Interstate 35

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Interstate 35 Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Length:	1568 mi (2523 km)
Formed:	1956 (completed 1982)[1]
South end:	US 83/I-35 BUS in Laredo, TX
Major junctions:	I-10 in San Antonio, TX I-20 in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX I-30 in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX I-40 in Oklahoma City, OK I-70 in Kansas City, MO I-80 near Des Moines, IA I-90 near Albert Lea, MN
North end:	MN 61 in Duluth, MN
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Interstate 35

Interstate 35 (abbreviated I-35) is an interstate highway running north-south in the central United States. It stretches from Laredo, Texas on the U.S.-Mexico border to Duluth, Minnesota at Minnesota Highway 61 (London Road) and 26th Avenue East. Many interstates used to have splits or spurs indicated with suffixed letters (N/S/E/W), but I-35 is the only one that still has such divisions. In two stretches, the highway splits into Interstate 35E (Dallas and St. Paul) and Interstate 35W (Fort Worth and Minneapolis).

Interstate 35 does not directly connect to either international border. I-35's southern terminus is a traffic signal in Laredo, Texas, just short of the United States-Mexico border. Travelers going south can take one of two toll bridges across the Rio Grande and the Mexican border--straight ahead, or via Business Spur Interstate 35 through downtown Laredo. To the north, I-35 terminates in Duluth, Minnesota, with connections to Canada from the interstate's terminus via Minnesota Highway 61 to Grand Portage, or north to the border at International Falls by U.S. Route 53 in Duluth but more typically accessed from the south by Minnesota Highway 33 at Cloquet.

[edit] Length

Interstate 35 ends at this traffic signal in Laredo, Texas

Interstate 35's northern terminus is at this intersection with London Road in Duluth, Minnesota

[edit] Major cities

Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs, per AASHTO.

• Laredo, Texas
• San Antonio, Texas
• Austin, Texas
• Temple, Texas
• Waco, Texas
• Dallas, Texas (along Interstate 35E)
• Fort Worth, Texas (along Interstate 35W)
• Denton, Texas
• Norman, Oklahoma
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Wichita, Kansas
• Kansas City, Kansas
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Des Moines, Iowa
• Ames, Iowa
• Mason City, Iowa
• Albert Lea, Minnesota
• Owatonna, Minnesota
• St. Paul, Minnesota (along Interstate 35E)
• Minneapolis, Minnesota (along Interstate 35W)
• Duluth, Minnesota

[edit] Intersections with other Interstates

Interstate 35 intersects with the following interstates, from south to north:

• Interstate 410 in San Antonio, Texas (twice)
• Interstate 10 in San Antonio, Texas
• Interstate 37 in San Antonio, Texas
• Interstate 35 splits into I-35E and I-35W in Hillsboro, Texas
  • Interstate 20 in Dallas (I-35E) and in Fort Worth, Texas (I-35W)
  • Interstate 30 in Dallas (I-35E) and in Fort Worth, Texas (I-35W)
  • Interstate 820 in Fort Worth, Texas (I-35W only)
  • Interstate 635 in Dallas, Texas (I-35E only)
• I-35E and I-35W rejoin in Denton, Texas
• Interstate 240 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Interstate 235 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Interstate 40 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (mulitplexed for about 2 miles (3 km))
• Interstate 44 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (multiplexed for about 5 miles (8 km))
• Interstate 135 and Interstate 235 in Wichita, Kansas (the Kansas Turnpike continues along I-35 east of Wichita, while I-135 passes through downtown Wichita)
• Interstate 335 in Emporia, Kansas (I-35 splits from the Kansas Turnpike at this point, and I-335 picks up the Kansas Turnpike designation)
• Interstate 435 in Lenexa, Kansas
• Interstate 635 in Kansas City, Kansas
• Interstate 670 in Kansas City, Missouri
• Interstate 70 in Kansas City, Missouri (multiplexed between exits 2A and 2H)
• Interstate 29 in Kansas City, Missouri (multiplexed for 6 miles (10 km))
• Interstate 435 in Kansas City, Missouri
• Interstate 80 in Des Moines, Iowa. I-80 is cosigned with I-35 bypassing Downtown Des Moines (served by I-235) for 13 miles.
• Interstate 235 in Des Moines, Iowa (twice)
• Interstate 90 in Albert Lea, Minnesota
• Interstate 35 splits into I-35E and I-35W in Burnsville, Minnesota
  • Interstate 494 in Bloomington (I-35W) and Eagan, Minnesota
  • Interstate 94 in Minneapolis (I-35W multiplexed with I-94 for less than one mile) and in Saint Paul, Minnesota (I-35E multiplexed with I-94 for less than a half mile)
  • Interstate 694 in New Brighton (I-35W) and Maplewood, Minnesota (I-35E multiplexed with I-694 for less than a half mile)
• I-35E and I-35W rejoin in Forest Lake, Minnesota
• Interstate 535 in Duluth, Minnesota

