Wisconsin State Trunk Highway System

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Wisconsin State Trunk Highway System

I-94.svg

US 12 (WI).svg

WIS 35.svg

Highway markers for Interstate 94, U.S. Highway 12 and WIS 35
Wisconsin-overall.png
A map of all highways in Wisconsin.
System information
Maintained by WisDOT
Length11,753 mi [1] [2]  (18,915 km)
Formed1918 [3]
Highway names
Interstates Interstate n (I-n)
US Highways U.S. Highway n (US n)
State (State Trunk) Highway n (STH-n or WIS n)
System links

The Wisconsin State Trunk Highway System is the state highway system of the U.S. state of Wisconsin, including Wisconsin's segments of the Interstate Highway System and the United States Numbered Highway System, in addition to its other state trunk highways. These separate types of highways are respectively designated with an I-, US, or STH- (or WIS) prefix. The system also includes minor roads designated as Scenic Byways, four routes intended to promote tourism to scenic and historic areas of the state; and as Rustic Roads, lightly traveled and often unpaved local roads which the state has deemed worthy of preservation and protection. The state highway system, altogether totaling 11,753 miles (18,915 km) across all of Wisconsin's 72 counties, is maintained by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT).

Contents

Highway systems

Interstate and U.S. highways

The state of Wisconsin is served by eight Interstate Highways, consisting of five primary routes and three auxiliary routes. The first part of this system was constructed in 1956, and its most recent expansion took place in 2015, with the addition of I-41 to the system. Wisconsin's longest Interstate Highway is I-94, at 348 miles (560 km), and its shortest is I-535, which extends only 1.2 miles (1.9 km) into the state.

There are also fourteen United States Numbered Highways in the state of Wisconsin, which were designated beginning in 1926 and ending in the mid-1930s. The routes of the U.S. Highway System in Wisconsin have remained essentially unchanged since U.S. Highway 16 became a state highway in 1978. There are also several business routes, usually maintained by local governments.

State trunk highways

The state of Wisconsin maintains 158 state trunk highways, ranging from two-lane rural roads to limited-access freeways. These highways are paid for by the state's Transportation Fund, which is considered unique among state highway funds because it is kept entirely separate from the general fund, therefore, revenues received from transportation services are required to be used on transportation. The majority of state highway funding comes from gas taxes and vehicle registration fees. [4]

Other state highways

WisDOT also develops and maintains some minor routes, under the designations of Scenic Byways and Rustic Roads. Scenic Byways are minor roads, typically two-lanes, that travel through areas of "scenic and historic interest." [5] Rustic Roads are lightly traveled local roads, sometimes paved and sometimes dirt or gravel, whose rustic characteristics are intentionally maintained and preserved by WisDOT.

Other highways in Wisconsin

All 72 counties in Wisconsin maintain their own system of county highways, which are usually small, have low levels of traffic, and terminate at the limits of cities and towns. Each highway is designated with a label of between one and three letters, and are usually named sequentially, starting with Highway A and continuing to Z, then using double letters from AA to ZZ, and using triple letters if necessary, although this is not a requirement and there are plenty of exceptions.

The various cities, towns, and villages of the state each maintain their own roads beyond this, servicing individual homes and businesses and connecting them to the other systems, although these are not typically referred to as highways.

There are also several types and systems of roads in Wisconsin that are not part of any state or local highway system, and are not specifically constructed or maintained by the state Department of Transportation or by any local agency.

History

19th century

The many precursors to the state highway system predate the development of motorized vehicles by several decades, and the earliest even predate European settlement. For example, parts of the Native American trail connecting Green Bay to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, have now become US 41. In the early 19th century, wagon roads were created so that people and supplies could be transported from one settlement to another in days rather than weeks. Beginning in the 1830s, these routes were primarily improved and maintained by the United States military. These routes were gradually replaced by a decentralized network of both private plank roads and early territorial and state roads which, while created by the state government, were the responsibility of towns and villages to build and maintain. [10] However, by the end of the 19th century, particularly before the popularization of the automobile, railroads became dominant and largely supplanted the state's roadways as means of long-distance transportation.

