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Interstate 35W Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Maintained by Mn/DOT
Length:	41.778 mi[1] (67.235 km)
South end:	I-35 / I-35E in Burnsville
Major junctions:	I-94 in Minneapolis MN 280 in Roseville
North end:	I-35 / I-35E in Columbus
Minnesota State Highways < I-35E MN 36 >

Interstate 35W (I-35W), an Interstate Highway in Minnesota, is the western route of Interstate 35. I-35 splits into two branch routes: I-35W, which serves Minneapolis, and I-35E, which serves St. Paul.

Traveling north, I-35 splits at Burnsville, and the I-35W branch runs north for 39 miles (63 km), carrying its own separate sequence of exit numbers. It runs through Minneapolis before rejoining with I-35E to re-form I-35 in Columbus. It supplanted sections of U.S. Highway 8 north of Minneapolis and US 65 south of the city that have since been removed from the U.S. highway system.

During the early years of the Interstate Highway System, branching Interstates with directional suffixes were common. On every other interstate, these directional suffixes have been phased out by designating the suffixed routes with a loop or spur designation. In the case of I-35, since neither branch is clearly the main route and both branches return to a unified interstate beyond the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the AASHTO committees have allowed the suffixes to remain. A similar split on I-35 continues to exist in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in Texas, for similar reasons as the I-35 split in the Twin Cities. The Twin Cities and Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex splits on I-35 are the only suffixed directional splits remaining in the Interstate Highway System.

Route description

From the southern terminus of I-35 at Burnsville, I-35W maintains northward with two lanes and adds a third lane at Burnsville Parkway. It then crosses the Minnesota River into Bloomington. At the Bloomington-Richfield border it has a cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 494 and eliminates a lane. I-35W continues north into Richfield where it turns east and joins with TH 62 for about 1/4 mile in what is commonly known as the Crosstown Commons. The two routes split as two lanes of I-35W turn north toward downtown Minneapolis where it adds back a third lane and then later a fourth lane at the East 46th Street on-ramp.

The highway swerves slightly northeast immediately south of downtown to avoid the Washburn-Fair Oaks Mansion District. Two lanes then split north onto former Highway 65 which exits into downtown. The two right-hand lanes of I-35W curve a sharp right east where it runs side by side with Interstate 94 for less than a mile, allowing drivers to exchange highways. Here, the interchange with Interstate 94 does not have direct access for southbound I-35W to eastbound I-94 or westbound I-94 to northbound I-35W. Drivers must use Cedar Avenue and Washington Avenue to make these connections.

I-35W completes its eastern loop around downtown, crosses the Mississippi River on the new St. Anthony Falls bridge and winds northeast out of Northeast Minneapolis. Here it passes through industrial areas near the cities of Roseville, St. Anthony, Lauderdale, and Arden Hills.

I-35W meets I-694 at New Brighton in a cloverleaf. US 10 joins the route one mile (1.6 km) north of that interchange and the two run concurrently for another mile before US 10 turns westward. It passes next to the Twin Cities Ordnance Plant and again turns northeastward through the suburbs of Mounds View, Lexington, Blaine, Circle Pines, and Lino Lakes. It re-forms with I-35E into I-35 near Forest Lake in Columbus.

I-35W carries its own set of exit numbers while I-35E continues the I-35 exit numbers.

Access between I-35W and I-35E is done via circulator highways 494, 94, and 694 though many trunk and county highways especially near the downtown cores offer direct access between the two.

Legally, the route of I-35W is defined as part of Route 394 in Minnesota Statutes § 161.12(2),^[2] but is not signed as such.