[edit] Freeway designations

I-35 takes certain highway names in these locations:

• The Pan Am Expressway in San Antonio.
• The Interregional Highway^[2] in Austin.
• The Jack Kultgen Freeway in Waco.
• In Dallas:
  • The R.L. Thornton Freeway, south of I-30, which picks up the name heading east.
  • The Stemmons Freeway, north of I-30.
• Part of the Kansas Turnpike.
• Shannon Miller Expressway in Edmond,OK
• The Red Bull Highway, all of I-35 in the state of Minnesota from the Iowa state line to Duluth.

[edit] Spur routes

• Dallas, Texas - I-635
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - I-235
• Wichita, Kansas - I-235
• Spur to Wichita, Kansas and Salina, Kansas - I-135 (see below)
• Spur to Topeka, Kansas - I-335 (part of the Kansas Turnpike)
• Kansas City, Kansas - I-435, I-635
• Kansas City, Missouri - I-435
• Riverside, Missouri - I-635
• Des Moines, Iowa - I-235
• Duluth, Minnesota to Superior, Wisconsin - I-535

While numbered as loop routes for I-94, routes I-494 and I-694 in Minneapolis/St. Paul serve as loops for I-35 as well.

• Cancelled: Minneapolis, Minnesota - I-335

	edit Auxiliary routes of Interstate 35
	Current and Future (F)	Former
	Minnesota - Texas
	Minnesota - Texas
	Kansas
	Iowa - Kansas - Oklahoma
	Kansas	Minnesota
	Missouri-Kansas
	Minnesota-Wisconsin
	Kansas-Missouri - Texas

[edit] History

Some sections of I-35 in Oklahoma City were already built in 1953, before the Interstate system was created.^[3] Through Norman, Oklahoma, the interstate opened in June 1959. In Moore, it opened in two parts: the northern half, connecting Moore to Oklahoma City, opened in January 1960. The southern half, linking it to Norman, was opened to traffic in June 1967.^[4]

I-35 through Oklahoma largely parallels U.S. Route 77. This is in large part due to efforts of the towns of Wynnewood, Paoli, and Wayne, which fought to keep I-35 as close as possible to U.S. 77. This was successful due to a threat from Governor Henry Bellmon to build a toll road rather than I-35, and legislation preventing state funds for the interstate from being spent if it were more than 1 mile from the U.S. route.^[5]

I-35 was completed in Oklahoma in 1971, when parts of the interstate running through Carter Co. and Murray Co. were opened to traffic.^[3]

The final segment of I-35 (as originally planned) to open was in north central Iowa, between Mason City and US 20 near Iowa Falls. This segment was delayed due to some controversy. Originally, I-35 was to follow the alignment of US 69 from Des Moines all the way to the Minnesota border. However, Mason City's business community lobbied for the route to be moved closer to their city. On September 1, 1965, the alignment was changed to instead parallel US 65 through northern Iowa, which brought the highway much closer to Mason City. This, however, created a long diagonal section through Wright and Franklin counties. Local farmers objected to their farms being bisected into triangular pieces, and resulting litigation delayed I-35 for several years. A November 1972 ruling rejected a lawsuit filed by the farmers, and the final segment of I-35 was allowed to proceed, eventually opening in 1975. One of the final pieces of the highway puzzle happened in Faribault, Minnesota. For approximately 25 years, Highway 35 actually went through the town and travellers had to deal with several traffic lights. In 1975, the highway went around Faribault where today a traveler actually has three exit choices for this southern Minnesota town.

On September 1, 2005, MoDOT reopened the Paseo Bridge over the Missouri River in Kansas City, Missouri after completing a six-month rehabilitation project ahead of schedule. However, the rehab project is only a short-term fix; MoDOT is in the planning process of devising a six- to eight-lane crossing for the interstate, either by building a duplicate bridge to house one direction of traffic or a new bridge or bridges. The $245 million project includes $50 million in funding procured by Senator Kit Bond in the 2005 Transportation Bill. Project plans include significant updates to sections of the freeway and nearby interchanges beyond the bridge itself.

