User:Fredddie/U.S. Route 16 in Minnesota

Route description
US 16 spanned the entire southern tier of counties in Minnesota. It passed through three distinct geological regions over its journey. Buffalo Ridge in the southwestern part of the state is part of the Coteau des Prairies. In south-central Minnesota is the flat Minnesota River basin, which includes the Blue Earth River tributary. In the southeastern part of the state is the Driftless Area, which was untouched by glaciation during the last ice age.

US 16 entered Minnesota near Manley and intersected Trunk Highway 23 (MN 73). From there, it headed to the east-northeast toward Luverne where it met US 75. It then headed to the east through Magnolia and crossed MN 91 at Adrian. At Worthington was the convergence of four numbered highways: US 16, US 59, MN 60, and MN 266. On the Nobles–Jackson county line MN 264 served as a connection to Round Lake. Farther east, the highway intersected MN 86 south of Lakefield. A few miles later, in Jackson, US 16 briefly overlapped US 71. It then passed through Alpha and had a brief concurrency with MN 4 near Sherburn before it met MN 263 at Welcome.

US 16 continued east through Fairmont, where it had a very short concurrency with MN 15. At Imogene was a short spur route that led to Granada. Later, it passed through Blue Earth and intersected US 169. It then met consecutively numbered highways: MN 254 and MN 253, both of which headed south from US 16. A short while later, MN 22 overlapped the highway briefly. As the highway approached Albert Lea, it met MN 109 near Alden. In western Albert Lea, it met US 69, which overlapped US 16 to its northern end in the downtown area. There, it overlapped US 65 for a short while. The highway passed through a couple small towns before it entered Austin. On the western side of town, it met MN 105 and then overlapped US 218 through the downtown area. East of town, it crossed MN 56.

Between Elkton and Dexter, the highway curved to the northeast before it turned back to the east. It passed through Grand Meadow and then intersected and overlapped US 63 until an intersection with MN 74 in Spring Valley. It then met MN 80 at Wykoff. At Preston, it followed US 52 to the southeast and then turned northeast when the highways separated. Soon after in Lanesboro, it met MN 250. In Rushford and Houston, the highway overlapped MN 43 and MN 76, respectively. US 16 then intersected MN 44 in Hokah and MN 26 between there are La Crescent. In La Crescent, it met up with US 14 / US 61 and the three U.S. Highways crossed the Mississippi River into La Crosse, Wisconsin.

History

 * Auto trails
 * Southern Minnesota Air Line, except between Preston and Hokah
 * Trunk Highway System MN-9 (1920).svg
 * TH 9 entire route (1920-11-02)
 * U.S. Highway System
 * Four laning?
 * I-90 construction
 * Attempted to overlap I-90 west of Dexter (1968-06-18)
 * Only approved for completed sections
 * Manley to Worthington
 * Petran (between Albert Lea and Austin) to Dexter
 * Segment between Albert Lea and Austin onto I-90 (1971-12-03)
 * Eliminated between Rapid City, S.D., and Waubesha, Wis. (1978-06-29)
 * Only a gap in Faribault County remained