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County Road 10 History <br />Originally constructed as a two lane rough gravel road, Highway 10 provided access to and <br />from the capitol city of St. Paul and the farmlands of northwestern Minnesota and towns <br />such as Anoka, Elk River, Saint Cloud and Moorhead, and beyond into North Dakota. The <br />state assumed jurisdiction of the "road" around 1920 and a few years later replaced the <br />gravel with two lanes of concrete to form the rural style divided highway. The roadway was <br />expanded to four lanes from Highway 96 through Coon Rapids in the 1960s (the Anoka <br />Cut -Off) and shortly thereafter plans were drafted to construct a new limited access <br />Highway 10 north of its present location. The first leg of the new Highway 10 was <br />completed through Coon Rapids in the early 1970s with the old highway renamed Coon <br />Rapids Boulevard. In the late 1970s Trunk Highway 118 in Mounds View connecting 35W <br />and Central Avenue was completed, with the last leg through Blaine completed in 1999. <br />Official turn back of the roadway to Ramsey and Anoka Counties occurred on June 9, <br />2000. Prior to the opening of the completed Highway 10 system, County Road 10 in <br />Mounds View carried in excess of 44,000 vehicles per day. After the opening, there was <br />immediate confusion as motorists driving north on 35W were presented with two Highway <br />10 options. While supplemental signage has been added to help differentiate the two <br />routes, people unfamiliar with our region remain perplexed. To establish a much needed <br />identity and to eliminate persisting confusion, the old Highway 10 segment originating in <br />Mounds View needs a name. <br />