Works Progress Administration built a dam in 1938 to create a lake, which provided an opportunity for water recreation in an area ...

in Pipestone County at Ihlen *

Pipestone National Monument Pipestone National Monument is located in southwestern Minnesota, just north of the city of Pipestone, Minnesota. It is located along the highways of U.S. Route 75, Minnesota State Highway 23 and Minnesota State Highway 30. The quarries are cul ...

Camden State Park Camden State Park is a state park on the Redwood River in southwestern Minnesota near Marshall. It is used for picnics, camping, hiking, and other outdoor recreation. The park, originally known as Camden Woods, was acquired in 1934, and develop ...

in Lyon County on the banks of the

Redwood River The Redwood River is a tributary of the Minnesota River, long, in southwestern Minnesota in the United States. Via the Minnesota River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of in an agricultural region. The rive ...

Banning State Park Banning State Park is a state park in Pine County, Minnesota, Pine County, Minnesota, United States, stretched along of the Kettle River (St. Croix River), Kettle River near the town of Sandstone, Minnesota, Sandstone. The centerpiece of the p ...

in Pine County on the banks of the Kettle River

Evergreen Memorial Scenic Drive

About of MN 23 that travels through

Pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

, Carlton, and Saint Louis counties is officially designated the Veterans Evergreen Memorial Scenic Drive. This portion is between

near

Askov Askov is a city in Pine County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 364 at the 2010 census. Minnesota State Highway 23 serves as a main route in the community, and Interstate 35 is nearby. History The village was originally within ...

and the Gary-New Duluth neighborhood of

, near MN 39. The scenic roadway offers views of Banning State Park, the Saint Louis River valley, and nearby

Jay Cooke State Park Jay Cooke State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, protecting the lower reaches of the Saint Louis River. The park is located about southwest of Duluth and is one of the ten most visited state parks in Minnesota. The weste ...

. 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

, MN 23 crosses the Saint Louis River into

Douglas County, Wisconsin Douglas County is a county in the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,295 Its county seat is Superior. Douglas County is included in the Duluth, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

, in the Town of Superior, for 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

Transit

Intercity bus service An intercity bus service (North American English) or intercity coach service (British English and Commonwealth English), also called a long-distance, express, over-the-road, commercial, long-haul, or highway bus or coach service, is a public t ...

along the MN 23 corridor is provided along the southwestern portion of the highway between Willmar and Pipestone by

Jefferson Lines Jefferson Lines (JL or JLI) is a regional intercity bus company operating in 14 states in the Midwest and the West of the United States. History The company is operated by Jefferson Partners L.P., located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jefferson P ...

History

MN 23 was authorized November 2, 1920, from Paynesville to

Mission Creek Mission Creek (from Spanish: ''misión'') is a river in San Francisco, California. Once navigable from the Mission Bay inland to the vicinity of Mission Dolores, where several smaller creeks converged to form it, Mission Creek has long since b ...

, south of

. 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

proper to just west of

along the route that later became MN 123; this was redesignated 1946. From 1934 to 1963, the northern terminus for MN 23 was its junction with old US 61 and US 2 in

. 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

at Grand Avenue in Duluth. After completion of the

freeway, the state maintained MN 23 through

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 Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Waite Park Waite Park is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 8,341 at the 2020 census. History Waite Park was incorporated in 1893. It was named for Henry Chester Waite, a state legislator. A post office was establis ...

( St. Cloud), were both completed by 2005. In February 2008, a

bus crash A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Tra ...

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 DeSoto Bridge was a trussed deck-arch bridge that spanned the Mississippi River in St. Cloud, Minnesota. It was built in 1958 by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The bridge was painted black, which is typical for railroad bridges b ...

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 Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

to collapse on August 1, 2007. The DeSoto Bridge was demolished in October 2008, and a new replacement bridge, the

, 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 . The project includes grading, construction of eight bridges, surfacing and lighting, and it cost $32.2 million (equivalent to $ in ). 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 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 led to a decision to expand the highway, 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 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

in the southwest corner of Minnesota northeastward to its interchange with

near

, 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 Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi, Minnesota River, Minnesota, and St. Croix River (Wisconsin–Minnesota), ...

) and the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

, 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 North Gap started expansion in May 2022, and is expected to complete in November 2023. The South Gap is planned to begin in 2023 and be completed in 2024.

Major intersections

References

External links