U.S. Route 51

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U.S. Route 51
Length:	1286[1] mi (2070 km)
Formed:	1926[1]
South end:	US 61 at Laplace, LA
Major junctions:	I-10 at Laplace LA I-20 at Jackson, MS I-55 at Memphis, TN I-40 at Memphis, TN I-55/I-74 at Bloomington, IL I-80 at La Salle, IL I-90 at Rockford, IL
North end:	US 2 at Hurley, WI
United States Numbered Highways U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

U.S. Highway 51 is a north-south United States highway that runs for 1,286 miles (2,070 km) from northern Wisconsin to the western suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana. Much of the highway in Wisconsin and Illinois runs parallel to or is multiplexed with Interstate 39

In addition to singing about U.S. Highway 61 on his album Highway 61 Revisited, musician Bob Dylan also commemorated Highway 51, covering folk song "Highway 51 Blues" on his eponymous album Bob Dylan.

In Memphis, Tennessee all of U.S. 51 south of South Parkway East was renamed from Bellevue Boulevard to Elvis Presley Boulevard. Graceland sits on this highway, in the subdivision of Whitehaven.

In 2004, the six states that Highway 51 traverses banded together as the Explore Hwy 51 Coalition to help promote this "All-American Road". The group now offers visitor information for traveling the length of the road.^[2]

As of 2004, the highway's northern terminus is Hurley, Wisconsin, at U.S. Highway 2. Its southern terminus is Laplace, Louisiana, at U.S. Highway 61.

Contents 1 States traversed 1.1 Wisconsin 1.2 Illinois 1.3 Kentucky 1.4 Tennessee 1.5 Mississippi 1.6 Louisiana 2 Related U.S. routes 3 References

[edit] States traversed

Major cities
Wausau, Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin Beloit, Wisconsin Janesville, Wisconsin Rockford, Illinois Bloomington-Normal, Illinois Decatur, Illinois Carbondale, Illinois Cairo, Illinois Memphis, Tennessee Jackson, Mississippi McComb, Mississippi Hammond, Louisiana

The highway passes through the following states:

[edit] Wisconsin

See also: U.S. Route 51 in Wisconsin

[edit] Illinois

See also: U.S. Route 51 in Illinois

In the state of Illinois, U.S. 51 runs north from the Cairo Ohio River Bridge with U.S. Route 60 and U.S. Route 62, to South Beloit at the Wisconsin border. For all but the northern 1/4 mile (1/2 km) that Interstate 39 runs in Illinois, U.S. 51 is multiplexed with I-39.

U.S. 51 is the main route that divides eastern and western Illinois.

[edit] Kentucky

[edit] Tennessee

U.S. 51 enters Tennessee at South Fulton, Tennessee and runs south through the cities of Union City, Tennessee, Dyersburg, Tennessee, Halls, Tennessee, Ripley, Tennessee, Henning, Tennessee, Covington, Tennessee, Millington, Tennessee, and Memphis, Tennessee. U.S. 51 is the westernmost United States Highway in the State of Tennesee. U.S. 51 is an interstate-grade facility from South Fulton to North of Union City and then resuming interstate-grade status south of Union City to Dyersburg. U.S. 51 is a four-lane or larger facility and multiplexed with Tennessee State Route 3 throughout the state. Some sections north of Dyersburg carry a 70MPH speed limit.

Near Henning, Tennessee is also the site of the Hatchie River Bridge collapse on April 1, 1989 that killed 8 motorists when 3 spans of the structure collapsed. The 54-year old bridge was 45 miles north of Memphis and carried the northbound lanes of U.S. 51. Its collapse was the result of pier scour and movement of the river channel.

[edit] Mississippi

U.S. 51 enters the Magnolia State from Tennessee at Southaven and parallels Interstate 55 to the east for much of its length, except for the section between the Tennessee line and Grenada, where it parallels the highway to the west. From Memphis, U.S. 51 passes through Senatobia, Grenada, Winona and Canton before reaching Jackson.

At the Jackson-Ridgeland line, U.S. 51 multiplexes with I-55 from Exit 103 (County Line Road) to Exit 96A (Pearl Street) downtown. The split is only temporary as the highway traverses Pearl, Pascagoula and State streets and meets I-55 again at Exit 93 (Interstate 20/I-55/State Street interchange).

The two highways run together until Exit 72 (North Crystal Springs). The highway then parallels the interstate through Hazelhurst, Brookhaven and McComb until it reaches the Louisiana border.

The Mississippi section of U.S. 51 is defined at Mississippi Code Annotated § 65-3-3.

[edit] Louisiana

U.S. 51 crosses the Mississippi/Louisiana border a few miles north of Kentwood and continues to parallel Interstate 55 until it joins I-55 just south of Hammond at Exit 28. From Hammond, the two highways crosses the swamps between Ponchatoula and Laplace on viaducts to Interstate 10, where I-55 ends. U.S. 51 continues southwestward into Laplace where it meets its end at U.S. 61 (Airline Highway).

[edit] Related U.S. routes

• U.S. Route 151
• Interstate 39
• List of United States Numbered Highways

[edit] References

		edit Main U.S. Routes
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
40	41	42	43	44	45	46		48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59
60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79
80	81	82	83	84	85		87		89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99
101		163						400				412				425
Lists		U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

Browse numbered routes
< US 50	IL		US 52 >
< WIS 50	WI		WIS 52 >