Minnesota State Highway 36

Trunk Highway 36
Route information
Maintained by Mn/DOT
Length:	21.718 mi[1] (34.952 km)
Existed:	1933[2] – present
Major junctions
West end:	I-35W at Roseville
	MN 51 at Roseville I-35E , U.S. 10 at Little Canada U.S. 61 at Maplewood MN 120 at North St. Paul , Oakdale I-694 at Oakdale , Pine Springs MN 95 at Stillwater
East end:	WIS 64 at the St. Croix River, the Minnesota — Wisconsin state line, at Stillwater, MN  — Houlton, WI
Location
Counties:	Ramsey, Washington
Highway system
Minnesota Trunk Highways Interstate US State Legislative routes ← I-35W MN 37 →

Minnesota State Highway 36 (MN 36) is a highway in Minnesota, which runs from its interchange with Interstate 35W in Roseville and continues east to its eastern terminus at the Wisconsin state line (at Stillwater), where it becomes Wisconsin Highway 64 upon crossing the St. Croix River. A portion of Highway 36 is a major freeway in suburban Minneapolis – Saint Paul.

Highway 36 is 22 miles (35 km) in length.

Route description

State Highway 36 serves as an east–west route between the cities of Roseville, Little Canada, Maplewood, North St. Paul, Oakdale, Oak Park Heights, and Stillwater.

Highway 36 is a limited-access freeway from its interchange with Interstate 35W in Roseville eastward to Interstate 35E in Little Canada, and about five miles beyond. The freeway section ends at its signal-controlled intersection with Minnesota State Highway 120 in North St. Paul. Highway 36 becomes an at-grade expressway at this point. For about four miles outside of the I-494 / 694 loop, the expressway section of Highway 36 has a speed limit of 65 MPH (105 km/h).

The intersection of Highway 36 and Margaret Street at North St. Paul in February 2003.

Highway 36 crosses the St. Croix River via the historic Stillwater Lift Bridge between Stillwater and Houlton, WI. The route becomes Wisconsin Highway 64 upon crossing the bridge into Wisconsin. The current bridge, located in downtown Stillwater, reached its practical capacity in 1990. A replacement bridge, which will reroute Highway 36 south of downtown Stillwater, is scheduled to open in 2016. The existing bridge will be preserved.^[3]

History

State Highway 36 was authorized in 1933. The route was paved by 1940.

From 1934 to 1982, Highway 36 used to be significantly longer. The route had turned southward along I-35W, Washington Avenue, and Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis; and connected to what is now State Highway 77 (Cedar Avenue Freeway). In Eagan, old Highway 36 had intersected the Chicago and North Western Railway at-grade, at the Nicols Station Crossing.^[4] The section of old Highway 36 that ran along Washington and Cedar Avenues in Minneapolis was turned back to county maintenance in 1982, and is currently a section of Hennepin County Road 152.

Highway 36 did not originally reach the Wisconsin state line at the St. Croix River. Part of old State Highway 212 in Oak Park Heights and Stillwater was renumbered as Highway 36 in 1983. This section of present-day Highway 36 still carries the old Highway 212 mile markers.

The section of Highway 36 in North St. Paul was closed in 2007 from April to September. The highway was rebuilt to freeway standards during this time between White Bear Avenue in Maplewood and Highway 120 (Century Avenue) in North St. Paul. The changes included grade-separated intersections with no interchanges or access within North St. Paul. The full closure in 2007 allowed the project to be completed faster and at a lower cost. It also increased safety for construction workers. The Highway 36 reconstruction project in North St. Paul was completed in 2008. The budget of the project was $24 million.^[5]

An interchange was constructed in 2014 at Highway 36 and Hilton Trail in Pine Springs. The project will also include two roundabouts on Hilton Trail on either side of the highway, one at 60th Street North and another at an extension of Viking Drive.^[6]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Ramsey	Roseville	0.000	0.000	I-35W south	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		0.242– 0.427	0.389– 0.687	CR 46 south (Cleveland Avenue)
		0.480	0.772	I-35W north	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		0.829– 0.979	1.334– 1.576	CR 48 (Fairview Avenue)
		1.055– 1.218	1.698– 1.960	MN 51 (Snelling Avenue)
		1.599– 1.650	2.573– 2.655	Albert Street south Hamline Avenue via Commerce Street	Eastbound exit and entrance only
		1.837– 1.904	2.956– 3.064	CR 50 (Hamline Avenue)	Westbound exit and entrance only
		2.028– 2.451	3.264– 3.945	CR 51 (Lexington Avenue)
		2.892– 3.467	4.654– 5.580	CR 53 (Dale Street)
	Little Canada	4.122– 4.416	6.634– 7.107	CR 49 (Rice Street)	Former MN 49
		4.932– 5.310	7.937– 8.546	I-35E / US 10 – St. Paul	I-35 exits 111 A-B.
		5.600– 5.925	9.012– 9.535	CR 58 (Edgerton Street)
	Maplewood	6.634– 7.001	10.676– 11.267	US 61
		7.091– 7.502	11.412– 12.073	English Street
		8.363– 8.601	13.459– 13.842	CR 65 (White Bear Avenue)
	North St. Paul	9.305	14.975	CR 68 (McKnight Road)
		9.988	16.074	Margaret Street	Westbound exit only
Ramsey–Washington county line	North St. Paul–Oakdale line	10.463	16.839	MN 120 (Century Avenue)	End of limited access freeway
Washington	Oakdale	11.260	18.121	CSAH 35 (Hadley Avenue)
	Pine Springs	11.538– 12.006	18.569– 19.322	I-694	I-694 exits 52A-B.
		12.296– 12.623	19.788– 20.315	CSAH 29 (Hilton Trail)	Interchange
	Grant	16.721	26.910	CSAH 15 north (Manning Avenue)
	Oak Park Heights	17.229– 17.840	27.727– 28.711	CSAH 5 / CSAH 15 south (Stillwater Boulevard)	Interchange
		20.393	32.819	MN 95 (St. Croix Trail)	South end of MN 95 overlap; interchange
	Stillwater	20.517	33.019	MN 95 (St. Croix Trail)	North end of MN 95 overlap
	St. Croix River		20.525– 20.535	33.032– 33.048	Stillwater Lift Bridge Minnesota-Wisconsin state line Continues as WIS 64
	1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

Route map: Bing / Google

*Adam Froehlig (January 6, 2004). State Highway 36 (photos). Minnesota State Highway Endings. Accessed August 28, 2004.