What's New?
December 10, 2021: I just remembered I have a web site! Two, in fact. I've started the work of updating this, which will be extensive. So far, I've made the first round of changes on the landing page and on the pages for routes 1-100, but this isn't the final word on these at all. Stay tuned.
November 14, 2010: Having found MnDOT's Legislative Route maps now posted on-line, I checked some routes that I found ambiguous, and made a couple of corrections in the route listings. Specifically, I redefined the current routing of CR-51, and modified the Legislative route assignments for U.S. 52 and MN-3.
November 7, 2010: I had to memorialize the near-completion of the old "Crosstown Commons" reconstruction by updating descriptions for I-35W and MN-62.
September 8, 2010: Chad M. of Isanti pointed out that the TH-65/CSAH 14 (old 242)interchange in Blaine is open, not still programmed for 2013 (moved up thanks to the gas tax increase, I suspect).
July 24, 2010: Corey Daubanton updated some information I had in the listings - mostly construction projects that were complete or pushed back. So I updated information on MN-23, 25, and 371; and U.S. 10 and 53. I should note his e-mail was in May and I just got it done, so sorry for the delay. I also fixed an inaccuracy on my Constitutional Route 27 description; despite the legal description, I had it ending at Little Falls and neglected to include the U.S. 10 portion.
July 17, 2010: Completed the graphics spruceup. I've changed all the 1-99 standard Minnesota route markers on the route listings, and the interstate markings as well (those original ones were ugly, I admit). Also updated the MN-101 route description a little. Also changed some of the route markings used in the history part of route descriptions to be more accurate from a temporal standpoint. For instance, U.S. 55 now has the 1950s U.S. 65 "Minn/65" marker instead of the current marker in its history section ("later marked as"). Finally, I added the route deletions from the 2010 Legislature: MN-297 at Fergus Falls and the east half of MN-332 near International Falls.
July 11, 2010: Finally sprucing up some graphics that go back to the late 1990s. I have redone the Minnesota route marker graphics using the sharper and more accurate background used on numbers 100 and up for the 1-99 series. Also, I have created new interstate route graphics. So far uploaded for I-35, 35W and 35E. These came from the AA Shield Gallery Shield Generator and are very sharp. I will also have to update the home page of the web site to provide proper credit.
April 24, 2010: Though I didn't get around to uploading it until May. I redid the "soapbox" page - I'm sure you were tired of seeing my complaint about road funding in Minnesota, so I dropped that and threw in a few route number changes I would like to see. At some point here I'll add maps to illustrate. Also, updated the construction details on the worst interchanges list, what with the Crosstown Commons near completion and U.S. 169/I-494 getting funding for a redo.
March 19, 2010: Updated information MN-101 and its new gap north of U.S. 212. Also updated this route's information north of I-94, and made minor updates to MN-120.
February 18, 2010: Adam also found that the separate loop of MN-298 into the State Academy for the Blind that had been separately authorized as LR 323 was now (according to the newest MnDOT city and county maps) marked with that trunk highway designation. I added this as a separate route and updated MN-298.
December 26, 2009: Adam Froehlig ("Froggie") reported that the east end of MN-40 was truncated in Willmar from its former terminus at U.S. 12, westward to CSAH 5 (30th St. SW). I edited this listing and also caught my I-35E listing that still had the "unweave the weave" construction project as occurring in the future.
July 3, 2009: Following correspondence with Corey (aka "Spacejunkie"), who reported that defunct MN-294 is still marked at the north end of Business U.S. 71 in Willmar, I looked at MnDOT's route log. 294 is indeed dead but the ramps are designated TH-994A pending maintenance agreements with the city. I had been working on redoing the 8xx and 9xx listings, so I completed that --- now they are complete and comprehensive --- and also updated the comment on MN-294. Also found a stale comment on removing MN-295 and 333 in the 2008 Legislature - which didn't happen because those routes are still listed in the log.
June 21, 2009: Andrew Munsch sent a photo of a U.S. 61/MN-3 sign obviously dating to the 1927-33 era. I put a link to the photo on the Constitutional Route 3 route description.
May 17, 2009: Patrick Meade called my attention to a Strib article on MnDOT's plans for MN-280. They are keeping the former surface intersections between Larpenteur and I-35W closed permanently except for a signal at Broadway that will allow NB 280 traffic to turn left. NB, no signal; SB, too bad.
May 2, 2009: Revised the "worst interchanges" list on the "Soapbox" page by moving Crosstown Commons off the list of worst --- given that reconstruction is underway --- and moving U.S. 169/I-494 from "Most Improved" back to "Worst." Also updated construction information for I-35W, I-694, and MN-610. At the same time, beginning a general review for outdated construction information or unclear phrases. And, beginning to drop the use of "duplex" for multi-numbered routes and replacing it with "concurrent" or "overlay." I will not try to document every such update on this page but will indicate most recent revision dates at the bottom of each page.
