U.S. Highway 169 (US 169) is a major north–south

United States Numbered Highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

in the state of

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 ...

, connecting 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 ...

valley with 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 ...

and the

Iron Range The Iron Range is collectively or individually a number of elongated iron-ore mining districts around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada. Much of the ore-bearing region lies alongside the range of granite hills formed by the Giants ...

. Much of the route is built to expressway or

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 ...

standards.

Route description

US 169 enters Minnesota near Elmore as a two-lane, undivided highway, continuing as such through the majority of Blue Earth. Near the northern outskirts of the town, it expands to a four-lane, divided highway, subsequently crossing

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, Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mou ...

(I-90). Soon after, it reverts to its original two-lane size. Roughly southwest of

Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The population was 44,488 at the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Mi ...

, US 169 and State Highway 60 (MN 60) merge to a single expressway through Mankato. In North Mankato, MN 60 moves from a

concurrency Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with US 169 to another one with US 14. In Mankato and North Mankato, US 169 functions as an arterial highway, passing directly through the cities' downtown area. From Mankato north to Jackson Township, the route remains an expressway, except for the section passing through St. Peter, where US 169 is the main street through town. The of US 169 from St. Peter to

I-494 Interstate 494 (I-494) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway making up part of a beltway of I-94, circling through the southern and western portions of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area in Minnesota. The road is coupled with I ...

in Bloomington is officially designated the John A. Johnson Memorial Highway. This includes the Bloomington Ferry Bridge between Shakopee and Bloomington. This designation is marked as Johnson Memorial Drive on some maps, but not marked as such on directional signs, nor commonly known by this name. In the

area, the route is constructed to freeway standards between MN 41 in Jackson Township and 109th Avenue North in Brooklyn Park. The freeway between I-494 and

I-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 Interstate 94 in Minneso ...

was originally built by

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,281,565, and was estimated to be 1,273,334 in 2024, making it the List of counties in ...

as County Road 18 (CR 18). In 1988, CR 18 was transferred to the state of Minnesota and became the new alignment for US 169 in the Minneapolis area. In exchange, Hennepin County took over maintenance of two other highways that were formerly state routes. In the Minneapolis area, US 169 is often congested, but the freeway passes close to residential neighborhoods in many locations, so any expansion of the freeway would disrupt housing stock in the surrounding area. From 109th Avenue North to 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 ...

, US 169 remains an expressway until Anoka, where it becomes a street. It then joins US 10 west to Elk River. Those highways diverge at Babcock Wayside on the Mississippi River. North of the Twin Cities metropolitan area, US 169 continues as an expressway to

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 ...

, an important resort area. The highway skirts the western shore of the lake. The of US 169 from Elk River to

Garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

is officially designated the POW/MIA Memorial Highway. From Mille Lacs Lake, US 169 continues northward to its junction with US 2 at

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. Starting in Aitkin, US 169 and MN 210 share of road. In Grand Rapids, US 169 turns northeasterly to reach the cities of the

Mesabi Iron Range The Mesabi Iron Range is a mining district and mountain range in northeastern Minnesota following an elongate trend containing large deposits of iron ore. It is the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Ir ...

. At the eastern end of Grand Rapids, US 169 becomes an expressway and remains such for . An additional , from

Taconite Taconite () is a variety of banded iron formation, an iron-bearing (over 15% iron) sedimentary rock, in which the iron minerals are interlayered with quartz, chert, or carbonate. The name ''taconyte'' was coined by Horace Vaughn Winchell (1865– ...

to CR 7 was completed in 2016. It passes through the cities of Hibbing, Chisholm, and Mountain Iron before reaching US 53 at the city of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. This four-lane stretch of US 169 is also known as the Highway 169 Cross Range Expressway, with the highway shifted south between Mountain Iron and Virginia to allow for expansion of the

U.S. Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

Minntac iron ore mine. The northern terminus of US 169 is at the city of Virginia. MN 169 begins immediately north of Virginia in Wuori Township and continues northeast for to the cities of

Tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

, Ely, and Winton. MN 169 is numbered as an extension of US 169. US 169 is one of three Minnesota U.S. Numbered highways to carry the same number as an existing state marked highway within the state. The others being Highways US 61 and US 65. Legally, the Minnesota section of US 169 is defined as all or part of Routes 5, 7, 383, 3, 18, and 35 in the Minnesota Statutes §§161.114(2) and 161.117(4). The route is not marked with those numbers.

