In this article, we shall be talking about various roads within the city of Bloomington, Minnesota. We shall be organizing the way we list these roads into three main categories. The first category will be those roads that are classified as Interstate freeways, such as Interstate 494. The second category will be about US Route highways, and the third category, State Route highways. We shall begin with the first category, that of Interstate freeways, now, without further ado, let us begin.
We shall talk about Interstates 35W and 494, the first one to be described will be the former, and we will describe its length within and slightly outside the city. The southern terminus of I-35W is at Burnsville, where I-35 splits into I-35E and I-35W. While I-35E takes a northeasterly path into Saint Paul, I-35W heads north into Minneapolis. I-35W maintains a northbound direction in Burnsville with two lanes and adds a third lane at Burnsville Parkway. It then crosses the Minnesota River into Bloomington. At the Bloomington–Richfield city boundary, I-35W has a cloverleaf interchange with I-494. I-35W continues northbound into Richfield, where it turns east and joins with Minnesota State Highway 62 (MN 62) for about 1⁄4 mile (0.40 km) in what is locally known as the Crosstown Commons. I-35W and MN 62 split as two lanes of I-35W turn northbound toward downtown Minneapolis, where it adds back the third lane and then later a fourth and a fifth lane at the 46th Street on the ramp.
Interstate 494 (I-494) is a loop route making up part of a beltway of Interstate 94, circling through the southern and western portions of the Minneapolis – Saint Paul metropolitan area in Minnesota. The 43-mile (69 km) road is coupled with Interstate 694 (which circles the northern edge of the Twin Cities metro area) at each end and composes more than half of the major beltway of the region. I-694 / I-494 also act as loop routes for Interstate 35E and Interstate 35W.
The speed limit on I-494 is 60 miles per hour (100 km/h). Interstate highways outside of the loop in Minnesota may be signed as high as 70 mph (110 km/h). Most highways inside the loop are signed at speeds of 55 mph (90 km/h) or lower, though a few exceptions were added in September 2005, allowing speeds of up to 60 mph (97 km/h) in some places. Those roads had been signed at 60 mph (97 km/h) or higher up until the gasoline crisis of the 1970s.
In Faribault, Lyndale Avenue is a divided four-lane highway with a 45-mph speed limit. Between Faribault and the Minnesota River, Lyndale Avenue has been replaced by Interstate 35. North of the river, the old Lyndale Avenue resumes in Bloomington. At the south edge of Bloomington, it is a 2-lane road, until 106th Street West. Through most of Bloomington and Richfield, it is an undivided four-lane city street. There are major commercial districts at 98th Street, American Boulevard, 77th Street (Kensington Park and Shops at Lyndale), and 66th Street (Woodlake Center). Shortly after entering Minneapolis, the street becomes a one-way, to connect with Minnesota State Highway 121, a freeway spur connecting Lyndale Ave and Interstate 35W. After their junction at 56th Street West, the road becomes a divided two-lane roadway across Minnehaha Creek and north toward Uptown. Near the intersection with Lake Street, it becomes a four-lane again, a major commercial street which remains continuous until the Virginia Triangle (the commons with Hennepin Avenue). After the Triangle, Lyndale Avenue splits, with matching one-ways on either side of Interstate 94. They join at Plymouth Avenue. The street remains four lanes until Broadway. The two-lane road ends at 57th Avenue North in Brooklyn Center, near the junction of I-94 and Interstate 694.