Highway 100
The original construction of Highway 100 started in 1935, as a New Deal project. The project was a cooperative venture between the Works Progress Administration and the Minnesota Highway Department, and was the largest WPA project in the state. The demand for the highway came out of growing pains in the Twin Cities during the 1920s, when Minneapolis city streets were congested and suburban roads were poorly maintained dirt roads. The plan for a beltway around the Twin Cities incorporated existing roads, both paved and unpaved. A new section of highway, between State Highway 5 (now I-494 and Highway 5) in Edina and then-U.S. 52 (now County Road 81) in Robbinsdale was needed to complete the beltway. As such, it was planned as a state-of-the-art highway, with two lanes in each direction separated by wide medians, bridges at major intersections and railroad crossings, and the first cloverleaf interchanges in Minnesota.
The 12.5 mile stretch of highway from Excelsior Boulevard in Edina to Highway 81 in Robbinsdale was built as a rececreational highway, with almost 30,000 trees, shrubs and plants and several roadside parks, most of which no longer exist. People remember having picnics along the highway…Highway 100 was not just a roadway, it was also a destination.
