Minnesota State Highway 95

Minnesota State Highway 95 (MN 95) is a 126.892-mile-long (204.213 km) highway in east-central Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with State Highway 23 near St. Cloud and continues east and south to its southern terminus at its intersection with U.S. Highways 61 / 10 (co-signed) at Cottage Grove.

Trunk Highway 95
MN 95 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MnDOT
Length126.892 mi[1] (204.213 km)
Existed1933[2]–present
Major junctions
Northwest end MN 23 near St. Cloud
  US 169 at Princeton

MN 65 at Cambridge
I-35 at North Branch
US 8 at Taylors Falls
MN 36 at Oak Park Heights

I-94 / US 12 at Woodbury
Southeast end US 10 / US 61 at Cottage Grove
Location
CountiesBenton, Mille Lacs, Isanti, Chisago, Washington
Highway system
  • Minnesota Trunk Highways
I-94 MN 96

This highway has two distinct segments (East/West section and a North/South section) that meet at Taylors Falls.

MN 95 passes through the cities of Princeton, Cambridge, North Branch, Taylors Falls, Stillwater, and Lakeland.

Route description

State Highway 95 has a somewhat unusual routing, starting with a west-to-east section between St. Cloud and Taylors Falls, then finishing with a northsouth section between Taylors Falls and Cottage Grove. In fact, the Minnesota Legislature originally authorized the eastwest and the northsouth routes as two separate highways. The Minnesota Highway Department decided to give them both the same route number.

This highway runs through mostly rural areas immediately north and east of the Twin Cities, although increasing development in the eastern suburbs of Saint Paul may bring increased traffic to the highway. Primarily a two-lane highway, Highway 95 has a short concurrency with Interstate 94/US Highway 12 between Woodbury and Lakeland, that makes up the only divided highway sections of Highway 95.

The 14-mile (23 km) section of Highway 95 from Cambridge to North Branch is officially designated the State Trooper Timothy J. Bowe Memorial Highway.

State Parks

Highway 95, on its northsouth section, parallels the St. Croix River and is adjacent to, or close to, several state parks:

History

Both sections of State Highway 95 were authorized in 1933.

By 1940, Highway 95 was paved between Princeton and North Branch; and between Scandia and Afton.

The route was completely paved by 1953.

In 1998, a change was made in the alignment on the south end of Highway 95, between Washington County Road 18 and I-94. Previously, Highway 95 turned east on 40th Street South in Afton and then turned north on the St. Croix Trail; present day Highway 95 now continues north along Manning Avenue (the Afton / Woodbury border) and then runs together with I-94 briefly east to Lakeland. The old route of Highway 95 for this section is now signed as County Road 18.

In an effort to maximize driver safety, a roundabout was constructed at the intersection of Highway 95 and County Road 29 in Princeton. The project was completed in November 2010 at a cost of $6.7 million.

A five-mile section of Highway 95 near Bayport in Washington County was honored with a 2013 Perpetual Pavement Award in recognition of its long life without any structural failure and only periodic resurfacing.[3]

Prior to August 2, 2017, MN 95 ran concurrent with MN 36 from Oak Park Heights to Chestnut Street in downtown Stillwater, where MN 36 then turned east to cross the Stillwater Lift Bridge. Upon the opening of the St. Croix Crossing bridge, this concurrency was eliminated and Highways 95 and 36 now have a full interchange with each other.

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi[4][1]kmDestinationsNotes
BentonMinden Township0.0500.080 MN 23 Foley, St. Cloud
St. George Township6.99311.254 MN 25 Foley, Becker
Mille LacsPrinceton22.250–
22.389
35.808–
36.032
US 169 Milaca, Elk RiverInterchange
23.92038.496CR 29 (Rum River Drive)Roundabout
IsantiPine Brook33.43153.802 MN 47 Dalbo, Anoka
Cambridge42.319–
42.426
68.106–
68.278
MN 65 Mora, MinneapolisInterchange
ChisagoNorth Branch54.370–
54.503
87.500–
87.714
I-35 Duluth, St. Paul, MinneapolisI-35 exit 147; interchange.
Taylors Falls74.922120.575 US 8 east St. Croix FallsEast end of US 8 overlap
Franconia Township78.174125.809 US 8 west Center City, Forest LakeWest end of US 8 overlap
82.920133.447 MN 243 east Osceola
WashingtonScandia88.563142.528 MN 97 west (Scandia Trail) Forest Lake
Stillwater102.353164.721 MN 96 west (Dellwood Road) White Bear Lake
Oak Park Heights105.389169.607 MN 36 Somerset, MinneapolisInterchange
Lakeland111.023178.674 I-94 / US 12 east HudsonEast end of I-94/US 12 overlap, exit 258.
Woodbury115.623186.077 I-94 / US 12 west St. PaulWest end of I-94/US 12 overlap, exit 253.
Cottage Grove127.295204.861 US 10 / US 61 / Great River Road Hastings, St. Paul
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

KML is from Wikidata
  1. "Trunk Highway Log Point Listing - Construction District 5" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Transportation. August 20, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 27, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
  2. Riner, Steve. "Details of Routes 76-100". The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Retrieved April 5, 2006.
  3. Harlow, Tim (2014-11-12). "MnDOT snags 12th consecutive Perpetual Pavement Award". Star Tribune. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  4. "Trunk Highway Log Point Listing - Construction District 3" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Transportation. August 23, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 4, 2008. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
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