April 18, 2009: Updated listings for MN-290 and MN-293 to show their removal from the highway system as a result of legislation. These are apparently the only routes to be removed or modified in 2009.
March 17, 2009: Corrected the history of Constitutional Route 66 (it was MN-73 for one year before U.S. 59 was created) before anyone caught me. Also updated MN-16 to reflect its removal for the last mile along U.S. 14/61 into Wisconsin as reported by Andrew Munsch.
March 7, 2009: How's that for getting things done? I have added all the Constitutional Routes (1-70) to the route listings on pages 1-25, 26-50 and 51-75. I will probably be fine-tuning these over the next month to improve format, correct factual or formatting errors, and so on. I would like to also start adding Motor Trail information to these entries, so look for that in the next few months. Same thing on the New Mexico Highways page.
February 15, 2009: Beginning a major addition to the site. I have never included the Constitutional Routes that were defined in the Minnesota Constitution through the 1920 Babcock Amendment. I guess I felt the site should emphasize modern (post-1934 routes) and that adding the Constitutional Routes to the general route listings would make the pages too long. But, on my New Mexico Highways site I found information on early routes and found that putting this information in tended to complete the routes' histories. Many of the Minnesota routes are derived at least in part from the Constitutional Route of the same number. So today, I put up information on Routes 1-25. I plan to complete routes 1 through 70 by perhaps the end of March, and then I can take down a separate page where the Constitutional Routes are listed. Comments are welcome.
September 21, 2008: Changed discussion of I-35W bridge under that listing to reflect its opening. Also modified discussion of MN-280 to reflect continued closure of signalized intersections after reopening of I-35W and slightly modified discussion of temporary lane along MN-100 to reflect my observations of interchange at MN-7.
July 19, 2008: Revised listings for U.S. 212 and MN-312 to reflect opening of the new 12-mile segment of U.S. 212 from west of Chaska to Eden Prairie, and turnback of the old piece of U.S. 212 along Flying Cloud Drive.
May 26, 2008: Revised the "Soapbox" page - had to comment on the Legislature finally raising the state gas tax over Governor Pawlenty's veto. Also, cleaned up formatting on the route listing pages that had the graphic for the page index at the top out of alignment with the table below - at least on some browsers.
May 24, 2008: Added a comment to both the MN-295 and 335 listings, indicating they may have been removed by the 2008 Legislature. Trying new HTML software, you know, the kind that require you to edit the code rather than use a clunky WYSIWYG interface (oh, the horror!). So if it's a little askew bear with me.
May 4, 2008: Added a comment to the U.S. 61 listing about the upcoming replacement of the Hastings Bridge.
April 13, 2008: Updated I-35W bridge collapse information, and added comment on closure of MN-23 Mississippi River crossing (DeSoto Bridge) at St. Cloud.
January 26, 2008: Modified I-494 listing to add comment about contract for second span of Wakota Bridge being awarded (to the contractor who was fired from the original contract).
December 23, 2007: Modified I-494 information to reflect the completion of the 3-lane each way segment between MN-5 and I-394. Also, added comments to the MN-101 listing indicating that the south segment may be ready to be turned back.
December 8, 2007: Changes to listings for MN-312 and U.S. 212 to reflect the opening of the new segment of 312 (future 212). Also updated information on the I-494 Wakota Bridge.
November 4, 2007: Minor updates to the 35W description with updates on the construction of a replacement 35W bridge.
August 6, 2007: Updates to the I-35W description to correct and update bridge collapse and freeway closure information.
August 5, 2007: Modified I-35W description and MN-280 description to reflect the collapse of the Mississippi River bridge.
June 2, 2007: Added a photo of the junction of MN-244 and 120 that I took last month while visiting. Put it at the 244 listing and a link from the 120 listing. Edited I-35W and MN-62 listings to indicate the beginning of the Crosstown Commons reconstruction, as well as the "Soapbox" five worst interchanges discussion. Edited the MN-262 listing to show its removal by the 2007 Legislature. And, fixed a list of counties touched by MN-1 to add Koochiching, thanks to a comment by Patrick Meade. This shows people read this site in more detail than I'd ever imagine!
January 1, 2007: Revised the 101-149 page that I'd updated in September but inexplicably never uploaded. Now the Minnesota pages are all in the new font and route termini format. Woohoo! (Now to finish up the transition on the New Mexico pages, which there are many more of). Also cleaned up the discussion of 101 and made other minor corrections. Corrected minor errors on 1-25 page. Also note I'm starting to use exit numbers for route termini at interstate highways, which I'll add as I update route listing pages.
December 30, 2006: Revised 288-694 page to new route termini format with some minor updates.
