Interstate 90 in Minnesota

Interstate 90
American Veterans Memorial Highway
I-90 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MnDOT
Length	275.70 mi[1] (443.70 km)
Major junctions
West end	I-90 at the South Dakota state line
Major intersections	US 75 at Luverne US 59 / MN 60 at Worthington US 71 at Jackson US 169 at Blue Earth I-35 near Albert Lea US 218 at Austin US 63 at Stewartville US 52 near Rochester US 14 / US 61 near La Crescent
East end	I-90 at the Wisconsin state line
Location
Counties	Rock, Nobles, Jackson, Martin, Faribault, Freeborn, Mower, Olmsted, Winona
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Minnesota Trunk Highways Interstate US State Legislative routes ← MN 89 → MN 91

Interstate 90 (I-90) in the U.S. state of Minnesota runs for 276 miles (444 km) across the southern side of the state, parallel to the Iowa state line. The route connects the cities of Worthington, Albert Lea, Austin, and Rochester. The city of Winona is also in close proximity to I-90, with about 10 miles (16 km) between the Interstate and the city.

Route description[]

I-90 enters the state from South Dakota near Beaver Creek. This part of Minnesota has flat to gently rolling terrain and is the beginnings of corn belt farmland. The flat terrain is often subject to blowing and drifting snow in colder months, and the western portions of the highway are closed multiple times each winter.

Rock County, where I-90 enters Minnesota, is one of the only counties in the state lacking a natural lake. The change from semi-arid to a wetter climate happens slowly moving eastbound on I-90 through southern Minnesota. The route passes through the cities of Luverne, Adrian, Worthington, Jackson, Fairmont, and Blue Earth. I-90 has an interchange with I-35 at Albert Lea.

East of the city of Austin, I-90 changes direction slightly and heads towards Rochester, and the route enters a much more hilly landscape. This is the driftless area of southeast Minnesota. Unlike the rest of the state, where the most recent glaciations left terrain that is either flat or rolling under a deposit of glacial till, this area escaped the most recent glaciation. The bedrock to the top of the I-90 road cuts is noticeable at this point. The other notable feature of this area are deep, steep valleys cut by water that poured through this area as the ice cap melted.

I-90 drops into the scenic Mississippi River valley just west of Dresbach. The carriageways split apart as they descend, and they rejoin west of the junction with U.S. Highway 61. I-90 then parallels the Mississippi River before turning east and crossing the Dresbach Bridge over the River into Wisconsin.

Dresbach Bridge crossing the Mississippi River from Minnesota

I-90 is atypical in that just across the Minnesota–Wisconsin state line, (immediately west of the community of Dakota) the median is wide enough that farms exist between the road beds.^[2]

Legally, the Minnesota section of Interstate 90 is defined as unmarked Legislative Route 391 in the Minnesota Statutes. Interstate 90 is not marked with this legislative number along the actual highway.

History[]

Golden Spike Rest Area near the I-90 midpoint

Interstate 90 in Minnesota was authorized as part of the original interstate network in 1956. The first section of I-90 in Minnesota constructed was the bypass of Austin in 1961.^[3] The wayside rest area near Blue Earth, Minnesota, is where the east-building I-90 and west-building I-90 teams linked up in 1978, thus completing construction in Minnesota and joining the 3,099.07 miles of the interstate.^[4] Plaques dedicating the pavement completion and describing the significance of this segment are on display at the rest area.^[5] Since being overlaid with bituminous paving in 2006,^[6] the original four-foot-wide (1.2 m) gold colored cement concert line marking the completion of I-90 has been replaced with gold paint on just the shoulder portions of the roadway at the same location.

I-90 in Minnesota closely follows the route of old U.S. Highway 16 over most of its route except from just east of Austin, where I-90 turns toward Rochester and is constructed on a new alignment not previously covered by a highway. The section of I-90 east of Rochester was constructed just south of U.S. Highway 14 and south of the city of Winona.

I-90 served as a replacement for old U.S. 16 between the South Dakota state line and I-90's interchange with present-day State Highway 16 at Dexter.

Exit list[]

