Major Highway Systems of Twin Cities
If you want to go to the central areas of the Twin Cities, you probably should consider the many different roads crossing the metropolis, and in this article, we’ll be documenting the most important ones to the metropolis, and why you should take some of these roads in higher regard over other roads if you plan a hassle-free trip. There are multiple types of roads passing through the Twin Cities area, from hundred-mile Interstates to small-two lane State Routes, the one that we shall talk about is the former.
There’s I-94, which splits the Twin Cities in half with its westward path. The route passes through many important areas in the Twin Cities metropolis, the road going through and nearby to the central zones of both Twin Cities, which are Minneapolis and St. Paul. The route has three auxiliary Interstates originating from it, these namely are: I-694, I-494, and I-394, taking these routes from the originator route of I-94 will allow better access to the metropolis, and so, we shall be focusing on those three in the next paragraph.
First off, there are I-694 and I-494, which, when showed on a map and given more attention to, reveal a beltway that surrounds the entire metropolitan area of the Twin Cities. The former splits from the main freeway at around Oakdale, while the latter also splits from the main in the neighboring town of Woodbury. I-694 goes north, then goes into a westward direction near the neighborhood of Pine Springs, it intersects with both I-35E and I-35W, and just after crossing the Mississippi, the freeway merges once more with its originator. The latter, which is I-494, goes south into Woodbury instead, and crosses the bend of the Mississippi River into South St. Paul, Sunfish Lake, and Mendota Heights, before crossing into the other side of the river at Fort Snelling, it, like its northern counterpart, intersects with I-35E and I-35W. After passing through the neighboring town of Bloomington, the freeway crosses paths with Routes 212 and 169 near Eden Prairie, after that, it sharply turns towards the north, crossing with Route 12 before merging with I-94 near Maple Grove.
Then there’s the odd one out, which is I-394. Splitting from the originator route of Interstate 94 deep within the city center of Minneapolis, the freeway is a brief one, albeit an important one if you wanted to access the city center as well as the neighboring areas. The road goes exclusively west, intersecting with State Route 100 and Route 169, before merging with I-494 a few miles south of the nearby town of Plymouth slightly in the northwest.
Finally, there are two routes of I-35W and I-35E. These two routes come from the splitting of I-35 down south in Burnsville. First off, there’s I-35W, which passes through much of central Minneapolis, after briefly intersecting with Interstate 94, it crosses over the Mississippi River on Saint Anthony Falls Bridge, it then intersects with I-694 and Route 10. As for I-35E, it goes to St. Paul, passing through Eagan and Mendota Heights. The route then intersects with I-94 and I-694 and goes north, merging into I-35 with its twin route I-35W just a couple of miles south of Colombus.