December 24, 2006: Revised MN-100 language to reflect completion of temporary expansion in St. Louis Park area. Updated 152-218 and 219-287 pages to new route termini format, made many minor updates. Corrected a bad link on the U.S/interstate highways page to the I-335 map.
November 24, 2006: Updated the U.S. 14 listing to reflect the completion of the Janesville bypass and pending construction of the highway to Owatonna (but found it was basically accurate as written). Updated U.S. 212 and MN-312 to reflect the opening of the new future 212/current 312 freeway segment to Dell Road, and updated the construction information to provide current schedules for completion of the remaining segments.
November 18, 2006: Updated the MN-232 listing to reflect the fact that Aitkin County has withdrawn from the turnback agreement - this will remain a trunk highway. Haven't been doing more of the Minnesota reformats because I've been doing the same thing to the New Mexico pages.
September 4, 2006: I've been experimenting with replacing the clunky page heading that consists of embedded tables with a graphic (.gif) file created in another application. I already inserted it into the 1-25 page as a graphic embedded in the top row but had trouble with the 76-100 page with keeping the left (route number) column the correct width. So, I put it on top of the table and it seems to work fine. I also updated the 76-100 page to the new format and made some updates to the listings. Went back and changed the 1-25, 26-50 and 51-75 pages for a consistent format. Please note: I know the gif is a little fuzzy. I'll go back and make a sharper version. But it'll be easy to change the whole web site because I'll only have to upload it once.
August 2, 2006: Second round of updates this week, beginning to reformat route listing pages. This time, I like the change so I'll stick with it. First, changed from Times Roman to Arial and reduced the font size somewhat. Second, instead of the "To:...From:" route listing format, I've switched to "South [or West] terminus:" and "North [or East] terminus." Finally, I'm adding counties to all current listings. So far, finished 1-25, 26-50 and 51-75.
July 16, 2006: Updated links to North Dakota and South Dakota highways to reflect a move in Chris Geelhart's web sites. Cosmetic updates as well.
May 31, 2006: No work on updating the graphics. No comments from readers, either. However, I updated the Soapbox page to eliminate some old discussion and bring the construction project text up to date. Also, so far I've updated route descriptions on the 200 series routes, i.e. reflecting turnbacks of MN-242 and 294, better history on MN-280, and construction information on other routes.
January 3, 2006: Trying an experimental background color scheme on the route listing page for MN 1-25 (only). I was impressed with the crisp graphics on Chris Bessert's new WisconsinHighways.org website and thought I'd try to emulate that somewhat. I changed the left column --- where the route shields are --- to full blue and removed table cell boundaries. However, this eliminated the contrast between adjoining white cells, and so I colored alternating white cells light blue. If I stick with this, I'll need to change the background color on the route number graphics. Good idea? Bad idea? Better way to do it? Let me know.
December 26, 2005: Chris Bessert had e-mailed me to let me know my web page editor had munged the links to his Wisconsin Highways web pages, and that he'd changed the addresses. The Wisconsin links have been updated. Also did some minor informational updates to Highways 36, U.S. 75, 100, 266 among others. And updated the Links page a little.
October 2, 2005: Updated the information on routes that have had the speed limit raised from 55 mph to 60 mph (Laws), and also updated MN-371 to reflect the new expressway/freeway sections between Little Falls and Brainerd.
July 10, 2005. Andrew Munsch had advised me some time ago about the east end of MN-169 (east of Ely) originally being designated MN-221. I confirmed this and updated the MN-169 listing as well as adding a new MN-221 listing.
July 3, 2005. Added a photo, courtesy of Aaron of Minneapolis, of the Mendota Bridge to the Photo Gallery page. Also made some minor formatting changes to that page.
April 10, 2005. Corrected information on U.S. 212 freeway project across Carver and Hennepin Counties. Added a "travelogue" narrative to the descriptions of I-35 (plus -W and -E), I-90 and I-94. I had done this on my New Mexico pages and liked the look. This narrative merely describes the landscape and other observations along these routes.
March 25, 2005. Added information on 2005 turnbacks (TH-104 (part), -224 and -268). Refined the speed limit table previously updated.
March 13, 2005. Updated the speed limits page (www.steve-riner.com/mnhighways/laws.htm) to show the speed limit changes announced by MnDOT. Many two-lane highways around the state (specifics not yet determined) and some Twin Cities area freeways that are posted 55 mph will be raised to 60 mph. Although this is not a statutory limit, I thought it was significant enough to show 60 mph as a MnDOT-set limit on these roads. (Occasionally, the site is visited by someone who searched for "Minnesota Speed Limits" or something similar). When the list of routes that wil be raised is announced, I'll update that page with more specifics or post a link to the MnDOT web site.
