Minnesota State Highway 65

MN 65 serves as a north–south highway between Minneapolis, Fridley, Blaine, Cambridge, Mora, McGregor, Nashwauk, and Littlefork in east–central and northeast Minnesota.

The roadway is one of three Minnesota state-marked highways to carry the same number as an existing U.S. Highway within the state; the others being MN 61 and MN 169.

 

MN 65 begins at a split from I-35W south of downtown Minneapolis. The ramps end at an intersection with Tenth Street South, and so does the MN 65 designation, after MnDOT returned control of the section through downtown to the city in 2005. The MN 65 designation resumes at the intersection of Washington Avenue (CR 152) and 3rd Avenue South at the north end of downtown Minneapolis. MN 65 is signed locally as 3rd Avenue South in downtown Minneapolis. 3rd Avenue South leads to the Third Avenue (Mississippi River) Bridge and becomes Central Avenue upon crossing the river. After its intersection with Hennepin Avenue, the route becomes Central Avenue NE. MN 65 is signed locally as Central Avenue NE for this section. Many Minnesota landmarks are located on Central Avenue NE including the Aveda Institute, the Heights Theater, and the National Sports Center. The route remains Central Avenue until separating in Ham Lake, except for a split in Fridley and Spring Lake Park between I-694 and US 10.^[3]

The route is a divided highway from Minneapolis to Cambridge, with a 60-mile-per-hour (97 km/h) speed limit, increasing to 65-mile-per-hour (105 km/h) speed limit beginning in Ham Lake, just outside Blaine.

For part of its route (23 miles [37 km]), MN 65 runs concurrently with MN 27 in Kanabec and Aitkin counties between Woodland and Rice River Township.

Savanna Portage State Park in Aitkin County is located 11 miles (18 km) northeast of the junction of MN 65 and CR 14 in Shamrock Township near McGregor. The park entrance is located on CR 14 in nearby Balsam Township.^[4]

MN 65 was authorized in 1934 and 1935. The route was numbered as an extension of old US 65.

By 1940, the route was paved from Minneapolis to just north of McGrath in Aitkin County. By 1949, the route was paved as far north as Libby. By 1953, the route was paved north to its intersection with US 2 at Swan River in Itasca County. Sections of MN 65 north of US 2 were paved in the 1960s and 1970s. The last section of MN 65 paved was through the Nett Lake Indian Reservation in 2000.

The expressway section of MN 65 between I-694 in Fridley to Spring Lake Park was constructed on a new alignment in 1953.

The MN 65 expressway bypass in Cambridge was completed c. 1993.

A portion of MN 65 used to be part of old US 65. US 65 still enters Minnesota from Iowa, but ends now in the city of Albert Lea, where it has a junction with Interstate 35. I-35 and I-35W roughly follow the same route old US 65 used to take from Albert Lea to downtown Minneapolis. Before the freeways were built, the original US 65 had followed Lyndale Avenue between Burnsville and Minneapolis.

In July 2005, the eight-block-long section of MN 65 in downtown Minneapolis, between Washington Avenue and the junction of Tenth Street South with the on- and off-ramps to I-35W, was turned back to city maintenance. This turn-back leaves MN 65 with a gap through downtown. The ramps leading to and going from Minneapolis surface streets south to their junction with I-35W are still part of MN 65 according to state highway logs,^[2] and as indicated by the MN 65 shields used on the updated mileposts along those ramps.

It was the last state highway (along with MN 55) to directly run through Downtown Minneapolis, ending a 70-year era in which state trunk highways would have a segment running directly through Downtown Minneapolis.

MN 65 is designated as Legislative Route 105 between Washington Avenue and 37th Avenue Northeast, then as Constitutional Route 5 from Minneapolis to Swan River, then as Legislative Route 159 to Little Fork. The route is not marked with those numbers.

In 2020, Minneapolis officials designated a portion Central Avenue as one of seven cultural districts in the city.^[5] The district's boundaries were centered around the intersection of Central and Lowry avenues in the Holland and Windom neighborhoods, from 26th to 18th avenues northeast. The purpose of the cultural district was to promote racial equity, preserve cultural identity, and promote economic growth:^[6][7]

All exits are unnumbered.

County	Location	mi[2]	km	Destinations	Notes
Hennepin	Minneapolis	0.000	0.000	I-35W south	Southern terminus; I-35W exit 16A
		0.700	1.127	I-94 west	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; I-94 exit 233B
		0.981	1.579	12th Street	Southbound entrance only
				11th Street / E. Grant Street	Northbound exit only
		1.086	1.748	10th Street	North end of state maintenance; north end of freeway
		1.861	2.995	Washington Avenue	South end of state maintenance
		2.004	3.225	Third Avenue Bridge over the Mississippi River
		2.544	4.094	MN 47 north (University Avenue)
Anoka	Fridley	6.222– 6.499	10.013– 10.459	I-694	I-694 exit 38
	Spring Lake Park	9.945– 10.288	16.005– 16.557	CSAH 10	Cloverleaf interchange; former US 10
	Blaine	10.955– 11.154	17.630– 17.951	US 10	Interchange
		15.301– 15.646	24.625– 25.180	CSAH 14 (125th Avenue NE)	Single-point urban interchange, former MN 242 west
Isanti	Cambridge	41.283– 41.931	66.439– 67.481	MN 95 – North Branch, Princeton	Access to Cambridge Medical Center and Anoka-Ramsey Community College
	Stanchfield Township	51.032– 51.153	82.128– 82.323	MN 107 north – Braham
Kanabec	Brunswick Township	58.851	94.712	MN 70 east / CSAH 47 – Rock Creek
	Mora	63.334	101.926	MN 23 west (Dala Lane) – Ogilvie, Milaca	Southern end of MN 23 overlap
		64.996	104.601	MN 23 east / CSAH 6 west – Hinckley	Northern end of MN 23 overlap
	Ford Township	81.783	131.617	MN 27 west / CR 82 – Isle, Onamia	Southern end of MN 27 overlap
Aitkin	Williams Township	88.854	142.997	MN 18 – Finlayson, Malmo
	Rice River Township	105.180	169.271	MN 27 east – Moose Lake	Northern end of MN 27 overlap
	McGregor	116.649	187.728	MN 210 east – Cromwell, Carlton	Southern end of MN 210 overlap
		117.850	189.661	MN 210 west – Aitkin	Northern end of MN 210 overlap
	Jacobson	146.784	236.226	MN 200 west – Hill City	Southern end of MN 200 overlap
		147.178	236.860	MN 200 east – Floodwood	Northern end of MN 200 overlap
Itasca	Swan River	153.704	247.363	US 2 – Duluth, Grand Rapids
	Greenway Township	172.574	277.731	US 169 south – Grand Rapids	Southern end of US 169 overlap
	Lone Pine Township	175.243	282.026	US 169 north – Hibbing	Northern end of US 169 overlap
	Carpenter Township	208.147	334.980	MN 1 west – Effie, Northome	Southern end of MN 1 overlap
		212.168	341.451	MN 1 east – Cook	Northern end of MN 1 overlap
Koochiching	Littlefork	270.020	434.555	MN 217 east – Littlefork
		270.739	435.712	US 71 – Big Falls, International Falls	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

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