U.S. Route 63 in Minnesota - Route Description

Route Description

U.S. 63 enters the state in Fillmore County, just north of Chester, Iowa. It travels north to Spring Valley where it becomes concurrent with State Highway 16, following it west for five miles entering Mower County. It continues north through Racine, then into Stewartville, after passing into Olmsted County, where it becomes a divided highway. Immediately after Stewartville, it intersects Interstate 90. The highway then enters Rochester 1 mile after the I-90 junction, where it is an expressway south of U.S. 52 (slowly becoming a freeway). After the intersection with highway 52, it becomes Broadway Avenue through downtown Rochester.

The highway is reduced to two lanes on the north side of Rochester and continues north through Olmsted and Wabasha counties. It meets U.S. Highway 61 at Lake City and overlaps it into the city of Red Wing. U.S. 63 turns southeast on State Highway 58 for one block and then turns northeast on 3rd Street. It then curves back northwest to cross over 61, and then reaches the Red Wing Bridge where it crosses the Mississippi River and enters the state of Wisconsin.

Nearly all of the route is legally defined as Constitutional Route 59 in the Minnesota Statutes, except for the part between Red Wing and the Mississippi River, which is Legislative Route 161.