Commuting From Prior Lake
Drive times from Prior Lake to Minneapolis, the airport and the rest of the metro, plus the buses that run from town.
Downtown Minneapolis is 31 to 36 minutes away without traffic and 45 to 55 minutes at rush hour. In the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey, the average commute for people who live here was about 25 minutes each way, and about one in four working residents worked from home.
Drive times
Prior Lake is about 24 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis, or 25 to 27 miles by road. The times below are from downtown Prior Lake with no traffic, checked with two online route planners in September 2026.
| To | Miles by road | Without traffic |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown Minneapolis | 25 to 27 | 31 to 36 min |
| MSP Airport, Terminal 1 | About 22 | 25 to 30 min |
| Mall of America | 18 to 20 | About 25 min |
| Eden Prairie | About 14 | 20 to 23 min |
| Bloomington, I-494 corridor | About 14 | 18 to 22 min |
| Burnsville | 8 to 11 | 15 to 18 min |
| Shakopee | About 10 | 15 to 20 min |
| Chanhassen | About 19 | About 25 min |
| Chaska | About 12 | About 20 min |
| Downtown St. Paul | About 27 | 35 to 45 min |
At rush hour, trips toward Minneapolis in the morning and home in the evening take longer: plan on 45 to 55 minutes to downtown. For St. Paul, take County Road 42 east to I-35E. Chanhassen is up Highway 169, and Chaska is quicker by Highway 41.
The main roads
Highway 13
Highway 13 runs from the southwest part of town northeast into Savage, then east through Burnsville to I-35W. In Savage, County Road 101 connects it to Highway 169. The signs say north and south, so 13 north is the way toward Savage and Burnsville.
Highway 169
Highway 169 is the road to Eden Prairie, Bloomington and the west metro. It crosses the Minnesota River on the Bloomington Ferry Bridge and runs north to I-494.
County Road 42
County Road 42 runs east and west across the north side of Prior Lake and on to Savage, Burnsville and Apple Valley. It’s also the way to I-35E and St. Paul.
Buses and park and rides
Prior Lake’s buses are run by the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA). The fares below are adult fares, and each route name links to its schedule.
Route 490: express to downtown Minneapolis
Route 490 starts in downtown Prior Lake at County Road 21 and Main Avenue. It stops at the Eagle Creek and Southbridge Crossings park and rides in Shakopee, then runs to downtown Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota. There are five morning trips from Prior Lake Monday through Thursday and four on Friday. Afternoon trips come back six times Monday through Thursday and four times on Friday. There’s no weekend service. The ride to 12th Street and Hennepin takes about 50 minutes. The fare is $2.50, or $3.25 at rush hour.
Route 447: Mystic Lake to Apple Valley
Route 447 runs every two hours, seven days a week. It links Mystic Lake, downtown Prior Lake, the Savage park and ride, Burnsville Center and the Apple Valley Transit Station. The fare is $2. At the Savage park and ride you can catch Route 460 into Minneapolis.
Route 495, the 4FUN bus: Mall of America and the airport
The 4FUN bus runs every hour, seven days a week, from Mystic Lake to Mall of America and MSP Terminal 1, with stops at Canterbury Park, Valleyfair, downtown Savage, the Burnsville Transit Station and Twin Cities Premium Outlets along the way. The whole trip takes 80 to 86 minutes, and the fare is $2. It doesn’t stop in downtown Prior Lake. If you’d rather drive part of the way to the airport, MVTA holds free parking for airport riders at the Burnsville Transit Station, one of the 4FUN stops, with an online reservation.
MVTA Connect: rides on demand
MVTA Connect is an on-demand ride you book in the RideMVTA app. It runs seven days a week, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., in parts of Prior Lake and Shakopee. A ride costs $3.
Park and rides
Parking at MVTA park and rides is free. Every Route 490 trip stops at Southbridge Crossings in Shakopee. The trips that start in downtown Prior Lake also stop at Eagle Creek, on Eagle Creek Boulevard in Shakopee.
Working from home
In the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey, 24.6% of working Prior Lake residents worked from home. For those who commute, the average trip was 24.7 minutes one way. If you’ll be in an office two or three days a week, the drive downtown matters a lot less than it would five days a week.
What I’ve learned on these roads
I’ve lived in Prior Lake since 1986. A few things I’d tell anyone new:
- Highway 13 northbound in the morning and southbound in the evening are the slow spots.
- The 169 and 494 interchange backs up at rush hour. Leaving a little earlier or later helps.
- When 13 is backed up, County Road 42 is the other way east. It’s a few more miles, but it often saves time.
- Snow slows everything down. Leave extra time on snow days, especially your first winter here.
- Give yourself at least 30 minutes to the airport, and more at rush hour.
Compared with nearby cities
- Savage: about 10 minutes closer to downtown Minneapolis, and closer to I-35W.
- Shakopee: about the same drive downtown, and closer to Eden Prairie and the 169 corridor.
- Lakeville: about the same drive to downtown Minneapolis and the airport, and closer to the east metro.
- Burnsville: about 20 to 25 minutes to downtown without traffic, and closer to I-35W.
If you work along 169, in Eden Prairie or Bloomington, Prior Lake is a good fit. If you’ll drive downtown every day, Savage and Burnsville save you some time, and Lakeville is quicker to the east metro.
Photo: Bloomington Ferry Bridge (US 169) by Tyler Vigen, CC BY 4.0.