February 6, 2005. A victim of my success, I 've overrun the 1 GB per month bandwidth permitted by my web host site. Last month, they cut me off for a few days. In the meantime, I established another domain www.highplainstraveler.info.This isn't intended to be an independent site, but rather I'm using it to hold the larger files accessed from the steve-riner.com pages in order to reduce bandwidth usage. (It's cheaper to keep two domains than to pay a monthly fee for higher bandwidth). So, today I moved the photo gallery and map pages to highplainstraveler.info. This should be mostly transparent to visitors except for the domain name displayed above, and there is full ability to move back to the steve-riner.com domain. You may note that the photos on the photo gallery page (which I've restored after over two years of inactivity) are dark, an artifact of older scanned photos. I will modify and lighten these over the next few weeks as time permits.
December 26, 2004. I had forgotten to add the partial turnback of MN-361 the last time I worked on this.
December 24, 2004. Added new "Future Construction" information to many routes, based on MnDOT 10-year highway work plan. I picked out "Major Construction" projects from this list and added them where appropriate. Also, the "Pawlenty-Molnau Transportation Package" (i.e., extensive borrowing) has moved some of these projects up, and I included that information. Specifically, this includes future construction information on routes 2, 10, 12, 14, 23, 25, 35W, 35E, 36, 52, 53, 60, 94, 100, 101, 169, 212, 371, 494, 610, and 694. Also added photo to MN-11 taken by Robb Tucker, updated 120 and 244 to show as still active routes pending their final turnback, updated MN-55 construction and turnback information, modified MN-324 to show its turnback, and a couple of other minor changes.
November 20, 2004. A snowy day here in Colorado with time to make a few updates readers had brought to my attention. Thanks, Dennis Swanson for reminding me about and listing the new interchanges along U.S. 52. Also updated information on U.S. 14 (thanks Neil Severson) where I had rendered Dodge Center as Dodge City (spending too much time in Kansas!); I-35W (thanks David Inman) and 35E, I-94; MN-100; and MN-197 (thanks Ethan Watel). I still need to post some photos sent to me, but will do so another day.
July 31, 2004. Updates! I added comments on highway funding inaction by the 2004 state legislature to the Soapbox page; minor update to laws page; modified the NM-268 listing to show its pending turnback; added some more pictures to the photo gallery; and updated the I-394 listings to indicate the pending change from a HOV to a HOT lane.
July 19, 2004. I haven't forgotten about this site, but since December I've built a New Mexico Highways Page similar to this one. Today, I revised the page to show my new e-mail address.
December 25, 2003. I've actually made some minor revisions during this interim but not changed this page. Today I revised the home page (new color, new opening logo). I revised MN-60 (minor change to "improvements" and MN-61 (new photos). Added photo of the St. Louis River bridge to the MN-39 listing. I also changed the background color of this page to my new standard ("Navy"). Also, have you seen my New Mexico Highways page? http://www.steve-riner.com/nmhighways/nmhome.htm
May 4, 2003: OK, Space Junkie! I updated information for routes 42 (picture of new south end), 52 (info on jct. with CSAH 46 in Dakota County), 120 (new county signage), 124 (route deleted), 244 (new county signage), 266 (route deleted), 273 (route deleted), and 302 (route vacated). If somehow the 2003 Legislature doesn't act on the pending law to delete some of these routes, I'll have to go back and edit again.
March 2, 2003: Revised County Roads and Turnbacks page by replacing the old photo of Dakota County 38 (which was lost in the site transfer somehow) with a graphic version of this sign. Also updated some turnback info on this page. In addition, I redid the logo for Steve-Riner.com ("Steve Riner Highways") by replacing the old caps-only legend with a upper and lowercase version using the Roadgeek font.
February 22, 2003: Updated links to include MnDOT's new 511 site for construction and traffic information statewide. Also added new information on the Crosstown Commons project (report to the legislature with a new plan) to both the 62 info on the 51-75 listings and the Soapbox page.
February 13, 2003: Updated the 51-75 listings to include information on U.S. 71 and 75 that Monte Castleman had brought to my attention.
February 9, 2003: Mostly, I went through all the route listing pages to fix the links to Jason Hancock's Iowa Highways page. In the process, I also made a couple of minor updates to the route listings. I also updated the links page.
February 1, 2003: Redid the 3-digit blue route markers. The resulting GIFs are a little larger but much clearer and more realistic. This is using the Roadgeek font series from www.triskele.com. I find these to be more realistic and versatile than the Laramie Blue Highway font series. Also, updated routes 288-694 and the soapbox pages.
January 26. 2003: Progress on updating the pages is slow, but I did update the routes 51-75 page. Nothing major.
January 13, 2003: www.steve-riner.com made its debut. I moved virtually the entire site, including the pages never put up on AOL, to this new location.
