U.S. Route 212 in Minnesota

U.S. Route 212 In Minnesota

Within the U.S. state of Minnesota, U.S. Highway 212 travels from the South Dakota state line in the west, crossing the southwestern part of the state, to the Minneapolis – Saint Paul metropolitan area in the east, ending at its interchange with U.S. 169 and State Highway 62 in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina. U.S. 212 in Minnesota has an official length of 161.8 miles (260.4 km). It is an urban freeway within the Minneapolis – Saint Paul area, and is mostly a two-lane rural road elsewhere in the state.

Prior to the establishment of the U.S. Highway system, most of the U.S. 212 corridor in Minnesota was part the transcontinental auto trail known as the Yellowstone Trail, which was established in 1917. U.S. 212 was established in 1926 but originally terminated at U.S. Highway 12 in the city of Willmar from 1926 to 1934. U.S. 212 was shifted to its current alignment around 1934, continuing slightly east of its current terminus to end at then U.S. 12 in Saint Paul until 1982, when U.S. 212 was truncated to Edina. In 2008, the Twin Cities portion of U.S. 212 was relocated to a new freeway (formerly designated as State Highway 312 from 2003 to 2008).