County	Location	mi[7]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Rock	​	0.000	0.000		I-90 west – Sioux Falls	Continuation into South Dakota
	​	1.057	1.701	1	MN 23 / CSAH 17 – Jasper, Pipestone
	Beaver Creek	3.895	6.268	3	CSAH 4 – Beaver Creek	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		5.074	8.166	5	CSAH 6 – Beaver Creek, Hills
	Luverne	12.479	20.083	12	US 75 – Luverne, Rock Rapids	Also access to Pipestone
	Magnolia	18.483	29.746	18	CSAH 3 – Magnolia, Kanaranzi
Nobles	Adrian	26.620	42.841	26	MN 91 – Adrian, Lake Wilson	Also access to Ellsworth, Lismore
	Rushmore	33.707	54.246	33	CSAH 13 – Rushmore, Wilmont
	Worthington	42.255	68.003	42	I-90 BL east / CSAH 25 – Worthington, Wilmont	Road from exit into Wilmont was formerly MN 266
		43.739	70.391	43	US 59 – Worthington, Slayton	Also access to Fulda
		45.148	72.659	45	I-90 BL west / MN 60 – Windom	Also access to Sioux City
	​	47.796	76.920	47	CSAH 53	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Nobles–Jackson county line	​	50.738	81.655	50	MN 264 / CSAH 1 – Brewster, Round Lake
Jackson	​	57.728	92.904	57	CSAH 9 – Heron Lake, Okabena
	​	64.767	104.232	64	MN 86 – Lakefield, Spirit Lake
	Jackson	73.813	118.791	73	US 71 – Jackson, Windom, Spirit Lake
	Alpha	80.083	128.881	80	CSAH 29 – Alpha
Martin	Sherburn	87.309	140.510	87	MN 4 – Sherburn, St. James, Trimont, Estherville
	Welcome	93.675	150.755	93	MN 263 / CSAH 27 – Welcome, Ceylon
	Fairmont	99.807	160.624	99	I-90 BL east / CSAH 39 – Fairmont
		102.053	164.238	102	I-90 BL west / MN 15 – Madelia, Fairmont	Also access to Armstrong, Truman
	Granada	107.202	172.525	107	CSAH 53 – Granada, East Chain	Road from exit into Granada was formerly MN 262
Faribault	Guckeen	113.272	182.294	113	CSAH 1 – Guckeen, Huntley
	Blue Earth	119.909	192.975	119	US 169 – Blue Earth, Mankato, Winnebago, Elmore	Green Giant
	​	128.538	206.862	128	MN 254 south / CSAH 17 – Easton, Frost
	​	134.546	216.531	134	MN 253 south / CSAH 21 – Minnesota Lake, Bricelyn
	​	138.630	223.103	138	MN 22 – Wells, Kiester
Freeborn	Alden	146.292	235.434	146	MN 109 / CSAH 6 – Alden, Mankato
	Albert Lea	154.739	249.028	154	MN 13 to US 69 – Albert Lea, Waseca
		157.826	253.996	157	CSAH 22 – Albert Lea
		159.740	257.077	159	I-35 – Albert Lea, Des Moines, Minneapolis, St. Paul	Signed as exits 159A (south) and 159B (north); I-35 exits 13A-B
	Hayward	163.705	263.458	163	CSAH 26 – Hayward
	Oakland	166.321	267.668	166	CSAH 46 (Oakland Road) – Petran, Oakland
Mower	Austin	175.488	282.421	175	I-90 BL east / MN 105 / CSAH 46 / Oakland Avenue
		177.188	285.156	177	US 218 north / 14th Street NW – Owatonna	West end of US 218 overlap
		177.872	286.257	178A	4th Street NW
		178.506	287.278	178B	6th Street NE
		179.148	288.311	179	11th Drive NE
		179.741	289.265	180A	I-90 BL west / Oakland Place	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		180.024	289.721	180B	US 218 south / 21st Street Northeast	East end of US 218 overlap
		180.500	290.487	181	28th Street NE
	​	183.562	295.414	183	MN 56 – Brownsdale, Rose Creek
	​	187.338	301.491	187	CSAH 20
	​	189.584	305.106	189	CSAH 13 – Elkton
	Dexter	193.048	310.681	193	MN 16 – Dexter, Grand Meadow, Spring Valley, Preston
Olmsted	​	205.054	330.002	205	CSAH 6
	Stewartville	209.270	336.787	209	US 63 / MN 30 – Stewartville, Rochester	Signed as exits 209A (south/east) and 209B (north/west)
	Rochester	217.620	350.225	218	US 52 – Chatfield, Rochester	Also access to Twin Cities; Chatfield only appears on eastbound signage, Rochester only appears on westbound signage
	Eyota	223.606	359.859	224	MN 42 north / CSAH 7 – Eyota
	Dover	228.572	367.851	229	CSAH 10 – Dover
Winona	St. Charles	232.291	373.836	233	MN 74 – St. Charles, Chatfield
	​	242.061	389.559	242	CSAH 29 – Lewiston
	​	249.103	400.892	249	MN 43 south – Rushford	West end of MN 43 overlap
	Winona	252.059	405.650	252	MN 43 north – Winona	East end of MN 43 overlap
	​	257.692	414.715	258	MN 76 south – Houston
	Nodine	266.017	428.113	267	CSAH 12 – Nodine
	​	270.288	434.986	269	US 14 west / US 61 north / Great River Road north – Winona	Westbound access to US 14 west/US 61 north; west end of US 14 / US 61 overlap; eastbound exit via exit 270
	Dakota	271.232	436.506	270	To US 14 west / US 61 north – Dakota	US 14 and US 61 signed eastbound only; westbound entrance via exit 269
	Dresbach	272.663– 272.681	438.809– 438.838	273	Dresbach	Signed as exits 273A (first exit) and 273B (second exit) eastbound
	La Crescent	275.243	442.961	276	US 14 east / US 61 south / Great River Road south – La Crescent, La Crosse	East end of US 14 / US 61 overlap
Mississippi River		275.701	443.698	I-90 Mississippi River Bridge
					I-90 east – Tomah	Continuation into Wisconsin
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References[]

Route map:

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interstate 90 in Minnesota.

*Steve Riner Details of Routes 76 to 100. Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Accessed January 12, 2009.

Interstate 90
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