Minnesota State Highway 4

Trunk Highway 4
Route information
Maintained by Mn/DOT
Length:	167.136 mi[1] (268.979 km)
Existed:	1920 – present
Major junctions
South end:	Iowa 4 at the Iowa state line
	I-90 at Sherburn MN 30 / MN 60 at St. James US 14 / MN 68 at Sleepy Eye MN 19 at Fairfax US 212 at Hector MN 7 at Cosmos US 12 at Grove City MN 23 / MN 55 at Paynesville
North end:	I-94 near Sauk Centre and Melrose
Location
Counties:	Martin, Watonwan, Brown, Nicollet, Renville, Meeker, Kandiyohi, Stearns
Highway system
Minnesota Trunk Highways Interstate US State Legislative routes ← MN 3 MN 5 →

Minnesota State Highway 4 (MN 4) is a highway in southwest and west-central Minnesota, which runs from Iowa Highway 4 at the Iowa state line (near Dunnell, MN and Estherville, IA), and continues north to its northern terminus at its interchange with Interstate Highway 94 near Sauk Centre and Melrose.

Highway 4 is 167 miles (269 km) in length.

Route description

State Highway 4 serves as a north–south route between Sherburn, Saint James, Sleepy Eye, Fairfax, Hector, Paynesville, and Meire Grove in southwest and west-central Minnesota.

Highway 4 parallels U.S. Highway 71 and State Highway 15 throughout its route.

Fort Ridgely State Park is located on Highway 4 in Nicollet County on the Minnesota River. The park is located south of Fairfax and northwest of New Ulm.^[2]

History

The segment of Highway 4 between Paynesville and Interstate 94 is part of Minnesota Constitutional Route 4, established in 1920; the remainder of Highway 4 was authorized in 1933. Between Saint James and the Iowa border, Highway 4 followed very closely the former Minneapolis & St Louis Railway the remains of which are clearly visible on the west side of the highway between Minnesota Highway 60 and Sherburn, Minnesota. Grain elevators in Echols, Ormsby, Trimont, and Sherburn are aligned with the former M&StL route through each of these towns.^[3]

The route was completely paved by 1961.^[3]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Martin		0.000	0.000	Iowa 4	Continuation into Iowa
	Sherburn	13.367– 13.535	21.512– 21.782	I-90	I-90 exit 87.
Watonwan	St. James Township	34.378	55.326	MN 60	West end of MN 60 concurrency
		35.510	57.148	MN 60 / MN 30	East end of MN 60 concurrency South end of MN 30 concurrency
	Nelson Township	42.092	67.741	MN 30	North end of MN 30 concurrency
Brown	Sleepy Eye	62.998	101.385	US 14 / MN 68	South end of MN 68 concurrency
	Home Township	66.020	106.249	MN 68	North end of MN 68 concurrency
Nicollet	No major junctions
Renville	Cairo Township	79.399	127.780	MN 19
	Hector	94.212	151.620	US 212
Meeker	Cosmos	108.147	174.046	MN 7
	Grove City	123.011	197.967	US 12	West end of US 12 concurrency
	Swede Grove Township	123.620	198.947	US 12	East end of US 12 concurrency
	Union Grove Township	135.633	218.280	MN 55	East end of MN 55 concurrency
Stearns	Paynesville			MN 23
Kandiyohi	Roseville Township	143.193	230.447	MN 55	West end of MN 55 concurrency
Stearns	Melrose Township	165.719– 165.804	266.699– 266.836	I-94	I-94 exit 131.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

Route map: Bing / Google

1. "Statewide Logpoint Listing" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Transportation. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
2. Minnesota DNR website for Fort Ridgely State Park - Link
3. Riner, Steve. "Details of routes 1-25". The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Self-published. Retrieved September 18, 2010.