20th century

The Wisconsin constitution had to be changed in order for the state to be able to pay for its new highway projects. After approval by the state legislators, an amendment was passed allowing Wisconsin to use funds for highway construction, in 1908. [11] In 1911, the Wisconsin Highway Commission was established as a central planning organization for the state's first motorized roadways. Countless "auto trails" were created in the mid-1910s. Many of these used inefficient routes and were inconsistent. In 1917, the commission began developing a standardized numbering system in response to the proliferation of privately marked highway systems. The state legislature made this practice illegal in 1917, in a law that also provided for the creation and marking of a state trunk highway system, that would be required to provide access to every county seat and all towns with a population over 5,000 and was limited to a total length of 5,000 miles (8,047 km). The first signposts were erected in May 1918. [12] [13] [14] Thus, Wisconsin became the first state in the country to officially mark and number its state highways. [3] This highway system was quickly copied by Michigan, and eventually to all other states.

Wisconsin's first distinctive route marker (required by the 1917 legislation) was an inverted triangle. The triangle by itself was found in practice not to use space efficiently. [15] The distinctive route marker was eventually redesigned and codified to be the union of an inverted triangle and a rounded rectangle in 1933; this shape remains in use today. [16] In 1925, a state highway fund was established, including a two-cent-per-gallon fuel tax. In 1929, the original highway commission was abolished and replaced with a new commission. The commission had 375 employees by 1930. [11]

The first U.S. Numbered Highways were established in Wisconsin in 1926, in many cases taking the place of highways the state had already established. As a result, the goals of the state highway system were expanded, aiming to reach every town with a population over 2,500 and relaxing its previous upper bound on network length. During the Great Depression, the state of Wisconsin launched a large number of public works projects in accordance with the New Deal, which led to massive expansions of the state system. By the 1940s, the system reached 12,000 miles (19,312 km), approximately its current length. [11]

The Wisconsin Turnpike Commission was established in 1953, which was tasked with the creation of larger, toll roads. The commission proposed various projects, including one from the Illinois border, extending through Madison, and terminating in La Crosse. Various other projects were proposed, but no action was taken initially. Eventually, it was decided that having toll roads in Wisconsin would not be practical. [17] [18]

The introduction of the Interstate Highway System in the mid-1950s led the Wisconsin Highway Commission to begin developing other controlled-access freeways to complement the federal system. The focal point of this construction was in Milwaukee, where 112 miles (180 km) of freeways were planned, although the system's growth became a major point of contention and only half of the planned routes were built. [19] In 1967, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation was established, by merging various smaller entities.

Future

In 1999, WisDOT began developing State Highway Plan 2020, which lays an outline for the further development and maintenance of the state highway system into the near future. The plan classifies the state's highways into five categories based on their importance to the successful functioning of the network as a whole: [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 43</span> Interstate Highway in eastern Wisconsin

Interstate 43 (I-43) is a 191.55-mile-long (308.27 km) Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Wisconsin, connecting I-39/I-90 in Beloit with Milwaukee and I-41, U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) and US 141 in Green Bay. State Trunk Highway 32 (WIS 32) runs concurrently with I-43 in two sections and I-94, I-894, US 10, US 41, US 45, and WIS 57 overlap I-43 once each. There are no auxiliary or business routes connected to I-43, though an alternate route to direct traffic during road closures is signed along local and state highways from Milwaukee County north into Brown County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 8</span> U.S. Highway in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan

U.S. Highway 8 (US 8) is a United States Numbered Highway that runs primarily east–west for 280 miles (451 km), mostly within the state of Wisconsin. It connects Interstate 35 (I-35) in Forest Lake, Minnesota, to US 2 at Norway in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan near the border with Wisconsin. Except for the short freeway segment near Forest Lake, and sections near the St. Croix River bridge and Rhinelander, Wisconsin, it is mostly an undivided surface road. As a state highway in the three states, US 8 is maintained by the Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan departments of transportation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 894</span> Highway in Wisconsin

Interstate 894 (I-894) is a 9.92-mile (15.96 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway in Milwaukee County in the US state of Wisconsin. The route serves as a bypass of downtown Milwaukee, connecting with I-94 at the Zoo Interchange west of downtown and the Mitchell Interchange south of downtown. The route runs concurrently with three other highways for its duration, following US Highway 45 (US 45) from the Zoo Interchange to Hale Interchange as the Zoo Freeway, where it separates from US 45 to follow I-43 heading east to the Mitchell Interchange as the Airport Freeway. In local traffic reporting and casual conversation, it is known simply as "the bypass" or "894", with "41" also being more recently used, as I-894 is entirely concurrent with I-41/US 41. The east–west portion is also concurrent with I-43.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 794</span> Highway in Wisconsin

