Trunk Highway 96
MN 96 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MnDOT
Length	10.179 mi[1] (16.382 km)
Existed	1933[2]–present
Major junctions
West end	US 61 at White Bear Lake
Major intersections	MN 244 at Dellwood
East end	MN 95 at Stillwater
Location
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
Counties	Ramsey, Washington
Highway system
Minnesota Trunk Highway System Interstate US State Legislative Scenic
← MN 95 → MN 97

Minnesota State Highway 96 (MN 96) is a 10.179-mile-long (16.382 km) highway in Minnesota that runs from its intersection with U.S. Highway 61 in White Bear Lake and continues east to its eastern terminus at its intersection with State Highway 95 on the northern edge of Stillwater.

It is also known as Dellwood Road in the communities of Dellwood, Grant, and Stillwater Township. The route is also known briefly as Lake Avenue North within the city of White Bear Lake.

Many people in the area still think of Highway 96 in two sections: 1) this eastern portion that remains a State Highway and 2) the western portion that is now known as Ramsey County Highway 96.^[2] The two portions were never aligned, but were always about a mile apart, with the western portion about a mile south of the eastern portion.

Route description

State Highway 96 serves as an east–west arterial route between the communities of White Bear Lake, Dellwood, Grant, Stillwater Township, and Stillwater.

The route is legally defined as Legislative Route 96 in the Minnesota Statutes.^[3]

History

Highway 96 was authorized in 1933. It was paved east of U.S. 61 at the time the highway was marked.^[4] The part of the highway between U.S. 8 and U.S. 61 was completely paved by 1935.^[5]

From 1934 to 1994, State Highway 96 included the western portion that is now known as Ramsey County Highway 96.,^[2] which extended farther west several miles through the communities of Vadnais Heights, Shoreview, and Arden Hills. The former western terminus for State Highway 96 during this time period was at its intersection with old U.S. Highway 8 (near I-35W) on the Arden Hills / New Brighton border. This section of Highway 96 was once part of the Highway 100 Beltway circling the entire Twin Cities during the 1940s and 1950s.

The western portion of Highway 96 between Highway 61 at White Bear Lake and Old Highway 8 at Arden Hills is now known as Ramsey County Highway 96.^[2]

A few people in the area still remember stories of how the western portion of Highway 96 was first built across the south arm of Birch Lake the 1930s in White Bear Township. Most now only see that part of the lake as a pond to the south and a marshland to the north, but that's the result of major landfill projects that began in the 1930s and continued in road-widening projects through the 1990s. Local farmer and machinist Con Heckel told of more than one 1930s construction company that went out of business in the process.^[6] The old roads had gone around the lakes, but the new ones like Highway 96 were built straight over them.

The 2021 Minnesota Legislature authorized removal of the section east of Highway 244, to become effective when a turnback agreement is reached with Washington County.^[7]

State Highway 96 is a turnback candidate because it is a minor arterial, which functions more as a county state-aid highway or county road.^[8]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1][9]	km	Destinations	Notes
Ramsey	New Brighton	0.000	0.000	Old US 8	Programmed mile 0; former western terminus
	New Brighton–Arden Hills line	0.075– 0.134	0.121– 0.216	I-35W
	Arden Hills	0.528– 0.539	0.850– 0.867	US 10 west
	Shoreview	3.478– 3.493	5.597– 5.621	MN 49	Now CSAH 49
	White Bear Lake	6.559– 6.695	10.556– 10.775	I-35E
		8.447	13.594	US 61 south	Former west end of US 61 overlap
		9.357	15.059	US 61	Current western terminus
Washington	Dellwood	10.582	17.030	MN 244
	Stillwater	19.561	31.480	MN 95 (Main Street)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former

References