Montana Highway 59

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MT Highway 59

Maintained by MDT

Length:

194 mi (312 km)

South end:

WY 59 at Wyoming state line

Major
junctions:

US 212 at Broadus

I-94 at Miles City

North end:

MT 200 at Jordan

Counties:

Powder River, Custer, Rosebud, Garfield

Major cities:

Biddle, Broadus, Miles City, Cohagen

Montana Highways
< MT 56		MT 64 >

Highway 59 in the U.S. State of Montana is a route running northerly from the Wyoming state line to an intersection with Montana Highway 200 near the south end of the town of Jordan, a distance of approximately 194 miles. At the Wyoming state line, the road becomes Wyoming Highway 59, which continues south 57 miles to the city of Gillette. The landscape traversed by Highway 59 is mostly hilly and arid, largely used for open-range grazing; the only major settlements are the towns of Broadus and Miles City.

For approximately four miles in and near Broadus, Highway 59 is concurrent with U.S. Route 212.

[edit] History

The current Highway 59 is an amalgam of three roadway segments that were each formerly numbered separately. The highway south of Broadus was originally designated as Montana Secondary Highway 319. From Broadus to Miles City, the highway was U.S. Route 312 until 1981, and Highway 59 north of Miles City was originally Montana Highway 22. Although US 312 continued west from Miles City to Billings, this was an overlap with US 10, and only the part between Miles City and Broadus was independent. However, from 1959 to 1962, US 312 extended west to Yellowstone National Park, and its east end was at US 12 in Forsyth. In 1962, US 212, which had ended in Miles City, was rerouted to absorb former US 312 southwest of Billings, and US 312 was extended southeast to Broadus over former US 212.