U.S. Route 12 in Minnesota

U.S. Highway 12
U.S. 12 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Mn/DOT
Length:	192.798 mi[1] (310.278 km)
Existed:	November 11, 1926[2] – present
Major junctions
West end:	U.S. 12 at the Minnesota — South Dakota state line
	U.S. 75 / MN 7 at Ortonville MN 9 / MN 29 at Benson U.S. 71 / MN 23 at Willmar MN 22 / MN 24 at Litchfield MN 15 at Dassel MN 25 at Montrose I-394 / I-494 at Minnetonka I-94 / I-35W at Minneapolis I-494 / I-694 at Woodbury MN 95 at Lakeland
East end:	I-94/U.S. 12 at the St. Croix River, the Minnesota — Wisconsin state line
Location
Counties:	Big Stone, Swift, Kandiyohi, Meeker, Wright, Hennepin, Ramsey, Washington
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List Bannered Divided Replaced Minnesota Trunk Highways Interstate US State Legislative routes ← MN 11 MN 13 →

U.S. Highway 12 (U.S. 12) is a highway in west-central and east-central Minnesota, which runs from the South Dakota state line at Ortonville near Big Stone Lake and continues east to the St. Croix River at the Wisconsin state line. U.S. 12 in Minnesota is 192 miles (309 km) in length. The route connects the cities of Ortonville, Benson, Willmar, Litchfield, Minneapolis, and Saint Paul.

Route description

From the South Dakota / Minnesota state line at Ortonville, to Orono in the Twin Cities area, U.S. 12 is mostly a rural two-lane highway with a 55 MPH posted speed limit, with slower speed limits through towns and a four-lane surface arterial segment through the city of Willmar.

From Orono to Wayzata, U.S. 12 is a two-lane freeway/super-2 bypass around Long Lake.

From western Wayzata to Interstate 394 in Minnetonka, U.S. 12 is a six-lane freeway. East of Interstate 494, U.S. 12 is invisibly concurrent with Interstates 394 and 94 through Minneapolis and Saint Paul to the Minnesota / Wisconsin state line at Hudson.

U.S. 12 is invisibly concurrent with Interstate 94 in Ramsey and Washington counties.

Legally, the Minnesota section of U.S. 12 is defined as unmarked Constitutional / Legislative Routes 149, 26, and 10 in Minnesota Statutes §§ 161.115(80) and 161.114(2). U.S. 12 is not marked with these legislative numbers along the actual highway.

History

U.S. Highway 12 was established on November 11, 1926.^[2]

In 1929, the only sections paved were between Litchfield and Willmar; and between Wayzata through the Twin Cities to Wisconsin.^[3]

The entire route was paved by 1940.^[3]

From 2006 to 2008, the Highway 12 two-lane freeway bypass was constructed through Orono and Long Lake. The new bypass ties into the existing Highway 12 freeway at the western edge of Wayzata.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
South Dakota state line		0.000	0.000	US 12 continues into South Dakota
Big Stone	Ortonville	0.821	1.321	MN 7	North end of MN 7 concurrency
		0.950	1.529	MN 7	South end of MN 7 concurrency
		1.350	2.173	US 75
Swift	Shible Township	21.097	33.952	MN 119
	Moyer Township	27.088	43.594	US 59
	Benson	42.633	68.611	MN 29	South end of MN 29 concurrency
		42.860	68.976	MN 29 MN 9	North end of MN 29 concurrency West end of MN 9 concurrency
		42.930	69.089	MN 9	East end of MN 9 concurrency
Kandiyohi	Willmar	72.618	116.867	MN 40
	Kandiyohi Township	75.696– 75.793	121.821– 121.977	US 71 / MN 23	Interchange
Meeker	Grove City	91.650	147.496	MN 4	West end of MN 4 concurrency
	Swede Grove Township	92.261	148.480	MN 4	East end of MN 4 concurrency
	Litchfield Township	98.757	158.934	MN 22	North end of MN 22 concurrency
		99.945	160.846	MN 24
	Litchfield	100.777	162.185	MN 22	South end of MN 22 concurrency
	Dassel Township	111.360	179.217	MN 15
Wright	Montrose	132.095	212.586	MN 25	West end of MN 25 concurrency
	Franklin Township	134.152	215.897	MN 25	East end of MN 25 concurrency
Hennepin	Wayzata	180.158	289.936	CSAH 101	Former MN 101
	Minnetonka	157.014	252.690	I-394 begins / I-494	West end of I-394 concurrency, east exit 1, west exits 1A-B; I-494 exits 19A-B.
	Minneapolis	165.654	266.594	I-94 / I-394 east	East end of I-394 concurrency; west end of I-94 concurrency, exit 231A
Unmarked overlap with I-94 to Wisconsin state line
St. Croix River		192.997	310.599	Interstate Bridge I-94 / US 12 continue into Wisconsin
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

Route map: Bing / Google

1. "Statewide Trunk Logpoint Listing" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Transportation. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
2. Weingroff, Richard F. (January 9, 2009). "From Names to Numbers: The Origins of the U.S. Numbered Highway System". Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
3. Riner, Steve. "Details of routes 1-25". The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Self-published. Retrieved September 27, 2010.