Interstate 794 is a 3.75-mile (6.04 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway in Milwaukee County in the US state of Wisconsin. It is one of two auxiliary Interstates in the Milwaukee metropolitan area, serves the lakefront and the Port of Milwaukee, and connects downtown with the southeastern suburbs of St. Francis, Cudahy, and South Milwaukee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Highway 29</span> Highway in Wisconsin

State Trunk Highway 29 is a state highway running east–west across central Wisconsin. It is a major east–west corridor connecting the Twin Cities and the Chippewa Valley with Wausau and Green Bay. A multi-year project to convert the corridor to a four-lane freeway or expressway from Elk Mound to Green Bay was completed in 2005. The remainder of WIS 29 is two-lane surface road or urban multi-lane road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Highway 16</span> Highway in Wisconsin

State Trunk Highway 16 is a Wisconsin state highway running from Pewaukee across the state to La Crosse. Much of its route in the state parallels the former mainline of the Milwaukee Road and current mainline of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Interstate 90 (I-90) or I-94 parallels Highway 16 for most of its length in the state. It serves local traffic in nearby cities including La Crosse, Tomah, Wisconsin Dells, Portage, Columbus, Watertown, Oconomowoc and Waukesha. The highway is mainly two-lane surface road or urban multi-lane expressway from La Crosse to Oconomowoc, and it is a freeway east of Oconomowoc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Highway 11</span> State highway in Wisconsin, United States

State Trunk Highway 11 is a state highway running east–west across southern Wisconsin. The highway connects Dubuque, Iowa with the cities of Janesville, Racine and Elkhorn. Most of the route is two-lane road with the exception of an expressway bypass of Monroe, a multilane bypass of Janesville, a section where it is concurrent with I-39 and I-90, a combined freeway/divided highway bypass of Burlington to the south, where it is partially concurrent with WI 36 and WI 83, and urban multilane highway in the greater Racine area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Highway 119</span> Highway in Wisconsin

State Trunk Highway 119, better known as the "Airport Spur", is a connector freeway in Milwaukee, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The 1.89-mile (3.04 km) freeway connects Interstate 94 (I-94) to Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. WIS 119 has had many different iterations dating back to 1919, and since has had five other variations including the modern day route. These different roads were short lived but were located throughout the state of Wisconsin in the Milwaukee area, Manitowoc and Green Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Highway 23</span> State highway in Wisconsin, United States

State Trunk Highway 23 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The route is signed as a north–south route from Shullsburg to Wisconsin Dells and as an east–west route from Wisconsin Dells to Sheboygan. With the exception of freeway segments between Sheboygan Falls and Sheboygan, an expressway segment between Sheboygan Falls past Greenbush to Fond du Lac, a freeway concurrency with Interstate 39 (I-39), and an expressway segment concurrent with U.S. Highway 151 (US 151), the highway is generally either two-lane surface road or urban multilane arterial. WIS 23 provides access to several important Wisconsin destinations, such as the House on the Rock, the Wisconsin Dells area and various state parks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Highway 36</span>

State Trunk Highway 36 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It runs in a diagonal southwest–northeast direction across southeastern Wisconsin from Springfield which is north of Lake Geneva to Milwaukee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Highway 39</span> Highway in Wisconsin

State Trunk Highway 39 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It runs in east–west across south central Wisconsin from Edmund to New Glarus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Highway 57</span> State highway in Wisconsin, United States

Wisconsin Highway 57 is a 191.82-mile-long (308.70 km) state highway in Wisconsin, United States. It runs from its southern terminus at Wisconsin Highway 59 in Milwaukee to its northern terminus at Wisconsin Highway 42 in Sister Bay. Much of WIS 57 parallels Interstate 43 (I-43) and WIS 42, particularly from Saukville to its northern terminus in Sister Bay. The highway is concurrent with I-43 for 12 miles (19 km) in Ozaukee County. Like most Wisconsin state highways, WIS 57 is maintained by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Highway 794</span> Highway in Wisconsin

State Trunk Highway 794, officially the John R. Plewa Memorial Lake Parkway or the Lake Parkway, is a 4.76-mile (7.66 km) state highway in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States, that goes north–south from downtown Milwaukee to its southern suburbs. WIS 794 is the highest numbered Wisconsin state highway in the state trunk highway system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Highway 142</span> Highway in Wisconsin

