Minnesota State Highway 62 (Hennepin–Dakota counties)

Trunk Highway 62
	Crosstown Highway
	MN 62 highlighted in red
Route information
	Maintained by MnDOT
Length	18.599 mi (29.932 km)
Existed	1988 – present
Major junctions
West end	I-494 / CR 62 at Eden Prairie
	US 169 / US 212 at Eden Prairie; MN 100 at Edina; I-35W / MN 121 at Richfield; MN 77 / CR 152 at Minneapolis; MN 55 at Minneapolis and Fort Snelling; MN 5 at Fort Snelling; MN 55 at Mendota Heights; MN 13 at Mendota Heights; I-35E at Mendota Heights; MN 149 at Mendota Heights; MN 3 at Inver Grove Heights;
East end	I-494 at Inver Grove Heights
Location
Counties	Hennepin, Dakota
Highway system

Minnesota State Highway 62 (MN 62) is a highway in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota. The route was part of Hennepin County Road 62 until 1988, when a portion of the route was inherited by the state. The western terminus of the route is at Interstate Highway 494 in Eden Prairie, where the roadway continues west as Hennepin County Road 62 to Hennepin County Road 101. The eastern terminus of the route is at the junction with Interstate 494 in Inver Grove Heights. Locally, the original portion of the route in Hennepin County is known as "the Crosstown," though signage with this name does not appear on the highway itself, but only on local streets adjacent to the road. It is also used as an alternate name, even by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The route is 18.6 miles (29.9 km) in length.

Route description

State Highway 62 serves as an east–west route between Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Edina, Richfield, Minneapolis, Fort Snelling, Mendota Heights and Inver Grove Heights. The route is constructed to freeway standards for most of its length, except for the western 1/2 mile, which is an expressway with two signal-controlled intersections. The eastern section is also an expressway except for the last mile between Mendota Road and Interstate 494 which is again a freeway. The route is located in Hennepin and Dakota Counties.

Due to the existence of a second State Highway 62 in the southwest corner of the state between Fulda and Windom, the stretch of Highway 62 in the Twin Cities area starts its numbering at milepost 100. This is unorthodox in that the two state highways have a combined length of 36 miles (58 km). "Mile 100" is calibrated where Hennepin County Roads 101 and 62 meet at the Eden Prairie / Minnetonka boundary line; though the mileposts themselves, starting with mile 104, do not appear until the state-maintained section inside the I-494 beltway.

History

State Highway 62 in the Twin Cities area was authorized in 1988. Prior to 1988, the route was designated as Hennepin County Road 62. The route was built mostly in the late 1960s by Hennepin County.

The original Hennepin County numbering of 62 corresponded with 62nd Street in Minneapolis. However, some portions of Highway 62 do stray from the 62nd Street plane, as near the eastern terminus, Highway 62 runs along the plane of 58th Street.

Highway 62 previously had a traffic light at its eastern terminus at Highway 55 until an interchange was reconstructed during construction of the METRO Blue Line light rail in 2004.

I-35W and Highway 62 Crosstown Commons reconstruction project

A typical traffic jam, before reconstruction, in the Crosstown Commons. The atypical part was that this picture was taken on a Saturday afternoon, not during a Monday thru Friday rush hour.

The Twin Cities' Highway 62 had one of the most notorious junctions in the region where it interwove with Interstate Highway 35W. This mile-long stretch was known informally as the "Crosstown Commons". Plans to "unweave" and expand this section of roadway to improve traffic flow had come and gone for many years, frustrating the 200,000 drivers who used it daily. Construction of the current design was expected to begin in July 2006, but was delayed due to state budget deficits.

The project was adequately funded during Governor Tim Pawlenty's second term and bids were received in April 2007. The bid was won by the Ames, Lunda, and Schafer consortium for $288 million. Construction began in May 2007. The project included 25 new bridges, 63 lane-miles of highway, and expanded the total roadway width from 6 lanes to 12 lanes at Lyndale Avenue. The bridges were cast in Coates, Minnesota and trucked in for on-site erection. The new design includes transit / HOV lanes and was completed in November 2010.^[1] The new interchange features three through-lanes for I-35W (including one HOV lane) in each direction and two separate through-lanes for Highway 62 in each direction, eliminating the need to weave across traffic. The 2007 cost of correcting the deficiencies in that short stretch of highway was estimated to be $285 million.^[2]