History

Flooding

I-35W is prone to heavy-rain event flooding in several areas, intersecting both natural habitats including the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and dense urban areas through Minneapolis (see Twin Cities climate). In the great 1965 Minnesota River flood, the highway was under water in the flood plain wetlands south of the Minnesota River bridge.^[3][4] Dikes have been constructed and the highway road has been raised since then.^[5] The storm sewer system under I-35W in the urban core of south Minneapolis has also been cited as a place prone to flash floods during rain events. Improvements continue to be made to this area as part of future projects.^[6][7]

Minnesota River crossing

When the Minnesota River bridge was completed in 1960 it was two-lanes in each direction. I-35W at the time only extended as far south as Highway 13 in Burnsville. Improvements were made in 1984 to redeck and widen the bridge but subsoil problems found at the north end resulted in the new lanes being temporarily closed. In 1989, the lanes were opened as HOV when the Minnesota Department of Transportation expanded the north approach to carry the additional traffic.^[8][8][9]

Mississippi River crossing

On Wednesday, August 1, 2007, the I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis, collapsed into the Mississippi River around 6:05pm CDT. The metal arch bridge had a length of approximately 1,900 feet (580 m) and a roadway height of over 100 feet (30 m) above the river. The bridge connected Minneapolis southwest of the Mississippi River to Southeast Minneapolis and served residents in the northern suburbs of the metro area.^[10][11][12] Due to the collapse I-35W was temporarily detoured through eastbound I-94 to northbound Highway 280 where it meets up with I-35W in Lauderdale.

The replacement I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge was built in less than a year and opened on September 18, 2008 at 5:00am CDT, three months ahead of schedule.^[13][14][15]

Future

Access Project

The Interstate 35W Access Project proposes to add and reconfigure ramps roughly from Franklin Avenue to 45th Street. Some proposed changes include relocating the 35th/36th Street ramps to 38th Street, adding new ramps at Lake Street, adding a northbound exit to 28th Street and reconstruct or widen roads to accommodate new ramps. For example, at Lake Street, there is only one off-ramp which comes from the south and an on-ramp going south. Federal funding was appropriated^[16] but the project has been controversial.^[17]

Crosstown Commons

A pre-construction photo of the Crosstown Commons junction. The two left lanes are I-35W northbound, while Highway 62 enters via the ramp on the right.

The Crosstown Commons is one of the most congested traffic interchanges in Minnesota. While it is sometimes referred to as an intersection, it is a one-mile (1.6 km) merger or overlap of I-35W and Minnesota State Highway 62. The layout is not a typical intersection: there is only a single level of roadbed and it creates a dogleg in I-35W. This shared right-of-way "intersection" for MN 62 and I-35W has been a topic of political debate for many years. There are only six lanes on the commons and all drivers merging from one highway to the other are required to change at least one lane as they merge and then diverge again. The name comes from the fact that HWY 62 is known as the Crosstown Highway.

The project to improve the intersection began in May 2007, after bids were received in April. The new interchange will feature three through-lanes for I-35W in both directions, ending at 42nd Street, and two separate through-lanes for the Crosstown in each direction, eliminating the need to weave across traffic. The cost of correcting the deficiencies in that short stretch of highway was estimated to be $285 million.^[18][19]

In 2004, the City of Minneapolis threatened to withhold municipal consent for the project unless new bus lanes and bus stations were included.^[20] Lake Street currently has a bus station at grade with I-35W on both sides. Eventually the project was altered to include the desired additional bus access. The bid was won by the Ames, Lunda, and Schafer consortium for $288 million. The project will include 25 new bridges, 63 lane-miles of highway, and will expand the total roadway width from 6 lanes to 12 lanes at Lyndale Avenue. The bridges will be cast in Coates, Minnesota and trucked in for on-site erection. The new design will include transit/HOV lanes and is scheduled to be completed in 2010.^[21]

I-35W Bus Rapid Transit

The proposed I-35W Busway would run from the southern suburb of Lakeville to downtown Minneapolis on I-35W, passing through Burnsville, Bloomington, and Richfield.^[22][23] Current plans call for a center high-occupancy toll lane or price-dynamic shoulder lane, for the exclusive use of buses, high-occupancy vehicles, and drivers willing to pay the dynamically priced toll, running from Lakeville to downtown Minneapolis.^[24][25]