[edit] Notes

Interstate 35 in Goldsby, Oklahoma at milemarker 102.

• In Austin, Texas, elevated express lanes were constructed on either side of the original freeway. Prior to this expansion, this section included an at-grade railroad crossing, which is extremely unusual for a freeway.

• I-35 splits up into I-35W and I-35E in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area. The official mile markers follow I-35E through Dallas -- I-35W, which is 85 miles in length, carries its own mileage from Hillsboro to Denton, as though it were an x35 loop.

• The proposed Trans-Texas Corridor toll-road project includes one proposal (TTC-35) to primarily parallel I-35 from the Mexico border up to the Oklahoma border.^[6] There are major disagreements as to what impact this parallel route would have on I-35 in terms of traffic, maintenance, and commerce.

• I-135, which branches off in Wichita, Kansas, is 95 miles (153 km) long. It carried the designation I-35W until 1979, despite never rejoining the main line of I-35. It terminates in Salina, Kansas at the intersection with Interstate 70. The controlled-access freeway continues north as US 81 through Minneapolis, and from there as an at-grade expressway to the Nebraska state line.

• In Kansas, all of I-335 and I-35 between Emporia and the Oklahoma border are toll roads (the Kansas Turnpike).

• At Medford, Minnesota, the on/off ramps lead to roundabouts rather than standard cross intersections.^[7] This is the first site in the state linked to a major highway to use roundabouts.

• Interstate 335 was planned as an additional bypass of the Twin Cities; that road was never built. It would have connected I-35W north of downtown Minneapolis westward to I-94 to ease congestion on the Lowry Hill Tunnel on I-94 (but studies later showed that the new freeway would actually have put more traffic in the tunnel). The eastern terminus of I-335 was to be where the Johnson St exit is now on I-35W north of downtown Minneapolis, and the interchange design there is unusual for a surface street, indicating that I-335 did get off the ground slightly before being killed in the 1970s.

• I-35 splits again into I-35W and I-35E in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota area. At one sharp turn in I-35W near the junction with I-94, it is advised to slow to 35 mph (55 km/h) (although many drivers are able to maintain the speed limit of 55 mph (90 km/h)). Additionally, it is not possible to go from westbound I-94 to northbound I-35W, from southbound I-35W to eastbound I-94, from eastbound I-94 to southbound I-35E, and from northbound I-35E to westbound I-94 without resorting to surface streets.

• On I-35E in Minnesota between Minnesota State Highway 5 and Interstate 94, in both directions, trucks weighing more than 9,000 lbs (4,082 kg) are banned from the freeway, and the speed limit drops to 45 mph (70 km/h) but it is rarely obeyed. This section was not completed until the late 1980s (although the route was cleared and graded earlier) due to opposition from the historic Crocus Hill neighborhood which sits only a few hundred feet from the alignment. The four-lane alignment, "parkway" design was a compromise. The truck bypass for this secton is signed on I-494 and I-694 to the east of Saint Paul.

• The Minnesota section of Interstate 35 and Interstate 35W respectively are defined as legislative routes 390 and 394 in Minnesota Statutes § 161.12(2).[1] The roads are not marked with those numbers.

• I-35 is part of the Avenue of the Saints between Clear Lake, Iowa and St. Paul. A four-lane link has been completed between Clear Lake and Interstate 380 in Waterloo, Iowa.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Interstate 35 in Oklahoma

[edit] External links

• Kansas City Star's "I-35 Odyssey, A Summer Travel Series"
• Highway History - A Look at the History of the Federal Highway Administration
• Interstate 35 Through Austin

Browse numbered routes
< MN 34	MN		I-35E >
< US 34	IA		IA 37 >
< Route 34	MO		US 36 >
< K-33	KS		US 36 >
< SH-34	OK		SH-35 >
< SH 34	TX		I-35E >

edit Main Interstate Highways (multiples of 5 in pink)
4	5	8	10	12	15	16	17	19	20	22	24	25	26	27	29	30
35	37	39	40	43	44	45	49	55	57	59	64	65	66	66 (W)		68
69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76 (W)		76 (E)		77	78	79	80	81	82
83	84 (W)		84 (E)		85	86 (W)		86 (E)		87	88 (W)		88 (E)		89	90
91	93	94	95	96	97	99	(238)		H-1		H-2		H-3
Unsigned			A-1		A-2		A-3		A-4		PRI-1		PRI-2		PRI-3
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