Minnesota State Highway 55 (MN 55) 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 runs across the central part of state taking a diagonal route from its western most at the North Dakota state line near Tenney to its easternmost point at the intersection with U.S. Highway 61 (US 61) in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

. In Minneapolis and Golden Valley, portions of the route are also signed as Olson Memorial Highway.

Route description

MN 55 serves as a northwest–southeast route between Elbow Lake, Glenwood, Paynesville, Annandale, Buffalo,

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

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 ...

Mendota Heights Mendota Heights ( ) is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. It is a first-ring southern suburb of the Twin Cities. The population was 11,744 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has ...

, and

. MN 55 begins at the Bois de Sioux River, at the Minnesota—North Dakota state line near Tenney. North Dakota Highway 11 (ND 11) is its counterpoint upon crossing the state line. MN 55 continues east to Tenney, Nashua, and Wendell. The route has a junction with U.S. Highway 59 (US 59) before entering the city of Elbow Lake. US 59/MN 55 runs concurrently for until reaching Barrett. MN 55 then continues independently again to Hoffman,

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, Farwell, and Lowry before reaching the city of Glenwood. At Glenwood, MN 55 has an intersection with MN 29 and an interchange with MN 28. The route continues southeast to Sedan and Brooten before reaching its junction with US 71 in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. MN 55 passes through Regal before reaching its junction with MN 4 and MN 23 at the city of Paynesville. MN 55 continues east to Eden Valley and Watkins before reaching its junction with MN 15 at Kimball. The route has a junction with MN 24 in Annandale. MN 55 continues to Maple Lake and then Buffalo, where it has a junction with MN 25. MN 55 enters 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 stat ...

area at Rockford and Greenfield, continuing east to

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

and

. MN 55 has a junction with Interstate 494 (I-494) in Plymouth. MN 55 continues east and has a junction with US 169 at the Plymouth– Golden Valley boundary line. MN 55 continues through Golden Valley to its junction with MN 100. The route then continues east and enters the city of

. The highway has been designated Olson Memorial Highway,Minnesota Statutes section 161.14 subd. 3 - https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=161.14 named for Floyd B. Olson, a popular Minnesota governor of Norwegian ancestry. Olson grew up in North Minneapolis, near where the highway runs. While the entire route is designated as the Olson Memorial Highway, it is only consistently signed as such between Interstate 494 and N 7th Street in Minneapolis. The part of MN 55 southeast of downtown is known as Hiawatha Avenue.

Light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

trains on the Blue Line, and Little Earth Trail and Hiawatha LRT Trail for bicyclists/pedestrians, run parallel to the highway for much of the Hiawatha Avenue stretch. MN 55 runs concurrently along I-94/ US 52. MN 55 exits just before downtown at the westbound I-94/northbound US 52 exit, and leaves the concurrency at the exit for the Olson Highway, marked with the MN 55 shield. Eastbound, MN 55 leaves the Olson Highway at the interchange for I-94 eastbound/US 52 southbound, and leaves the freeway at the exit for Hiawatha Avenue, which is also marked with the MN 55 shield. There has been some controversy with expansion of the highway. An area known as Camp Coldwater, considered by some as the "birthplace of Minnesota", was dug up during some construction. MN 55 joins with MN 62 at this point. Fort Snelling State Park is located near the junction of MN 55 and MN 5. The park entrance is located on MN 5 at Post Road. MN 55 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 ...

via the Mendota Bridge, which was the longest continuous bridge made of poured

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

when it was completed in 1926. It is in length. The route enters

, diverges from MN 62, and then has a junction with MN 13. MN 55 continues southeast through Eagan, joining briefly with MN 149. The route then has a junction with MN 3 in Inver Grove Heights. MN 55 then runs concurrently with US 52 through Inver Grove Heights and into Rosemount. At Rosemount, MN 55 leaves US 52. MN 55 continues independently again to its eastern terminus at its intersection with US 61 in the city of

History

MN 55 was authorized in 1933. The original alignment for MN 55 in

was along old US 52 (now County State-Aid Highway 81, CSAH 81) to Rockford Road, then Rockford Road to MN 55's present-day alignment (now CSAH 9). The present-day alignment was constructed in the early 1950s. In July 2005, the section of MN 55 that runs through downtown Minneapolis was turned back to local maintenance. To fill the gap, MN 55 was rerouted along I-94/US 52.

Major intersections

References

{{reflist 055 Streets in Minneapolis Transportation in Wilkin County, Minnesota Transportation in Grant County, Minnesota Transportation in Pope County, Minnesota Transportation in Stearns County, Minnesota Transportation in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota Transportation in Meeker County, Minnesota Transportation in Wright County, Minnesota Transportation in Hennepin County, Minnesota Transportation in Dakota County, Minnesota U.S. Route 52