Minnesota State Highway 15

Trunk Highway 15
Route information
Maintained by Mn/DOT
Length:	154.322 mi[1] (248.357 km)
Existed:	1920 – present
Major junctions
South end:	IA 15 at Minnesota - Iowa state line
	I-90 at Fairmont MN 30 near Lewisville MN 60 at Madelia U.S. 14 , MN 68 at New Ulm MN 19 at Winthrop U.S. 212 near Brownton MN 7 , MN 22 at Hutchinson U.S. 12 at Dassel MN 24 , MN 55 at Kimball I-94 at St. Cloud MN 23, CR 75 at St. Cloud
North end:	U.S. 10 at Sauk Rapids Twp.
Location
Counties:	Martin, Watonwan, Brown, Nicollet, Sibley, McLeod, Meeker, Stearns, Benton
Highway system
Minnesota Trunk Highways Interstate US State Legislative routes ← US 14 MN 16 →

Minnesota State Highway 15 (MN 15) is a highway in south-central and central Minnesota, which runs from Iowa Highway 15 at the Iowa state line and continues north to its northern terminus at its interchange with U.S. Highway 10 outside of Sartell and Sauk Rapids, north of St. Cloud.

Highway 15 is 154 miles (248 km) in length.

Route description

State Highway 15 serves as a north–south route between Fairmont, Madelia, New Ulm, Hutchinson, and St. Cloud in south-central and central Minnesota.

Highway 15 parallels State Highway 4 throughout its route in south-central and central Minnesota.

Flandrau State Park is located near Highway 15 in Brown County on the Cottonwood River. The park is located just south of New Ulm.^[2]

St. Cloud area

Highway 15 is a four-lane highway on the west side of St. Cloud from Interstate Highway 94 to U.S. Highway 10. Highway 15 crosses the Bridge of Hope at the Mississippi River between Sartell and Sauk Rapids.

In the 1970s, Highway 15 through the St. Cloud area was planned to be constructed as a freeway, providing a high-speed connection between I-94 and U.S. 10. However, funding fell short of completing the freeway beyond Highway 23 / County Road 75 (2nd Street South). As a result, it was eventually decided that right-of-way needed to build interchanges would be sold off so the remaining segment of Highway 15 across the Mississippi River, connecting to U.S. 10, could be built. Therefore, from 2nd Street South to U.S. 10, the highway is currently built as an expressway with signalized intersections.^[3] As of now, Highway 15 is able to serve traffic, with stretches posted at a 60 mph (97 km/h) speed limit. However, continuing increases in traffic in the St. Cloud area will require the highway to be eventually converted to a freeway in the long term (post 2030).

History

State Highway 15 was authorized in 1920, 1933, and 1950.

The section of Highway 15 between New Ulm and the Iowa state line was originally Minnesota Constitutional Route 15, dating back to 1920.

The section of Highway 15 between St. Cloud and Kimball was originally part of Minnesota Constitutional Route 24.

The middle section of Highway 15 was authorized in 1933, the northernmost section in 1950. This northerly section was originally part of old State Highway 152 and was routed through downtown St. Cloud. Now, it bypasses central St. Cloud to the west side of town.

By 1940, only two short gravel sections of Highway 15 remained, both paved by 1953.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Martin	​	0.000	0.000	Iowa 15	Continuation into Iowa
	Fairmont			I-90 Bus.	Southern end of BL 90 overlap
		12.351	19.877	I-90	Interchange; northern end of BL 90 overlap
Watonwan	Antrim Township	27.276	43.896	MN 30 east	Southern end of MN 30 overlap
	Fieldon Township	33.380– 33.442	53.720– 53.820	MN 30 west / MN 60 west	Interchange; northern end of MN 30 overlap; southern end of MN 60 overlap
	Madelia Township	37.513– 37.559	60.371– 60.445	CSAH 9	Interchange
		38.776	62.404	CSAH 3	Interchange
		39.201	63.088	MN 60 east	Interchange; northern end of MN 60 overlap
Brown	Linden Township	45.354	72.990	MN 257
	Cottonwood Township	54.635	87.927	MN 68 east	Southern end of MN 68 overlap
	New Ulm	58.862	94.729	US 14 west / MN 68 west	Northern end of MN 68 overlap; southern end of US 14 overlap
				Front Street	Interchange
Nicollet	Courtland Township	60.252	96.966	US 14 east	Northern end of US 14 overlap
Sibley	Winthrop	76.546	123.189	MN 19
McLeod	Sumter Township	89.155	143.481	US 212
	Hutchinson	101.288	163.007	MN 7 / MN 22
Meeker	Dassel	115.079	185.202	US 12
	Kingston Township	126.028	202.822	MN 24	Southern end of MN 24 overlap
Stearns	Kimball	131.529	211.675	MN 55 / MN 24	Northern end of MN 24 overlap
	St. Cloud	145.059	233.450	I-94	Interchange
		149.070	239.905	MN 23 west / CSAH 75 east (2nd Street South)	Southern end of MN 23 and CR 75 overlap
		149.314	240.298	MN 23 east / CSAH 75 west	Northern end of MN 23 and CR 75 overlap
	St. Cloud–Sartell city line	151.670	244.089	CR 120	Diverging diamond interchange, converted from existing intersection on October 17, 2013[4]
Mississippi River		153.940– 154.263	247.742– 248.262	Bridge of Hope
Benton	Sauk Rapids	152.929	246.115	CSAH 33 (Benton Drive)	Interchange
	Sauk Rapids Township	154.322	248.357	US 10	Partial interchange: MN 15 north enters US 10 west; MN 15 south enters from US 10 east
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

Route map: Bing / Google

1. "Statewide Trunk Logpoint Listing" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Transportation. November 6, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
2. "Flandrau State Park". Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
3. Minnesota Department of Transportation. "Project Study: Highway 15 - St. Cloud Metro". District 3 Local News & Project Studies. Archived from the original on 2007-10-16. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
4. "Hwy 15/CR 120 diverging diamond interchange opens Oct. 17" (Press release). Minnesota Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 17, 2013.