Wisconsin Highway 13

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State Trunk Highway 13

Length:

338.32 mi^[1] (544.47 km)

South end:

I-90/I-94 in Wisconsin Dells

Major
junctions:

WIS 54 in Wisconsin Rapids

WIS 29 in Abbotsford

US 8 near Prentice

US 2 in Ashland

North end:

US 2/US 53 near Superior

Wisconsin highways
< WIS 12		US 14 >
County - Bannered - Rustic

State Trunk Highway 13 (often called Highway 13, STH 13 or WIS 13) is a Wisconsin state highway running north-south across northwest and central Wisconsin. It is 338.32 miles in length. Highway 13 is part of the Lake Superior Circle Tour from its northern/western terminus to Ashland at is eastern junction with U.S. Highway 2. The road also provides access to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore off the Lake Superior shoreline at Bayfield.

1 Termini
2 Municipalities served by Highway 13
3 History
4 Current status
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Termini

The southern terminus of Highway 13 is at Interstate 90-Interstate 94 exit 87, just west of Wisconsin Dells. The Northern terminus is at U.S. Highway 2 - U.S. Highway 53 7 miles east of Superior. This terminus is actually reached after travelling westward from Bayfield.

[edit] Municipalities served by Highway 13

[edit] History

With some variation due to realignments over time, the original 1918 routing this highway followed much of today's STH 13, beginning at what was then Kilbourn (present-day Wisconsin Dells), travelling north through Adams, Grand Rapids (now Wisconsin Rapids), Marshfield, Prentice and Ashland, ending in Bayfield. It was later that STH 13 was routed around the Bayfield Peninsula and westerly to Superior.

The route of STH 13 previously ran the length of the state from Beloit on the Illinois state line to the Minnesota state line. From Beloit, Highway 13 followed the roads that are now U.S. Highway 51, U.S. Highway 14, U.S. Highway 12 through Janesville and Madison. Additionally, STH 13 was extended westerly from Bayfield first to Port Wing, then into Superior then across the border to Duluth. In the 1920s, The southern end of highway 13 was realigned from Evansville to Beloit along what is now WIS 213 after US 14 was commissioned.

Highway 13 was truncated to its present southern terminus in 1961 after I-90 and I-94 were commissioned.^[1]

[edit] Current status

Highway 13 is 2-lane road along the entire length with exceptions of urban multi-lane highways in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin Rapids, Marshfield, Abbotsford and Ashland. It only has one expressway interchange - with U.S. Highway 8, 1 mile west of Prentice - as a Super-2.

The 4-lane road in Marshfield is also known as the Veteran's Parkway. This section was built to alleviate congestion in downtown Marshfield along Central Ave. Further, the city and WisDOT are reconstructing Central Avenue in 2009 before handing it over to city control.^[2]