U.S. Route 12 in Minnesota

This article is about the section of U.S. Route 12 in Minnesota. For the entire route, see U.S. Route 12.

U.S. Highway 12 marker

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
  • Minnesota Trunk Highways
MN 11MN 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

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
South Dakota state line0.0000.000 US 12 continues into South Dakota
Big StoneOrtonville0.8211.321 MN 7North end of MN 7 concurrency
0.9501.529 MN 7South end of MN 7 concurrency
1.3502.173 US 75
SwiftShible Township21.09733.952 MN 119
Moyer Township27.08843.594 US 59
Benson42.63368.611 MN 29South end of MN 29 concurrency
42.86068.976 MN 29
MN 9
North end of MN 29 concurrency
West end of MN 9 concurrency
42.93069.089 MN 9East end of MN 9 concurrency
KandiyohiWillmar72.618116.867 MN 40
Kandiyohi Township75.696–
75.793
121.821–
121.977
US 71 / MN 23Interchange
MeekerGrove City91.650147.496 MN 4West end of MN 4 concurrency
Swede Grove Township92.261148.480 MN 4East end of MN 4 concurrency
Litchfield Township98.757158.934 MN 22North end of MN 22 concurrency
99.945160.846 MN 24
Litchfield100.777162.185 MN 22South end of MN 22 concurrency
Dassel Township111.360179.217 MN 15
WrightMontrose132.095212.586 MN 25West end of MN 25 concurrency
Franklin Township134.152215.897 MN 25East end of MN 25 concurrency
HennepinWayzata180.158289.936 CSAH 101Former MN 101
Minnetonka157.014252.690 I-394 begins / I-494West end of I-394 concurrency, east exit 1, west exits 1A-B; I-494 exits 19A-B.
Minneapolis165.654266.594 I-94 / I-394 eastEast end of I-394 concurrency; west end of I-94 concurrency, exit 231A
Unmarked overlap with I-94 to Wisconsin state line
St. Croix River192.997310.599Interstate Bridge
I-94 / US 12 continue into Wisconsin
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

Route map: Bing / Google

  1. 1 2 "Statewide Trunk Logpoint Listing" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Transportation. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  2. 1 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. 1 2 Riner, Steve. "Details of routes 1-25". The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Self-published. Retrieved September 27, 2010.


U.S. Route 12
Previous state:
South Dakota
Minnesota Next state:
Wisconsin
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