Interstate 35W (Minnesota)

Interstate 35W (I-35W) is an Interstate Highway in the US state of Minnesota, passing through downtown Minneapolis. It is one of two through routes for I-35 through the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the other being I-35E through downtown Saint Paul.

Traveling north, I-35 splits at Burnsville, and the I-35W route runs north for 41 miles (66 km), carrying its own separate sequence of exit numbers. It runs through the city of Minneapolis before rejoining with I-35E to reform I-35 in Columbus near Forest Lake. I-35W supplanted sections of old U.S. Highway 8 (US 8) northeast of Minneapolis and old US 65 south of Minneapolis that have since been removed from the United States Numbered Highway System.

During the early years of the Interstate Highway System, branching Interstates with directional suffixes, such as N, S, E, and W, were common nationwide. On every other Interstate nationwide, these directional suffixes have been phased out by redesignating the suffixed route numbers with a loop or spur route number designation (such as I-270 in Maryland, which was once I-70S) or, in some cases, were assigned a different route number (such as I-76, which was once I-80S). In the case of I-35 in the Twin Cities area, since neither branch is clearly the main route and both branches return to a unified Interstate beyond the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, officials at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) have allowed the suffixes of E and W in Minnesota to remain in the present day. I-35 also splits into I-35E and I-35W in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas, for similar reasons as the I-35 split in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area.

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 at exits 9A and 9B. I-35W continues northbound into Richfield, where it turns east and joins with Minnesota State Highway 62 (MN 62) for about 0.25 miles (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 a third lane and then later a fourth and a fifth lane at the 46th Street onramp.

I-35W swerves slightly northeast immediately south of downtown to avoid the Washburn-Fair Oaks Mansion District. Three lanes then split north onto MN 65 (Old US 65), which exits into downtown. The two righthand lanes of I-35W curve a sharp right east where it runs side by side with I-94 and US 52 for less than one mile (1.6 km), allowing drivers to exchange highways. Here, the interchange with I-94/US 52 does not have direct access for southbound I-35W to eastbound I-94/southbound US 52 or westbound I-94/northbound US 52 to northbound I-35W. Drivers must use the Cedar and Washington avenue exits to make these connections. Alternatively, MN 280 provides an expressway link for motorists needing to make these connections.

I-35W completes its eastern loop around downtown, and then crosses the Mississippi River on the St. Anthony Falls Bridge and winds northeast out of Northeast Minneapolis. Here, I-35W passes through industrial areas near the suburbs of St. Anthony, Lauderdale, Roseville, and Arden Hills.

I-35W then meets I-694 in New Brighton and Arden Hills at a cloverleaf interchange at exits 26B and 26C. US 10 joins I-35W one mile (1.6 km) north of the I-35W/I-694 interchange at exit 28A. I-35W and US 10 run concurrently for another one mile (1.6 km) before the latter turns westward in Mounds View and Shoreview at exit 30. I-35W passes next to the former site of the Twin Cities Ordnance Plant and again turns northeastward through the suburbs of Blaine and Lino Lakes. The communities of Lexington and Circle Pines are also nearby throughout this stretch. I-35W then merges with I-35E to reform I-35 at Columbus near Forest Lake.

I-35W carries its own set of exit numbers in the Twin Cities area, while I-35E continues the I-35 exit numbering scheme, which goes between the Iowa state line and the city of Duluth. (The same setup also applies to the other I-35E/I-35W splits in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas.)