Extension

In August 2018, Highway 62 was extended from its former eastern terminus at Highway 55 near the Mendota Bridge to a new terminus at Interstate 494 in the city of Inver Grove Heights. This new extension is cosigned as Highways 55/62 across the Mendota Bridge. Beyond the bridge, Highway 62 replaces the former Highway 110 in its entirety to Interstate 494. This project has been designated “One route. One name.” by MnDOT. The reason for the change was to assign a single highway number to this continuous route as opposed to the 3 different highway numbers (62-55-110) that the route formerly had. MnDOT believes this will lessen the potential for motorist confusion. Now Highway 62 in the Twin Cities area both originates and terminates at Interstate 494, travelling across Hennepin and Dakota Counties.

Exit list

Some exits have been numbered

County	Location	mi^[3]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Hennepin	Eden Prairie–Minnetonka line	103.592	166.715		I-494 / CSAH 62 west (62nd Street)	At-grade intersection; western terminus; road continues as CSAH 62 (62nd Street)
	Eden Prairie–Minnetonka line	104.727	168.542		CR 61 (Shady Oak Road)
	Eden Prairie–Edina line	105.867	170.376		US 169	Cloverleaf interchange
	Eden Prairie–Edina line	106.354	171.160		US 212 west	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Edina	106.473	171.352		CR 158 (Gleason Road)
		107.369	172.794		Tracy Avenue
		108.342	174.360		MN 100	Cloverleaf interchange
		109.183	175.713		Valley View Road	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		109.422	176.098		CR 17 (France Avenue)
	Edina–Richfield– Minneapolis tripoint	110.002	177.031		CR 31 (Xerxes Avenue)
	Richfield–Minneapolis line	110.502	177.836		CR 32 (Penn Avenue)
		111.278	179.085	111A/112A	I-35W south – Albert Lea	I-35W exit 11; westbound entrance from I-35W NB includes direct entrance ramp from MN 121
		111.538	179.503		Lyndale Avenue
		112.512	181.071		CR 35 (Portland Avenue)	No westbound entrance
	Minneapolis	113.322	182.374		Bloomington Avenue	Eastbound exit and entrance
		113.642	182.889		MN 77 south / CR 152 north (Cedar Avenue)
		114.367	184.056		28th Avenue
		114.842	184.820		34th Avenue
	Unorganized Territory of Fort Snelling	115.982	186.655	115	MN 55 west (Hiawatha Avenue) / Minnehaha Avenue	(Former eastern terminus of MN-62)
		116.293	187.155	116A	Bloomington Road – Fort Snelling Historic Site	Ft. Snelling not signed eastbound
		116.454	187.415	116B/C	MN 5 – Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, St. Paul
Minnesota River		116.479– 116.869	187.455– 188.082	Mendota Bridge
Dakota	Mendota Heights	116.946	188.206	117	MN 55 east	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		117.333	188.829		MN 13 to MN 55 east
		118.442	190.614		I-35E – St. Paul, Albert Lea	I-35E north exit 101, south exits 101A-B; interchange
		119.113	191.694		MN 149 (Dodd Road)
	Inver Grove Heights	121.416	195.400		MN 3 (South Robert Trail)	Interchange
	Inver Grove Heights	122.191	196.647		I-494 / US 52 – St. Paul, Rochester	I-494 exit 67; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Incomplete access

References

↑ Olson, Dan (May 15, 2007). "Untangling the infamous Crosstown Commons now underway". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved May 31, 2007.
↑ "MnDOT invites contractors to bid on I-35W/Crosstown project". Minnesota Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on August 20, 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2007.
↑ Minnesota Department of Transportation. "Statewide Trunk Logpoint Listing" (PDF). St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 1, 2018.

External links

Route map:

I-35W and Highway 62 - Crosstown Commons - Reconstruction project - web page

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[1] Olson, Dan (May 15, 2007). "Untangling the infamous Crosstown Commons now underway". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved May 31, 2007.

[2] "MnDOT invites contractors to bid on I-35W/Crosstown project". Minnesota Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on August 20, 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2007.

[logpoint-3] Minnesota Department of Transportation. "Statewide Trunk Logpoint Listing" (PDF). St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 1, 2018.