Minnesota State Highway 47 (MN 47) is a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

in east–central

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 ...

, which runs from its

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their ...

with ''Central Avenue'' ( State Highway 65) 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 ...

and continues north to its northern terminus at its intersection with U.S. Highway 169 in Aitkin. For part of its route (8 miles), it runs together with U.S. Highway 10 in Coon Rapids and Anoka. The two routes are concurrent from ''Foley Boulevard'' in Coon Rapids to ''Ferry Street'' (

US 169 U.S. Route 169 (US 169) is a north-south U.S highway that currently runs for 966 miles (1,555 km) from the city of Virginia, Minnesota, to Tulsa, Oklahoma, at Memorial Drive. Route description Oklahoma US 169 is a major north–sou ...

) in Anoka. Highway 47 also runs together with State Highway 18 for 9 miles in Mille Lacs and Aitkin counties around the northeast side of

Mille Lacs Lake Mille Lacs Lake ( , also called Lake Mille Lacs or Mille Lacs) is a large, shallow lake in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in the counties of Mille Lacs, Aitkin, and Crow Wing, roughly north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropol ...

Route description

State Highway 47 serves as a north–south route between

, Fridley, Coon Rapids, Anoka, Ramsey, St. Francis, Ogilvie, Isle, and Aitkin in east–central Minnesota. State Highway 47 begins at the

of ''Central Avenue'' ( State Highway 65) and '' University Avenue'' in northeast

. Highway 47 is signed locally as ''University Avenue'' in northeast Minneapolis. The route remains ''University Avenue NE'' through Columbia Heights and Fridley to its junction with Highways 10 and

610 __NOTOC__ Year 610 ( DCX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar, the 610th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 610th year of the 1st millennium, the 10th year of the 7th century, and th ...

at the Coon Rapids / Blaine boundary line. The route is built as a divided highway north of its junction with ''32nd Avenue NE'' / ''St. Anthony Parkway'' in

. Highway 47 continues as a divided highway on its independent segment through Columbia Heights and Fridley. The route has an

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

with

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 ...

in Fridley and another interchange with Highways 10 and

at the Coon Rapids / Blaine boundary line. Highway 47 joins the Highway 10 freeway at this point. Highways 10 and 47 run concurrent for 8 miles through Coon Rapids and Anoka. Highway 47 leaves Highway 10 at its junction with ''Ferry Street'' in the city of Anoka. Highway 47 continues independently again northbound through the cities of Anoka and Ramsey as ''St. Francis Boulevard''. The route continues north through the Anoka County communities of Nowthen and St. Francis. The route enters Isanti County and passes through

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

, Pine Brook, and Dalbo. Highway 47 has a junction with State Highway 95 at Pine Brook. Highway 47 enters Kanabec County and continues north to Ogilvie, where it has a junction with State Highway 23. Highway 47 enters Mille Lacs County and joins State Highway 27 briefly to Isle at the southeast corner of Mille Lacs Lake. Father Hennepin State Park is located one mile west of the junction of Highway 47 and Highway 27 at Isle. The park entrance is located on Highway 27.Minnesota DNR website for Father Hennepin State Park - Link
/ref> The route continues northbound around the east side of

. Highway 47 has a junction with State Highway 18 in northeast Mille Lacs County. The route runs together with Highway 18 for 9 miles around the northeast side of the lake; continuing north to Malmo at the northeast corner of the lake. Highway 47 continues independently for 21 miles between Malmo and the city of Aitkin. The route is also known as ''4th Street SE'' in Aitkin. The northern terminus of Highway 47 is at its

with U.S. Highway 169 (''Minnesota Avenue'') in the city of Aitkin. At the southern terminus of Highway 47 in northeast

, ''"University Avenue"'' further extends itself into

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

(as ''Ramsey County Road 34''), ending at ''Lafayette Road''. This section of ''"University Avenue"'' passes by landmarks such as the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

and the

Minnesota State Capitol The Minnesota State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Minnesota, in its capital (political), capital city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul. It houses the Minnesota Senate, Minnesota House of Representatives, the offic ...

History

State Highway 47 was established in 1963. Highway 47 was originally an extension of '' State Highway 56''; which ran from southern Minnesota to Hampton; and then was concurrent with U.S. Highway 52 into downtown

; then along ''University Avenue'' in both Saint Paul and

. In 1963, ''State Highway 56'' was terminated in downtown St. Paul and the section from

north to Aitkin was renumbered ''State Highway 47''. Highway 47 was paved at the time it was created. Its predecessor was unpaved north of Anoka in 1940. By 1953, only the northerly section near Aitkin was still unpaved. It was completely paved by 1960. The section of Highway 47 in Columbia Heights and Fridley was built as a divided highway by 1970.

Major intersections

References

{{reflist 047 Transportation in Hennepin County, Minnesota Transportation in Anoka County, Minnesota Transportation in Isanti County, Minnesota Transportation in Kanabec County, Minnesota Transportation in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota Transportation in Aitkin County, Minnesota