169 or 35W?? (Mankato, Crystal, Savage: construction, to live in, vs)

[SoDak11]

I was wondering what is the quickest route to take from downtown (Loring Park/Convention Center area) to Valley Fair (or just trying to get out of the Metro towards South Dakota). Specifically, whats the best route at 4PM on a Friday? From just looking at a map, I can't decide what would be the quickest and most hassle free route for a driver definitely not used to big city rush hour traffic.

Should I just take side streets down to Lake, and then over to MN-7 and then onto 169, then to MN-101 or should I just get on 35 as soon as I can and take that down to MN-13/MN-101? Or is there another way that someone knows that is way better than either of those? I'll be making this trip this Friday, but it will be the first of many, many trips so I'm not opposed to learning a slightly more complicated but far quicker route that I can use again.

Any suggestions??

Thanks

[AVguy]

I've made this trip a few times trying to get through Shakopee on my way out of town. Traffic-wise, I thought that the best way to go was to take 394 west to 100 south to 494 west to 169 south, and for you, 101 west from 169. 35W is usually backed up by 4 p.m., and Crosstown construction combined with people knocking off early for the weekend, make it pretty tough to travel without significant traffic on 35W. Southbound 169 gets backed up north of 494 (about Valley View Drive), so I think that you can save some time by getting onto 169 from 494 in order to avoid those first problematic stop lights on 169. You might be able to cruise through 35W, but you'll also have traffic on 13/101 west of 35W.

Unless someone else in the Shakopee/Savage/Prior Lake area knows better, I found (relative) success with my stair-step travel path. Don't know much about the side streets--I have found that the highways are generally faster than side streets except for backups due to accidents.

[golfgal]

Where in South Dakota are you going? Is 212 an option or are you going toward Sioux Falls?

If Sioux Falls, 35 to 90 is the fastest option because of the speed limit vs 169, etc.

[Navelinski]

I used to live in Chaska, just the other side of the Minnesota River from Shakopee. The sidestreets from Loring Park, like Lake Street and Hwy 7 are going to be all backed up at that time of day and there are way too many stop lights without left turn arrows. This can cause big backups at major intersections like Lyndale and Lake.

I-394 can get backed up too, but that is the best way and you can get in the carpool lane if you want to pay for it or if you have a passenter.

Go west on 394 to either 100 or 169 and then go south. I like to go all the way to 169 and then go south. That takes you right into the Shakopee area.

If you are headed to South Dakota, go south on 169 until you get to the other side of Mankato, then jump on 60. That goes through Lake Crystal, Madelia, Windom, and you can jump on I-90 at Worthington. That's how we go to Rapid City, South Dakota.

By the way, the difference in the distance by taking I-35 all the way south to I-90 adds more time than if you cut across on 169 and 60. Besides, its a nicer drive through the countryside going on 169 and 60.

[SoDak11]

Thanks for the suggestions! I've decided to forgo the side streets to Lake to 169 portion. I'm a little nervous about taking 394, as it looks pretty crazy with all sorts of lanes and exits going every which way, but I'll give it a try. I think I'll take the route with 100 since I've never been on that before, so I'd like to see what its all about.