History

US 169 was extended into Minnesota . The route in Minnesota was paved by 1940. Previously, US 169 served as the northern terminus of US 53 in Virginia. US 169 then continued north into International Falls. Today, US 53 serves as the terminus of US 169 in Virginia. US 169, between the junction with MN 60 (south of

) and the

, was upgraded to at least expressway status over several stages. The

section around Mankato and the adjoining expressway sections were completed in the early 1960s, along with bypasses of Le Sueur,

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

and Belle Plaine. The US 169 freeway bypass around

Shakopee Shakopee ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Minnesota, United States. It is southwest of Minneapolis. Sited on the south bank bend of the Minnesota River, Shakopee and nearby suburbs comprise the southwest portion of Minneap ...

was built in the mid-1990s along a new alignment, which included the newly constructed Bloomington Ferry Bridge. Prior to this realignment, US 169 crossed the

from downtown Shakopee where it had been co-signed with MN 101. North of the river crossing, US 169 had previously been co-signed with what was then US 212 (Flying Cloud Drive) through

Eden Prairie Eden Prairie is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It had a population of 64,198 at the 2020 census, making it the 16th-largest city in Minnesota. The city is adjacent to the north bank of the Minnesota River, upstream from ...

until 1996. A new US 169 interchange with MN 19, near Henderson, was completed in 2002. An expressway section of US 169 through southern

was converted to full freeway in 2006, with new interchanges constructed at Pioneer Trail and Anderson Lakes Parkway. At-grade intersections with traffic signals have been removed at the recently constructed

interchange, which was previously a point of frequent congestion. North of the Twin Cities, US 169 has been upgraded to an expressway between Elk River and the southern end of

, with bypasses of

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

and

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 ...

built in the late 1980s. US 169 between Hill City and

has been built to super-2 standards. The expressway section between Pengilly and the city of

was built in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 2008, construction began on a new US 169 interchange with CR 81 and 85th Avenue North in Brooklyn Park. This interchange is also known as The Devil's Triangle, or simply as The Triangle, because of the major traffic congestion during rush hour, especially in the afternoon. Construction was completed on August 11, 2011. During the flooding of September 2010, flood waters destroyed a section of the northbound lanes of US 169 between St. Peter and Le Sueur.

Minnesota Department of Transportation The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT, ) oversees Transportation in Minnesota, transportation by all modes including land, water, air, rail, walking and bicycling in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The Cabinet (government), cabinet-lev ...

(MnDOT) believes, "when the flood waters rose up it found a weak spot in the slope or the dirt bank and got under the grass and started mining under the pavement. Finally, it just sucked all the dirt out and the pavement just dropped into a hole." Traffic was detoured to the southbound lanes of US 169 for a month, resulting in a temporary two-lane expressway, until the northbound section was repaired. In November 2010, construction began on a completely redesigned US 169 interchange at

, where three traffic signals had existed. The new interchange features six roundabouts, new flyover bridges, and two new bridges over I-494 that will carry West 78th Street and Washington Avenue. Major construction began in March 2011. Construction continued in early 2012 with the completion of reconstructing surrounding roads and remaining ramps. MnDOT completed the entire project in November 2012. The 2010 cost of the construction project was $140 million. In 2016, exit numbers have started appearing on the Shakopee portion of the freeway section in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area. Between 2022 and 2024, the section of US 169 between US 10 and 197th Avenue in Elk River was being rebuilt as a freeway, with four new interchanges and a replacement of the northbound bridge over US 10. In 2023, the cloverleaf interchange at Rockford Road in Plymouth was replaced with a folded-diamond interchange and a new, wider bridge to accommodate for both bicyclists and pedestrians. A study to convert US 169 to a freeway between US 10 in Elk River to 277th Avenue north of Zimmerman was completed in late 2009. A complete review of the project by MnDOT occurred in 2011. A complete construction schedule and timeline were released by MnDOT. Allocation of funds for the project was currently underway and the only thing holding back from starting the project. The project is expected to cost around $178 Million. In the meantime, the between US 10 in Elk River to 277th Avenue north of Zimmerman were resurfaced during the 2012 construction season. The construction will begin in May 2012.http://projects.dot.state.mn.us/srf/169elkriver/index.html

Major intersections

References

External links

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links