March, 2002: Temporarily moved to AOL after our relocation from Minnesota to Pueblo, Colorado. Only the route listing pages were put up because of limitations on AOL's storage space.
January 19: Another photo of a restored Minnesota route marker from Robert Edgar. See the "markings" page.
December 25: Added photo of U.S. 10N sign sent me by Robert Edgar. Appears on both the "markings" and route listing pages. Also, not mentioned previously but I redrew the Business MN-371 sign to reflect the sign as actually marked (at least on a guide sign at the junction with 371).
October 15: Updated route descriptions for 55 and 62 to reflect recent construction updates.
September 22: Following a hard drive crash (fortunately, all my files were able to be transferred) I uploaded the September 7 revisions and also updated the listings to reflect the extension of TH 42.
September 7: Updated information on Routes 18, 25, 120, 244, 322 to reflect 2001 route turnbacks.
May 26: Adam sent me info on the unnumbered state routes (800-900 series), so I appended this information to the end of the 288-694 route listing. I'll have to modify that link's graphic to indicate these routes as well. Also, updated legislative route information on Business 371, since the Legislature passed the MnDOT technical amendments bill including this new route.
May 18: Added information on MOM's Way to the MN-11 route listing. You'll have to go look to see what I'm talking about.
May 14: Corrected information on the "markings" and numbering page to reflect the second business-trunk highway route (Business MN-371 at Brainerd). Added a graphic of the current U.S. highway sign.
April 29: Changed my e-mail address on the home page, made a few other minor changes. If you've been e-mailing me, please use my new account set up for correspondence on this subject: mnhwys@frontiernet.net.
April 22: Updates (mostly cosmetic) to 51-75, 76-100 and 101-149 listings. Fixed the link to Adam Froehlig's exit list page from my exit list referral page. Updated the photos on Photo Gallery 2 by adding a few photos from my Caribbean cruise last fall, showing Bahamas and USVI signage.
April 7: Updated some TH-3 information for more accurate historical summary. Other cosmetic changes to this page.
March 25: Made a major change to the Twin Cities map page. Instead of all map images loading on that page, I moved each image to a separate page. This will reduce page loading time and also allow me to put up additional maps. I added two new maps: the 1934 Gousha Twin Cities map (sent me by Glenn Olson) and a Minnesota map I made myself. Also, I updated the listing for TH-42 to indicate the pending extension to I-90.
March 18: Michael Eiynck pointed out that MN-238 begins at Albany, not New Munich (actually, it's MN-237 that begins at New Munich). So I fixed that --- as well as finally updating the MN-252 exit list link to Adam Froehlig's page.
March 9: Updated the routes 26-50 listing page to include some information on the use of 26 and 46 in the original numbering plan (but I haven't introduced markers for those routes yet). Also updated the 288-694 page a little and added a photo of the 610 sign taken shamelessly from the city of Brooklyn Park page.
February 24: Added information on pending turnbacks of TH-120, 244, and 65 in downtown Minneapolis to those route discussions and the "County Routes and Jurisdictional Changes" discussion. Also refined the discussion of MN-55 and how it came to be called that based on Glenn Olson's map info.
December 30: Adam Froehlig corrected me on lane count along I-35W --- I corrected this over a week ago but didn't document it here 'cause my computer locked up on me (groan). Good old Windows 98. Today, I made some additions to the discussions of routes 55, 66 (1934 proposed), 152, 212, and 261 (1934 proposed). Glenn Olson send me some info from a 1934 map he'd bought about the originally proposed numbering system in the Twin Cities area that affected these routes. I still need to add more info to route 119, which was also affected by these proposed markings. Oh yeah...also more discussion of the history of the Crosstown Commons on the Soapbox page.
December 3: Glenn Olson reminded me of some obsolete discussion on the I-35W description regarding number of lanes and names of junctions.
November 25: Adam Froehlig pointed out some items I forgot to change on the County Routes and Jurisdiction Changes page, and also provided some inside information on draft MnDOT turnback plans. Also, he pointed out some links changes that were needed, and I added a couple more of my own.
November 23: Updated and revised information in the County Routes and Jurisdiction Changes page.
November 21: Updated some obsolete information in the "laws" page
November 18: Redid the "explore" sign graphics used to link the route listings. Updated to show FHwA (Blue Highway) font and to darken background for better contrast.
November 17: Fixed some information on the listing for 101, updated Soapbox page to include comments on ramp meter study.
November 16: Yes, it's been a long time. This is the time it took me to put new vinyl siding on the garage! Thanks to a case of stomach flu, I was able to add new photos to the "signs" photo page, update the route listings including Adam Froehlig's new web site address, and also the links page.
