U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is a

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 ...

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

, which runs from the

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

state line east to the Red River at

Grand Forks Grand Forks is a city in and the county seat of Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. The city's population was 59,166 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in the state, after Fargo and Bismarck. Grand For ...

. The route connects the cities of Williston,

Minot Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 2 ...

, and

. Of the of US 2 in North Dakota, all but the westernmost have four lanes.

Route description

US 2 is an east–west highway that runs through

's northern tier of larger cities: Williston,

, Devils Lake, and

. These cities are about north of North Dakota's southern tier of larger cities located on Interstate 94 (I-94): Dickinson, Bismarck–

Mandan The Mandan () are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still ...

, Jamestown, and Fargo– West Fargo. Each city (or pair) in each tier is separated by about . US 2 intersects two north–south four-lane highways in North Dakota: US 83 at Minot and

I-29 I29 may refer to: * Interstate 29 Interstate 29 (I-29) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern United States. I-29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with I-35 and I-70, to the Canada–US border near Pembina, North Dakota ...

at Grand Forks. In addition, it junctions with four other U.S. Highways that, except for shorter stretches that are four lanes, are mostly two-lane highways in North Dakota: US 85 at Williston (which is in the process of being converted into an undivided four-lane south of Williston), US 52 at Minot, US 281 at Churchs Ferry (west of Devils Lake), and US 81 at Grand Forks. All six of these highways provide routes either to the border at Mexico or deep into the southern U.S. Between Williston and Minot, US 2 provides several high points where one can view graceful and beautiful landscape for many miles in all directions. Between Minot and Grand Forks, US 2 provides an ever-changing mix of agricultural farm and pasture land, native wetlands, and small lakes set on a gently rolling landscape. US 2 also passes near a large lake named Devils Lake near the city with the same name. Throughout the state, the route generally travels east–west, following the route of the Great Northern Railway, which is also used by the ''

Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great North ...

''. The US 2 route through North Dakota was originally named the Wonderland Trail or the Teddy Roosevelt Trail, after the former U.S. president. In

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

, just east of the route's intersection with North Dakota Highway 3 (ND 3), the highway passes the location designated in 1931 as the geographical center of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. The monument marking the geographic center of the continent had to be relocated in 1971 when US 2 was widened from two to four lanes. The

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of the highway at the

border is approximately

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

, and approximately at its crossing of the north-flowing Red River, entering

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 East Grand Forks.

History

US 2 in North Dakota has undergone significant upgrades over the years, as the state converted large portions of the highway from two lanes to four lanes to enhance safety and accommodate growing traffic demands. The project has been executed in stages over several decades. The first major section to be upgraded was the stretch from Grand Forks to Minot. This portion was completed in 1996, resulting in a continuous four-lane highway across this vital east-west corridor in the eastern part of the state. The completion of this section was a significant milestone in North Dakota's long-term plan to improve its transportation infrastructure. Following the completion of the Grand Forks to Minot segment, attention turned to the highway west of Minot. The section from Minot to Williston was upgraded as part of a campaign labeled "Across the State in Two Thousand Eight." This project, which began a few years prior, aimed to complete the four-lane upgrade by 2008. The state successfully met this goal, resulting in approximately of continuous four-lane highway stretching from North Dakota's eastern border to just past Williston. Despite these extensive upgrades, a small segment of US 2, approximately from Williston to the Montana state line, remains a two-lane highway. The North Dakota state government has indicated a willingness to convert this remaining segment to four lanes, contingent upon Montana's agreement to continue the four-lane expansion from the state line into Montana. This potential project highlights the importance of interstate collaboration in regional infrastructure development.

Major intersections

References

External links

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links