Minnesota State Highway 101

Route description

The northern section of the roadway, between Rogers and Elk River, is 6.9 miles (11.1 km) in length. This is a busy highway, well-used on weekends by Twin Cities travelers going west on Interstate 94 through Elk River and continuing north on U.S. Highway 169 to Mille Lacs Lake and other lakes in central Minnesota. This amount of use triggered Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) to build interchanges along the route and convert the portion of Highway 101 in Wright County to a full freeway. These interchanges are at County Roads 36, 37, 39, and 42. The project of converting the Wright County portion to a freeway was completed in 2008. In 2010, Mn/DOT built a new flyover ramp at the interchange of Highway 101 and Interstate 94. This ramp allows traffic connecting from westbound 94 to northbound 101 to bypass the stoplights at the interchange and the South Diamond Lake Road intersection. In 2014, the intersection at Hennepin County Rd. 144 was converted to a DDI interchange, leaving the intersection at South Diamond Lake Rd as the only intersection on Highway 101 between I-94 and U.S. 10.

State Highway 101 originally had a lot longer mileage, starting in Elk River, continuing south through Rogers, Maple Grove, Plymouth, Wayzata, Minnetonka, and Chanhassen before crossing the Minnesota River and terminating in Shakopee. Beginning in 1988, the section of State Highway 101 between Chanhassen and Rogers has been turned back to county maintenance in several stages.

The section of Highway 101 in Chanhassen is still active as a state highway. However, this part of the highway has also had some turnbacks. State Highway 101 used to cross the Minnesota River and enter downtown Shakopee, then turned east and proceeded just south of the Minnesota River to a junction with State Highway 13 in Savage. The new U.S. Highway 169 freeway bypass of Shakopee in 1996 meant that Highway 101 was no longer necessary to maintain as a state marked route east of downtown Shakopee. Interestingly, though, the section of old Highway 101 east of Highway 169 to Highway 13 at Savage is still maintained as a state highway, but not with a signed route number. Instead, it has the unmarked route number of Trunk Highway 901B. The 2004 Control Section Guide states that this section is considered part of the U.S. 169 / County 101 / Highway 13 interchange (at the Shakopee / Savage boundary line) and will not have a route or control section number.

All sections of old State Highway 101 that have been turned back to county maintenance since 1988 are signed as County Road 101 to maintain a unity in the eyes of the general public.

Two sections south of Rogers remain signed as State Highway 101 as of 2016: a section between Vine Hill Road in Eden Prairie and the east intersection with State Highway 5 in Chanhassen and a section between Pioneer Trail and Flying Cloud Drive in Chanhassen.

History

State Highway 101 was defined, along with many other routes, by Chapter 440 of the 1933 Minnesota Session Laws:

Legislative Route No. 187. Beginning at a point on Legislative Route No. 18 [U.S. Highway 169] at or near Elk River, thence extending in a southerly direction to a point on Legislative Route No. 117 [State Highway 13] as herein established.

The Minnesota Department of Highways (now Mn/DOT) took over maintenance of the roadway in 1934. Highway 101 began at State Highway 13 in Savage, at the intersection of Dakota Avenue and McColl Drive, and ran west on McColl Drive and Eagle Creek Boulevard to downtown Shakopee. Old Highway 101 crossed the Minnesota River with U.S. Highway 169, and crossed U.S. Highway 212 along the present day Carver County portion of Highway 101. From Shakopee to near Rogers, the original routing of Highway 101 matched the present day State Highway 101 and County Road 101 except in downtown Chanhassen, where old 101 had followed Great Plains Boulevard and 78th Street (the later State Highway 5), in downtown Wayzata, where old 101 followed LaSalle Street to Central Avenue, and on the State Highway 55 / 101 concurrency at Plymouth / Medina, which was along Old Rockford Road and Hamel Road. Instead of using old State Highway 152 (now County Road 81) into Rogers, old Highway 101 continued north on Brockton Avenue (now County 13) and crossed the Crow River at its mouth, then heading northwest and north on River Road and Parrish Avenue to the Parrish Avenue Bridge over the Mississippi River. Upon crossing the bridge, old Highway 101 entered Elk River and immediately ended at U.S. Highway 10 and U.S. Highway 169 via short pieces of Main Street and Jackson Avenue.

The U.S. Highway 169 bypass east of downtown Elk River was built in 1961, and old Highway 101 was extended north on old Highway 169 (Jackson Avenue) to the north end of the bypass. Later, in 1968, the bypass was extended south to old State Highway 152 in Rogers, and Highway 101 was realigned to be concurrent with old Highway 152 and use the new bypass from Rogers north to Elk River. The original alignment of Highway 101 was turned over to the counties (renumbered as County 13 / Brockton Avenue in northern Hennepin County and County 42 in Wright County), and the extension north of downtown Elk River was renumbered State Highway 201 until 1987. Highway 101 was realigned to the present day County Road 101 between Savage and downtown Shakopee in 1940. In 1964, the State Highway 5 bypass of downtown Chanhassen was built, but Highway 101 remained on the old route until the 1980s, when it was moved to the bypass. The relocation of State Highway 55 at Plymouth / Medina, and with it the brief Highway 55 / 101 concurrency, came in 1942 west of and 1954 east of the intersection with the old alignment.

Major intersections

The following list includes the major intersections of both present day MN 101 and CR 101.