Exit list

County	Location	Mile[1]	#	Destinations	Notes
Dakota	Burnsville	0.000		I-35 south	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		0.603	1	CR 42 (Crystal Lake Road)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		2.328	2	Burnsville Parkway
		2.693-2.707	3	MN 13 – Shakopee	Signed as exits 3A (north) and 3B (south)
		3.166-3.196	4A	Cliff Road (CR 5, CR 32)
		4.153-4.427	4B	Black Dog Road
Hennepin	Bloomington	5.225-5.251	5	106th Street
		6.236	6	CR 1 (98th Street)
		6.766	7A	94th Street
		7.299	7B	90th Street
		8.294	8	82nd Street
		8.747-8.758	9	I-494 / MN 5	Signed as exits 9A (east) and 9B (west)
	Richfield
		9.008	9C	76th Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		10.248-10.276	10A	CR 53 (66th Street)
		10.417-19.966	10B	MN 62 west / 58th Street (TH 121 north)	South end of TH 62 overlap
		10.995-11.019	11A	Lyndale Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		11.532	11B	MN 62 east	North end of TH 62 overlap
	Minneapolis	11.867-11.891	12A	60th Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		12.518	12B	Diamond Lake Road
		13.632	13	46th Street (CR 46)
		14.880-15.005	14	35th Street, 36th Street
		15.484-15.627	15	31st Street, Lake Street (CR 3)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		16.194-16.892	16A	I-94 west / Downtown exits	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; former TH 65
		17.4	16B	I-94 east – St. Paul	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		17.652-17.697	17A	MN 55 (Hiawatha Avenue)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		17.378	17B	I-94 west / 11th Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		17.968-18.134	17C	3rd Street (CR 122), Washington Avenue (CR 152) - University of Minnesota
		18.374-18.736	St. Anthony Falls Bridge
		18.804-18.881	18	University Avenue (CR 36), 4th Street Southeast
		19.564	19	East Hennepin Avenue (CR 52)
		20.535-20.779	21A	CR 27 (Stinson Boulevard) / CR 88 (New Brighton Boulevard)
		19.641	21B	Johnson Street
		21.518-21.552	22	To MN 280 / Industrial Boulevard, St. Anthony Boulevard
Ramsey	Roseville	21.955-22.298	23A	MN 280	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		22.619-23.1	23B	MN 36 / Cleveland Avenue (CR 46)
		23.513-23.547	24	County Road C (CR 23), Cleveland Avenue (CR 46)
		24.578	25A	County Road D (CR 19)
	New Brighton
		24.920	25B	MN 88	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Arden Hills and New Brighton	26.090	26	County Road E2 (CR 46, CR 73)
		26.760-26.776	27	I-694	Signed as exits 27A (east) and 27B (west)
		27.594	28A	CR 96
	Arden Hills and Mounds View	28.250-28.481	28B	US 10 east – St. Paul	South end of US 10 overlap; southbound exit and northbound entrance
		28.250-25.481	28B	CR 10 west / County Road H (CR 9)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		28.734	28C	To CR 10 west / County Road H (CR 9)	No northbound exit
		29.588-29.608	29	County Road I (CR 3)
	Shoreview and Mounds View
		30.134	30	US 10 west to MN 65	North end of US 10 overlap
	Shoreview and Blaine	30.733	31A	County Road J, 85th Avenue Northeast (CR 32)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Anoka
	Blaine	31.006	31B	Lake Drive (CR 23)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		32.014	32	CR 52 (95th Avenue Northeast)
		33.602	33	CR 17 (Lexington Avenue)
	Lino Lakes	36.512	36	CR 23
	Columbus	41.778		I-35 north	Northbound exit and southbound entrance

References

• Cavanaugh, Patricia (October 2006). "Politics and Freeways: Building the Twin Cities Interstate System" (PDF). University of Minnesota. http://www.cura.umn.edu/publications/Freeways.pdf.  

Auxiliary routes of Interstate 35 Texas: 635 — Oklahoma: 235 — Kansas: 135 • 235 • 335 — Kansas-Missouri: 435 • 635 — Iowa: 235 — Minnesota: 335 — Minnesota-Wisconsin • 535