I-35 in Minnesota was authorized as part of the primary Interstate network in 1956. It was mostly constructed in the 1960s. The route in Minnesota replaced portions of old
US 61 and old
US 65. I-35 was generally constructed along former routes of US 65 south of the
Twin Cities and US 61 north of the Twin Cities. The first section to be constructed (the first Interstate Highway opened in Minnesota) was about north of
Owatonna, immediately west of present-day
Steele CR 45 and
Rice CR 45, which opened August 21, 1958. By 1961, the section of I-35 around
Hinckley and
Sandstone was under construction. Three lanes each way have been constructed on I-35 between the
I-35E/
I-35W split at
Columbus to
US 8 at
Forest Lake. Three lanes have also been constructed on I-35 northbound at Thompson Hill, right before entering the city of
Duluth. Additionally, three lanes have been constructed on I-35 southbound in Duluth at Thompson Hill between Central Avenue and
US 2 westbound. Three lanes in each direction have also been constructed on I-35 in Duluth between the Can of Worms interchange (
I-535/
US 53) and the Mesaba Avenue interchange. From November 1971 to October 1987, the national northern terminus for I-35 was its interchange with
Mesaba Avenue in Duluth. The last section of I-35 in Minnesota to be constructed was around
downtown Duluth. The I-35 extension to Lake Avenue in Duluth was open to traffic in October 1987. The temporary I-35 extension to 10th Avenue East in Duluth was open to traffic in November 1989. The I-35 extension to its present-day junction with 26th Avenue East and
MN 61 in Duluth was open to traffic in October 1992 after the construction of the Leif Erickson Tunnel. The section marked the final segment of the I-35 to be opened, and one of the last segments of the original Interstate Highway System. In 2002, all of I-35 in the state of Minnesota, from the Iowa state line to the city of Duluth, was officially designated the Red Bull Highway, after the
34th Infantry (Red Bull) Division, though plans to create signage never came to fruition. In practice, this name is seldom, if ever, used. In 2021, a new group, the Duluth Waterfront Collective, proposed to replace the riverfront highway portion of I-35 in Duluth with an at-grade boulevard and green space. ==Exit list==