Interstate 694

Interstate 694 Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
Maintained by Mn/DOT
Length:	31 mi[citation needed] (49.89 km)
Formed:	1985
West end:	I-94 / I-494 in Maple Grove
Major junctions:	I-94 in Brooklyn Center, MN I-35W in New Brighton, MN I-35E in Little Canada, MN
East end:	I-94 / I-494 in Woodbury
Minnesota State Highways < TH 610 TH 1 >

Interstate 694 (I-694) is a 31 mile (50 km) east-west auxiliary Interstate Highway located in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The western terminus of the route is at Interstate 94 and Interstate 494 in Maple Grove. The eastern terminus is at I-94 and I-494 in Woodbury. The route comprises the northern and northeastern portions of a beltway around the Twin Cities, with Interstate 494 forming the remainder of the beltway.

The speed limit is 60 miles per hour (100 km/h). Interstate Highways outside of the loop in Minnesota may be signed as high as 70 mph (110 km/h), but can only reach 55 mph (90 km/h) inside the loop (changes are proposed as of 2005, however).

I-694 interchanges with multiple interstates, including Interstate 35W in New Brighton and Interstate 35E in Little Canada. The route is also concurrent to I-94 for eight miles (13 km) from Maple Grove to Brooklyn Center.

Route description

Interstate 694 begins on the counter-clockwise end at the junction of I-94, I-494, and I-694 in the city of Maple Grove, often referred to a the "Fish Lake Interchange." From the Fish Lake Interchange, 694 travels east (clockwise) co-signed with I-94 through the cities of Maple Grove, Brooklyn Park, and Brooklyn Center. In Brooklyn Center, I-94 splits from I-694 and travels south toward downtown Minneapolis, while 694 continues its beltway function, crossing the Mississippi River, and passing through the communities of Fridley and New Brighton, where it has an interchange with I-35W. It turns slightly to the southeast as it passes through the communities of Arden Hills, Shoreview, and Little Canada. It turns back to near due east at the western junction of I-35E. It continues east through the communities of Vadnais Heights, White Bear Lake, and Maplewood. In Pine Springs, there is a cloverleaf interchange with Trunk Highway 36. The interchange makes out a rough corner, in which 694 switches direction from eastbound to southbound. It continues south through the cities of Oakdale and Woodbury, and finally terminates on the clockwise end at the interchange of I-94, I-494, and I-694 in Woodbury.

Mileposts are numbered to increase while traveling eastbound (clockwise). They are in sequence with the numbering of Interstate 494, where the numbering begins and ends at the Minnesota River. Between Maple Grove and Brooklyn Center, they correspond to the beltway numbering, not I-94 mileage.

I-694 has problems with "weave" interchanges. The Unweave the Weave project was completed in Fall 2008 to disentangle I-694 and I-35E. The project was designed to increase traffic flow, driver safety, and improve the condition of the roadway.^[1] Another project designed to 'unweave' the highway will begin in 2012.^{[citation needed]} This project will eliminate the weaving movements at U.S. Highway 10 and Minnesota State Highway 51. This interchange sometimes creates one of the worst bottlenecks in the Twin Cities due to drivers needing to change at least one lane to continue west on Interstate 694 between Highway 51 and US 10. When completed,the new project will include 3 thru-lanes in each direction from I-35W to US 10, 4 thru-lanes in each direction from US 10 to Rice Street, and 5 thru-lanes in each direction from Rice Street to the I-35E interchange, compared with the current 2-3 lanes throughout the corridor.

Legally, the route of Interstate 694 is defined as part of Route 393 in Minnesota Statutes § 161.12(5).^[2]

This section requires expansion.

History

Interstate 694 was originally built in the early 1970s as the thoroughfare for the northern Twin Cities suburbs and surrounding areas.^{[citation needed]} These include the cities of Maple Grove, Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Fridley, New Brighton, Arden Hills, Shoreview, Little Canada, Vadnais Heights, White Bear Lake, Maplewood, Oakdale, Pine Springs, and Woodbury.

Exit list

This section contains a table that is missing mileposts for one or more junctions. Please help by adding the missing mileposts.

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Hennepin	Maple Grove			I-494	Counterclockwise exit and clockwise entrance
			27	I-94 west – St. Cloud	Counterclockwise end of I-94 overlap
			28	CR 61
	Brooklyn Park		29	US 169	Signed as exits 29A (south) and 29B (north)
			30	Boone Avenue
			31	CR 81
	Brooklyn Center		33	CR 152 (Brooklyn Boulevard)
			34	To TH 100 / Shingle Creek Parkway
			35A	TH 100	Counterclockwise exit and clockwise entrance
			35B	I-94 east	Clockwise end of I-94 overlap
			35C	TH 252
Anoka	Fridley		36	East River Road
			37	TH 47 (University Avenue)
			38	TH 65 (Central Avenue)
Ramsey	New Brighton		39	CR 44 (Silver Lake Road)
			40	Long Lake Road, 10th Street Northwest
			41	I-35W	Signed as exits 41A (south) and 41B (north)
	Arden Hills		42B	US 10 west – Anoka	Counterclockwise end of US 10 overlap; counterclockwise exit and clockwise entrance
			42A	TH 51 (Snelling Avenue) / Hamline Avenue
			43A	Lexington Avenue	Lexington Avenue is split between Shoreview (northbound side of the street) and Arden Hills (southbound side of the street)
	Shoreview		43B	Victoria Street
			45	TH 49 (Rice Street)
	Little Canada		46	I-35E south / US 10 east – St. Paul	Clockwise end of US 10 overlap; counterclockwise end of I-35E overlap
	Vadnais Heights		47	I-35E north – Duluth	Clockwise end of I-35E overlap
	White Bear Lake/ Maplewood		48	US 61
			50	White Bear Avenue
			51	TH 120
Washington	Pine Springs		52	TH 36 – North St. Paul, Stillwater	Signed as exits 52A (west) and 52B (east)
	Oakdale		55	TH 5
			57	File:Washington County Route 10.svg CR 10 (10th Street North)
			58	I-94 – St. Paul, Madison	Signed as exits 58A (west) and 58B (east)
				I-494 south	Clockwise exit and counterclockwise entrance

References

v • d • e Auxiliary routes of Interstate 94 North Dakota: 194 (unsigned) — Minnesota: 394 • 494 • 694 — Wisconsin: 794 • 894 — Illinois: 294 — Michigan: 194