State Trunk Highway 142 is a mostly rural highway connecting Burlington with Kenosha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Highway 117</span>

State Trunk Highway 117 is a state highway located entirely within Shawano County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It runs from a junction with Highway 29, Highway 47, and Highway 55 in Bonduel north to Highway 22 in Cecil. Highway 117 is maintained by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Highway 127</span>

State Trunk Highway 127 is a 14.16-mile (22.79 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It runs from WIS 16 near Wisconsin Dells east to Interstate 39 (I-39) and WIS 16 in Portage; the highway is located entirely within Columbia County. WIS 127 is maintained by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Highway 175</span> State highway in Wisconsin, United States

State Trunk Highway 175 is a state highway in the US state of Wisconsin. It runs north–south in central Wisconsin from West Milwaukee to just south of Fond du Lac.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 51 in Wisconsin</span>

U.S. Highway 51 (US 51) in the U.S. state of Wisconsin runs north–south through the central part of the state. It enters from Illinois at Beloit, and runs north to its northern terminus in Hurley where it meets US 2. Much of the route of US 51 runs concurrently with Interstate 39 (I-39).

The Rustic Road system is a system of Wisconsin scenic roads. They differ from the main trunkline highway system in that they are not meant to be major through routes, but lightly traveled local access, and are to meet minimum standards for natural features. Rustic roads have lower speed limits than those on other highway systems. Each route is marked by brown and yellow signs, with the route number on a small placard below the sign. The letter "R" prefix is followed by the number designation. Wisconsin is the only state to have a system of rustic roads. Wisconsin has a separate system of scenic byways following the development of a national system in the 1990s.

References

  1. ↑ Wisconsin Department of Transportation (n.d.). "History of WisDOT". Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  2. ↑ Bessert, Christopher J. (n.d.). "Introduction". Wisconsin Highways. Retrieved January 14, 2017.[ self-published source ]
  3. 1 2 "Michigan May Do Well Following Wisconsin's Road Marking System". The Grand Rapids Press . September 20, 1919. p. 10. OCLC   9975013.
  4. ↑ Wisconsin Department of Transportation (n.d.). "How Does Wisconsin Fund Transportation?" (PDF). Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  5. ↑ Wisconsin Department of Transportation. "Wisconsin Scenic Byways" (PDF). Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  6. ↑ Office of Public Lands Highways (August 15, 2013). "Forest Highways". Federal Highway Administration . Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  7. ↑ Great Lakes Information Network. "Great Lakes Circle Tour". Great Lakes Information Network. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  8. ↑ Wisconsin Department of Transportation (January 2014). Map of Douglas County (PDF) (Map). 1:100,000. Madison: Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 17, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  9. ↑ Yellowstone Trail Association. "The Yellowstone Trail in Wisconsin". Yellowstone Trail Association. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  10. ↑ Wisconsin Historical Society (n.d.). "Wisconsin History Explorer: Early Roads". Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  11. 1 2 3 Wisconsin Department of Transportation (n.d.). "History of WisDOT". Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  12. ↑ Bessert, Christopher J. (n.d.). "First in the World: Route Numbering". Wisconsin Highways. Retrieved January 14, 2017.[ self-published source ]
  13. ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature (n.d.). "Laws of 1917, Chapter 175" (PDF). Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  14. ↑ Torkelson, M.W. (August 25, 1955). "Memorandum, System of Numbering State Trunk Highways for Guidance of Travelers, Historical Background" . Retrieved January 14, 2017– via Wisconsin Highways.
  15. ↑ Bessert, Christopher J. "In Depth: System of Numbering State Trunk Highways". Wisconsin Highways. Retrieved August 6, 2017.[ self-published source ]
  16. ↑ "State's Road Marker Pioneering Pays Off". Wisconsin State Journal. March 15, 1959. p. 22. Retrieved August 4, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ Bessert, Christopher J. "Wisconsin's Interstates". Wisconsin Highways. Retrieved November 28, 2020.[ self-published source ]
  18. ↑ Bessert, Christopher J. "Historical Overview". Wisconsin Highways. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  19. ↑ Bessert, Christopher J. (n.d.). "Milwaukee Freeways". Wisconsin Highways. Retrieved January 14, 2017.[ self-published source ]
  20. ↑ Wisconsin Department of Transportation (February 2000). "State Highway Plan 2020" (PDF). Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 24, 2006. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
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