July 31: Fixed misinformation on MN-120 (had it as former MN-110, don't know how I did that). Updated info on MN-101, since Adam Froehlig reported that Carver County has not yet accepted jurisdiction over its segment of this route. More info on MN-122 since I was at it.
July 19: Added Business 371 to route listings. New designation for old 371 upon opening (next month) of the Brainerd Bypass.
June 23: I have completed revamping all series 1 and 2 route marker graphics, and have also revised a few of the blue and white series 3 state route marker graphics 220+. Lower numbers use full-size Blue Highway font, but numbers higher than 220 can't, so I used an artifically small font size. Instead, I replaced with Blue Highway Condensed, much like the font seen on the highway. The star and old cutout U.S. signs are also all updated, and I like the results much better than the old effort to use lookalike fonts. Also, updated "laws" page to include more speed limit sign graphics.
June 14: Continuing my upgrade of older (series 1 and 2) sign graphics. I took the series 2 (c. 1954-68) MN route graphics and redid them all using the scanned sample sign I had. I found that using Blue Highway (FHwA Series D) font is very close to the font depicted on the sign. I like the results! I'm also using Bruce Cridlebaugh's U.S. Highway Old Style font (shareware) to redo the series 1 (cutout) U.S. signs. That, or manipulating the sample scanned sign image I had (it's easy to turn 75 into 55, and even 59.) The results aren't as clear as I'd like, but better than my attempt to simulate this type of sign. I'm now trying to use the same font to redo the series 1 ("star") state route markers, but it's not as easy to work with. So stay tuned.
June 4: I've uploaded revised graphics for the 1930s vintage signs. I changed the font used to make the numbers since the original version was Trebuchet (not FHwA, but similar 6s and 9s). I used Hattenschweiler, which makes a more squareish figure that somewhat resembles the fonts used on those old signs. I'm not totally happy with the results, since the numerals are narrower than they should be. In addition, I added more signs from that vintage for the purpose of historical discussions on some routes. And, I added separate histories for the original flip-flopped routes MN-80 and MN-98 (routes that were the original alignments for U.S. 16 and U.S. 8 respectively.)
May 26: Fixed (I think!) garbled links from the main page, specifically to the recently renamed countyrtes.htm page (also a couple of others that I think my web page editor edited without my knowledge!). Thanks, Matt Salek. If you find broken links from the main page, please let me know --- they should all work.
May 21: Fixed a mistake on the link to WI-243 and modified some MN-280 info while I was at it.
May 15: Updated my links from routes crossing into Wisconsin to correspond with Chris Bessert's site's updated URL and bookmarks.
May 10: On my county routes page, replaced a poorly reproduced photo of a blue pentagonal county route marker with a downloaded image from another source. Renamed this page "countyrtes.htm". (Its original file name, hennepin.htm, was an artifact of an early version of this page).
May 8: Made corrections to listings for TH-6, 100, 232, 336. Added links to Adam Froehlig's exit list pages from most major Twin Cities route listings.
April 29: Added several links to the Links page. Finally have a Map of Minnesota link for everyone who hits my site looking for one.
April 28: Updated TH-100 description to discuss this year's construction north of I-394. Also added some info courtesy of Adam Froelig on future construction on U.S. 52.
April 7: Added a new page: proposed graphic highway signs for speed limit and railroad crossing.
April 5: (Living room successfully wallpapered). Updated expired links to Minnesota statutes from the legal background page and updated information on routes 18, 25, 322 and 371, all in response to info from Gary Dirlam at MnDOT District 3 (who wrote me on the Brainerd Bypass).
December 26: I've been updating the route listings, and now am starting to incorporate route marker graphics into the "History" section of listings. As in, "Previously marked as [route graphic] Now marked as [route graphic]".
December 4: Added information on new MN-312 (temporary designation for future U.S. 212 in Eden Prairie). Added summary of proposed 1934 routes that were never posted (MN-52, 66 and 261).
November 28: Revised "Soapbox" page with added discussion on highway funding. Also added information to this page on planned upgrades to "worst interchanges" and other trouble spots. Revised Laws page to reflect final 1999 legislative action (or lack thereof) and discussion of what I think will happen in 2000.
November 15: Updated route listings.
August 14: The new heading formats for route listings is complete as of a couple of weeks ago, BTW. I added a map of the Ayd Mill Road to the Other Routes page and corrected some of the information about that road.
July 24: Updated listings for U.S. 10 and T.H. 118 to reflect the new segment of U.S. 10 that eliminated the 118 designation.
July 10: Temporarily (at least) removed the link to my half-assed and somewhat inaccurate exit list pages and substituted the link to Adam Froehlig's page. Redesigned the heading to the route listings and began to substitute it (Rts 1-25 and 76-100 so far). Redid the U.S. 77 marker to reflect the high probability that it was marked till the mid '60s rather than around 1940. New design for the marker is the older style, white background U.S. marker. Put that on both the U.S. Highway listing and route description pages.
