U.S. Route 51 in Wisconsin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

U.S. Highway 51
Maintained by WisDOT
Formed:	1926 (1917 as WIS 10)
South end:	US 51 in South Beloit, IL
Major junctions:	US 12/US 18 in Madison US 151 in Madison I-39I-90I-94 near Madison I-39 near Portage US 10 in Stevens Point WIS 29 in Wausau US 8 near Tomahawk
North end:	US 2 near Hurley
Wisconsin highways < WIS 50 WIS 52 > < US 10 WIS 11 > County - Bannered - Rustic

In the U.S. state of Wisconsin, U.S. Route 51 (normally called U.S. Highway 51, Highway 51 or US 51) runs north-south down the central part of the state. It enters from Illinois at Beloit, and runs north to its northern terminus in Hurley where it junctions with US 2 (WI).

Contents 1 Interchanges 2 History 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Interchanges

The section of US 51 from Portage at its junction with Interstate 39 to Merrill is built to Interstate highway standards save the section around Wausau, which is currently being upgraded to Interstate standards. US 51 exists as an expressway further north to CTH S south of Tomahawk with 6 grade-level intersections. CTH S begins another stretch of Freeway with 4 grade-separated interchanges before the highway becomes a two-lane road just north of US 8 at the Oneida County line. The exit list (for grade-separated interchanges only) for US 51 north of I-39 follows:

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
begins south of this point and follows South
Marathon	Rib Mountain		187	WIS 29 East - Weston, Green Bay	For exits south of this point see Interstate 39. follow North
			188	CTH N - Rib Mountain Dr
			190	CTH NN - North Mountain Rd	.
	Wausau		191	Sherman Street	Northbound: exit only; southbound: entrance only.
			192	WIS 29 West and WIS 52 - Wausau, Abbotsford	Undergoing upgrades as of 22 Dec 2006. East from exit is Stewart Ave. WIS 29 follow South
			193	Bridge St	Closed until December 2007 for construction.[1]
			194	Business US 51, CTH U, CTH K - Wausau
	Brokaw		197	- CTH WW, Brokaw
Lincoln	Pine River		205	Merrill
	Merrill		208	- WIS 64, WIS 17 Merrill, Antigo	Rhinelander, Eagle River use exit 208
			211	- Merrill
			225	- Tomahawk
	Tomahawk		229	WIS 86, CTH D - Tomahawk
			231	CTH A - Tomahawk
	Bradley		234	US 8 - Prentice, Rhinelander
End of Freeway - two-way traffic.

[edit] History

Prior to 1926, what is now US 51 was State Trunk Highway 10.^[2]

US 51 was upgraded to a full freeway over a period of 25 years from Merrill to Portage. The freeway continues around Portage to the West as (Then as WIS 78) to connect with I-90 and I-94 while US 51 continues along surface roads into and through Portage. In the 1990s, US 51 was designated as I-39 from its junction with WIS 29 eastbound in Wausau to where it left the freeway at Exit 92 in Portage. US 51 remained cosigned with I-39 along this entire stretch of road. Further expansion of the highway northward took place in 2000 when the highway was upgraded to an expressway up to US 8.^[2]

[edit] See also

• U.S. Route 151, diagonal route that runs from Dubuque, IA to Manitowoc
• Interstate 39, Cosigned from Wausau to Portage - also contains an Exit list which includes this portion.

[edit] References

Preceded by Illinois

U.S. Route 51 Wisconsin

Succeeded by none