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| Trunk Highway 5 | |||||||||
| Length: | 86.194 mi (139 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1934 | ||||||||
| West end: |   MN 19 , MN 22 at Gaylord |
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| Major junctions: |
.svg){kind=small} U.S. 212 at Norwood Young America MN 284 at Waconia MN 41 at Chanhassen MN 101 at Chanhassen I-494 , U.S. 212 at Eden Prairie I-494 near the Minnesota River MN 55 at Fort Snelling I-35E at St. Paul I-694 at Oakdale |
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| East end: |  MN 36 and Washington County Road 5at Stillwater |
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>Minnesota State Highway 5 is a highway in Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with State Highways 19 and 22 in Gaylord and continues east and northeast to its eastern terminus at its interchange with State Highway 36 and Washington County Road 5 in Stillwater. The route passes through downtown Saint Paul.
Highway 5 is 86 miles (138 km) in length.
Route description
State Highway 5 serves as a northeast-southwest route between Gaylord, Norwood Young America, Chanhassen, Eden Prairie, Bloomington, Richfield, downtown Saint Paul, and Stillwater. The highway is officially marked as an east-west route by its highway shields from beginning to end.
The route passes through the counties of:
Part of Highway 5 is designed as a freeway near the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Just to the west of that segment, Highway 5 runs concurrent with I-494 for 11 miles (18 km) between its junction with I-494 near the Airport and the Minnesota River to its junction with I-494 and U.S. 212 in Eden Prairie.
Highway 5 is considered a significant transit corridor, known as the Riverview Corridor, to downtown Saint Paul from the airport and points farther south and west. There has been discussion of creating a bus rapid transit or light rail line along the highway, much like the Hiawatha Line currently runs rails into downtown Minneapolis along State Highway 55.
Highway 5 is also known as Fort Road and West 7th Street in the city of St. Paul.
45 miles (72 km) of Highway 5 is officially designated the Augie Mueller Memorial Highway. This designation is signed from its intersection with State Highway 101 in Chanhassen southwesterly to its intersection with State Highway 19 in Gaylord.
Legally, State Highway 5 is defined as legislative routes 45, 102, 109, 111, and 121 in the Minnesota Statutes. The route is not marked with those numbers.
History
State Highway 5 was authorized in 1934.
The route was completely paved by 1953.
Highway 5 was slated for expansion in 1956, the construction threatened to demolish the remains of Historic Fort Snelling, near the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. As a result of public outcry, the highway was built in a short tunnel underneath the Fort Snelling site, sparing the fort from destruction. This effort led to archaeological research into the remains of Fort Snelling and its eventual rebuilding as a state park.
From 1934 to 1982, the eastern section of the highway between Saint Paul and Stillwater was originally marked as Minnesota 212, it once reached U.S. 212 in Saint Paul, but that segment was re-numbered as an extension of Highway 5 circa 1983.
In 2007, new gore signs placed on France Avenue in Bloomington at its interchange with I-494 do not mention the Highway 5 concurrency, whereas the older signs they replaced did. It is not yet known if this signifies a future truncation of Highway 5.
References
*Steve Riner (November 20, 2004). Details of Routes 1-25. Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Accessed November 24, 2004.
- Adam Froehlig (December 20, 2002). Minnesota Highway 5. MN Highway Endings. Accessed November 24, 2004.
- Institute for Minnesota Archaeology (June 29, 1999). Old Fort Snelling, From Site to Story. Accessed March 26, 2006.
- Mn/DOT Trunk Highway Log Point files, updated July 2006
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