July 2: Updated listings for routes 23, 123, 232, 324 and 361 to reflect changes (restorations, actually!) in the 1999-2000 Minnesota Highway map. These routes were previously shown as being deleted and have (temporarily at least) been restored on the map. Note that they were never re-marked on the roads themselves.
June 11: No, I haven't been ignoring the site...just not documenting minor changes. I've added a new photo, and now made a change to the home page for the first time since December. Still working on revamping the exit list pages.
April 6: Noted that MN-122 is no longer marked from I-35W (legislative route was actually removed two years ago). Edited route listing to reflect this.
April 4: Redid the interstate route graphics to eliminate the arial font signs. New signs use Blue Highway, look more realistic. Modified the image references in both the U.S.-Interstate routes page and the route listing pages with interstate routes.
April 2: Completed revisions of route listings to include graphic sign images. Table cell signs are gone!
March 30: Updated route lists to include sign graphics up to MN-217. Also updating route descriptions as I go.
March 28: Updated sign images up to MN-100, as well as updating of route descriptions as I go.
March 27: Continuing production of route marker GIFs, up to MN-57. Other updating of route descriptions as well.
March 26: Started uploading revisions to my route listing pages. Replacing table cell-generated Minnesota route signs with good old-fashioned GIFs. Made using Blue Highway font, as well. Not just to make the route listings look better, but also to have them available to make the exit lists look better too. This'll be a drawn out process, but for now check out Routes 1-25 for a peek at how they'll look.
March 14: Edited link to Robert Droz' U.S. highways site. Note: just returned from a Europe vacation, prededed by heavy business travel. Hope to update the site more frequently now.
February 14: Updated the rest of the route listings with historic termini data, and updated the U.S. routes page to reflect what I've learned about U.S. route changes in 1934.
February 13: Long interval. Had a hard drive crash, took a couple of weeks to get that fixed. In the meantime, I've been working on updating the route listing pages to provide a summary of dates where the route terminated other than current location. Today I'm uploading the first three. Now using Microsoft FrontPage Express (the freebie that comes with Win95) instead of Claris Works, so there will be a little delay in major updates while I puzzle this out.
January 15: Jason Hancock moved his Iowa Highways page. I changed the link.
January 11: Updated motor trails page to include listings for in-state routes I found listed in the 1919 T.I. B. guide.
December 31: Re-did the "star" GIFs for old state highway markers in a white background rather than yellow color. In my research, I found that the color was changed to white in 1934. The question of the true color had been an area of uncertainty for me.
December 29: Spent the day at the Minnesota History Center reviewing old Mn DOH documents that helped clear up questions about the 1934-35 renumbering. Revised comments for routes 1, 10, 59, 63, 69, 73 and 94 to add this information.
December 28: Minor changes to home page.
December 24: Updated GIFs for U.S. routes (found a font closer to FHwA font, with 6s and 9s that look more like the real thing); and added new graphics for 50s-60s vintage state route marker signs
December 20: Editorial changes and minor updates to route listing pages and U.S. routes page.
November 23: And now for something completely different... I added the graphics for the old MN highway signs to the route lists where there were routes discontinued in the 50s or before.
November 22: Updated I-35/35E and 35W exit pages. Added 94 and 494/694 pages, with links between these to allow you to follow I-94. (At least that's how I hope it works out). Also replaced table graphics for state route markers with real GIFs. (Just didn't like how the table graphics came out.) Also, on an unrelated note, updated URL to Dave Schul's National Motor Trails site from my motor trails page.
November 15: Added first two Twin Cities freeway exit lists (I-35/35E and I-35W). Updated "Markings" page to reflect a note Adam Froelich sent me months ago about I-35 business loop at Albert Lea, updated Great River Road routing off U.S. 2 in northern MN, revised notes about MN-36 on 65 mph speed limit east of I-694.
November 8: Added 1968 Twin Cities Interstate highway map to Map Museum
October 7: Added the Map Museum page.
October 4: Added link to Robert Droz' U.S. highways listing page.
September 26: Added a return link to the home page on the Links page. Fixed a bum link to Chris Geelhart's SD page for U.S. 212.
September 25: Updated all route listing pages by adding "sign" graphic for links. Miscellaneous changes to route listings. Rearranged and added links. Updated "Soapbox" page, especially freeway interchange discussion.
September 16: (Groan) Fixed more of the anchors and links to SD and ND.
September 14: Fixed (I hope) some of the anchors to SD and ND pages, and added anchors to IA and ON pages in the links I added 9/12.
September 12: Added direct links from highway lists to SD, ND, WI and ON pages. Modified links to IA pages.
September 9: Joined Midwest Webring
August 22: Added more sign pictures (photogallery 2). Updated links. Modified GRR page. Added more info to main highway page.
