Transportation in Minnesota

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The Stone Arch Bridge and lock at St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis

Transportation in Minnesota is primarily centered on the Twin Cities metropolitan area, where 60% of its residents live; it is overseen by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, a cabinet-level agency of the state government.

1 Ground transportation
2 Water transportation
3 Air transportation
4 References

[edit] Ground transportation

Minnesota State Highway 62

Almost all north-south through railroads and long-distance four-lane expressways in Minnesota go to or through the Twin Cities. Most east-west through routes do also, except for a northern corridor from the North Dakota border to the port of Duluth/Superior composed of two BNSF rail routes and U.S. Route 2, and a corridor across southern Minnesota from South Dakota to the Mississippi River and Wisconsin including I-90, Minnesota State Highway 60, U.S. Route 14, and the DM&E Railroad.

[edit] Highway system

Minnesota's major Interstate Highways are I-35, I-90, and I-94. I-535 is a spur route from Duluth to Superior, Wisconsin. In the Twin Cities I-35 splits into I-35W through Minneapolis and I-35E through St. Paul. I-94 has one spur, Interstate 394 from Minneapolis to the western suburbs, and two loop routes, Interstate 494 and Interstate 694, which form a beltway around the Twin Cities.

The interstate highways are part of a class of routes know as interregional corridors, which also includes U.S. Routes 2, 8, 10, 14, 52, 53, 61, 63, 169, and 212 and Minnesota State Highways 23, 34, 36, 60, 210, and 371.^[1] Interregional corridors represent two percent of the state's highways but account for one-third of all vehicle miles traveled.^[2] Less heavily traveled regional corridors include U.S. Routes 12, 59, 71, and 75, and a number of state highways.

Minnesota may be the only U.S. state with some of its highways enshrined in the state Constitution. A 1920 amendment laid out seventy routes connecting a number of cities. Today, these Constitutional Routes are made up of interstates, U.S. highways, and state highways.^[3]

Tragedy struck the state on August 1, 2007 when the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge collapsed in Minneapolis during the evening rush hour. Highway workers, 50 cars, trucks, and a school bus on the bridge plunged down into the Mississippi River, onto a freight train, and the bridge's debris. This span carried an average of 141,000 vehicles per day on its eight lanes across the river.^[4]

[edit] Intracity bus service

An articulated bus in Minneapolis

Bus transit systems exist in Rochester, Winona, Duluth, St. Cloud, East Grand Forks, Mankato, Moorhead and the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The last is served by the Metro Transit system, which has an extensive system with over 200 routes. Some metro areas have opted to create their own bus systems, such as Southwest Metro Transit and the Minnesota Valley Transportation Authority.

[edit] Light rail

Image:Wrap advertising light rail.jpg

Hiawatha light-rail vehicle in Minneapolis with "wrap" advertising

Twin City Rapid Transit also operated streetcars in the Twin Cities area from the 1890s until 1954, when buses supplanted the streetcars. Light Rail in Minnesota currently consists of one line, the Hiawatha Line, operated by Metro Transit. Completed in 2004, this line runs from the Mall of America, through the MSP airport via a tunnel, and along Hiawatha Avenue into downtown Minneapolis. The line has been very successful, receiving a 65% higher ridership than expected in its first year of service.^[5]

In the future, other light rail lines may be built. The Central Corridor, which would connect downtown Minneapolis to downtown St. Paul, is in the planning stages. It may be followed by the Southwest Corridor light rail from downtown Minneapolis to the southwest metro. In 2006, a constitutional amendment was passed that required sales and use taxes on motor vehicles to fund transportation, with at least 40% dedicated to public transit.^[6]

Cedar Lake bike trail in Minneapolis

[edit] Bicycle Trails

Minnesota has more miles of bike trails than any other state,^[7] and Metro Transit buses feature bike racks for combination commuters. A number of the bike trails are rail trails, utilizing the right-of-ways originally secured for railroads.

[edit] Intercity bus lines

Intercity bus service on a skeletal network of lines is provided by Greyhound, Jefferson Lines, and Coach USA.

[edit] Heavy rail

Historical Milwaukee Road Steam engine

There are no heavy-rail commuter rail systems extant in the state, but one is in the development stages. The 82 mile (131 km) Northstar Corridor line is envisioned to connect Minneapolis with St. Cloud along the path of the BNSF Railroad. A bonding bill was signed in 2006 to build 40 miles of this route to Big Lake by 2009.^[8]

Planned or proposed light and heavy rail passenger service references:

Central Corridor, Minneapolis to St. Paul (proposed light rail line)
SouthWest Transitway, Minneapolis to St Louis Park, Hopkins, Minnetonka, and Eden Prairie (proposed light rail or transitway)
Red Rock Corridor, Commuter Rail from Minneapolis SouthEast to Hastings, via St Paul (proposed heavy rail line)
Northern Lights Express, a passenger rail line, running on BNSF tracks, between Minneapolis and Duluth.

[edit] Railroads

Major freight railroads in Minnesota include BNSF Railway, Union Pacific Railroad, Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian National Railway, and the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad. Principal ladings include coal from the Powder River Basin to ports and eastern power plants, grain and other agricultural products from farm to processors and ports, taconite (a form of iron ore) from the Iron Range in northeastern Minnesota to Lake Superior ports or on all-rail routes to steel mills, timber and forest products, and intermodal traffic.

The state is served by one intercity passenger rail line, Amtrak's Empire Builder, which stops daily in each direction at Winona, Red Wing, St. Paul, St. Cloud, Staples, and Detroit Lakes.

See also: List of Minnesota railroads

[edit] Water transportation

The lift bridge in Stillwater

Boats at Lock and Dam No. 2 on the Mississippi River near Hastings

Much of Minnesota's early transportation followed the numerous rivers and lakes. Early European explorers and settlers followed the routes used by the voyageurs in the fur trading days, and later on steamboat services operated on the principal rivers. Commercial water transportation now is limited to the shipment of bulk commodities on two routes. Barges haul grain and other products down the Mississippi River system from the ports of Minneapolis (the head of navigation), St. Paul, Red Wing and Winona on the Mississippi, and Savage (on the Minnesota River), to downstream river ports, and to ports on the Gulf of Mexico for transshipment to ocean-going cargo ships. Cargo vessels known as lakers haul grain, coal, and iron ore from the Lake Superior ports of Duluth, Superior, Two Harbors, Silver Bay, and Taconite Harbor through Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes, while ocean-going ships referred to as salties operate from the Twin Ports through the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Atlantic ocean.^[9]

[edit] Air transportation

Minnesota’s principal airport is Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), the headquarters and a major passenger and freight hub for Northwest Airlines. MSP is also a hub for Sun Country Airlines, and is served by most other domestic carriers. Large commercial jet service is also provided to and from airports at Duluth and Rochester. Scheduled commuter service is available at Bemidji, Brainerd, Hibbing, International Falls, St. Cloud, and Thief River Falls.