July 19: Updated links page for Matt Salek's and J.P. Kirby's new URLs.
July 17: Added the eXTrEme Tracker statistics feature. Just trying these out...they're pretty neat!
July 11: Added the Showstat statistics add-in.
July 3: Revised the color scheme on a few pages (legal basis, this page) and revised table color while keeping gray background on a few more (Other Routes, County Systems). Modified link to Other Routes on Main Highway page.
June 21: Added the second photo gallery page, with two signs from a recent trip to Wisconsin and Michigan. More Minnesota signs to come soon. Revised GRR routing.
June 9: Can't you tell? Changed the layout and color scheme of the main highway page. Soon, I will copy the table with route links to each of the route list pages.
June 7: Completed color revision and addition of obsolete route info to route lists. Added links to Jason Hancock's Iowa page for U.S. and Interstate routes that cross the state line.
June 6: Continued revisions of route lists (up to 287). Modified main page by adding "Land of 10,000 Ramp Meters" line at the top.
June 4: Continued revisions of route lists (up to 149). Created Other Minnesota Routes and Great River Road pages.
May 31: Began to convert details of formerly marked routes to the same general format as for existing routes. Also began to modify table color format so that tables are white by default and colors used to indicate route status extend all the way across. Looks better, less HTML code.
May 29: Reformatted U.S. highway images. Converted to GIF files rather than JPG (less space) and also made mostly uniform size. (Kept U.S. 16, 210 and 371 the same slightly smaller size for contrast with existing highways that are listed with modern U.S. shield).
May 25: Expanded information on proposed but never marked U.S. routes and I-335 on U.S. and Interstate highways page. Color coded those tables to show current route status, similar to route listing pages. I intend to move the proposed route descriptions off the route listing pages.
May 24: Redid other route listing pages with revised color scheme. Also introduced a temporary marker for state routes from 50s to 60s...made using tables only. It's kinda close, but I still want to use a partial graphic version.
May 23: Uploaded revised U.S. route marker for U.S. 16. Shows normal black background instead of gray I was trying to use to distinguish it from current routes. 210 and 371 are also ready to put up but that page's background colors haven't been updated yet. Also uploaded new U.S. 10N and 10S images, with yellow background to blend with table background. All new graphics being uploaded are in GIF instead of JPG format.
May 22: Revised the route markings page to include Ron Wilbanks' scanned images of old Minnesota route markers.
May 19: Redesigned route listings background color scheme. Put onto routes 1-25 page. Still need to work on graphics to be consistent here.
May 13: Updated my "Soapbox" page and included a "5 Worst Twin Cities Interchanges" list, plus a diagram of the dreaded "Crosstown Commons."
May 7: Completed conversion of route listing pages to blue signs. Next: addition of 1950s-60s style state marker signs. (The star sign will be much more difficult to synthesize without making a separate image for each sign).
May 2: Revised my first attempt on routes 1-25 at depicting state routes on blue background. I uploaded a .GIF with just the top of the Minnesota sign and put it in a table with blue background, and... the end result isn't bad. The numbers should be proportionally bigger, but I'm sure not going to quibble. I will start doing the rest of the pages this way. Afterwards, I will redo symbols for older defunct state routes as well. (The star should be challenging if I want to do it in multiple cell tables). Revised routes 1-25 and 26-50.
April 20. Added link to MnDOT Metro District web page.
April 19: Fixed a really dumb mistake (did you know you can't have two graphic files with the same name (duh)?) Seems when I uploaded route marker graphics I gave the I-35E sign the name 35e.jpg...same as the photo of the 35E parkway I'd previously uploaded. Reconverted and renamed the photo file. Thanks, Kevin Johnson. Also added more details to 1998 highway law changes.
April 16-17: Updated U.S. highway listings to correct dates of creation of U.S. 169, 218 and 77. Updated route listings to bring route number to top of table cell, added additional historic information on U.S. 2 and several Twin Cities area routes. Uploaded an experimental route listing page with Minnesota state routes depicted with blue background table. Continued to experiment with other color schemes on routes 1-25 page.
April 12: Added more detail on former U.S. designations in interstate route listings on U.S./Interstate listing page. Added a summary of highway-related 1998 legislation.
April 8-10: Added U.S. and Interstate route graphics to U.S./Interstate Highways page and to route listing pages. Also added note to MN-49 listing indicating its pending demise.
April 7: Added sign graphics to Motor Trails page. Later adjusted size of signs to be in line with imported graphic from Dave Schul's site.
April 6: Added Motor Trails page
March 26: Added Photo Gallery page First use of photos on this site. Later added a photo to Soapbox page.
March 19: Migrated to new URL. My ISP upgraded our service and now provides up to 10 MB storage.