U.S. Route 141

U.S. Route 141

US 141 highlighted in red
Route information
Auxiliary route of US 41
Maintained by WisDOT and MDOT
Length: 168.82 mi[lower-alpha 1] (271.69 km)
Existed: November 11, 1926[1] – present
Tourist
routes:		 Lake Michigan Circle Tour
Major junctions
South end: I-43 near Bellevue, WI
 

US 41 from Howard, WI to Abrams, WI
US 8 near Pembine, WI

US 2 from Iron Mountain, MI to Crystal Falls, MI
North end: US 41 / M-28 near Covington, MI
Location
States: Wisconsin, Michigan
Counties: WI: Brown, Oconto, Marinette; Florence
MI: Dickinson; Iron, Baraga
Highway system

United States Numbered Highways
List • Bannered • Divided • Replaced

Michigan State Trunkline Highway System
Interstate • US • State
← WIS 140 WI WIS 142 →
← M-140 MI M-142 →
← M-101 US 102 M-102 →

U.S. Route 141 (US 141) is a north–south highway in the U.S. states of Michigan and Wisconsin. US 41 is its parent route. Its northern terminus, on US 41, is near Covington, Michigan; its southern terminus, with I-43 near Bellevue, Wisconsin; it remains in existence in Green Bay, Wisconsin as a surface street. From Green Bay northward, US 141 runs concurrently with the US 41 freeway to Abrams.

The section of US 141 north of Crystal Falls, Michigan was U.S. Route 102 when the US Highway system was formed in 1926. It was replaced by US 141 in 1928 when the latter was extended north out of Wisconsin. US 141 from Abrams north to its terminus is a shorter route than US 41.

Contents

Route description

US 141 in the Green Bay area runs along city streets starting on the southeast side of the city running northwesterly towards Howard. In Howard, it joins with US 41, running concurrently with the US 41 freeway north to Abrams. US 141 splits off to the west as a four-lane expressway from Abrams to Pound. From Pound north, US 141 is a two-lane rural highway northward. US 141 crosses into Michigan on the Menominee River bridge in Niagara.

Once in Michigan, 1 mile (2 km) west of Quinnesec, US 141 meets and joins US 2. The two highway designations run together westward into Iron Mountain along Stephenson Avenue passing through a retail business corridor and into downtown. M-95 joins the two highways passing Lake Antoine. M-95 turns off north of town and US 2/US 141 crosses the Menominee River back into Wisconsin.

US 2/US 141 makes a short 14.46-mile (23.27 km) swing through Florence County, serving the communities of Spread Eagle and Florence. The only junction with another state trunk highway in Wisconsin on the northern section is with the concurrent highways Wisconsin 70 / Wisconsin 101 in Florence. The highway crosses back into Michigan on a bridge over the Brule River south of Crystal Falls

US 141 separates from the US 2 concurrency in Crystal Falls. Running northward, US 141 passes to the east of the Ottawa National Forest through rural Iron County. South of Covington, US 141 turns east along M-28 for 4 miles (6 km) before terminating at US 41.

History

In 1918 when Wisconsin initially numbered its highway system, the route of what initially became US 141 followed two separate state highways; from downtown Milwaukee to Manitowoc, the highway was designated WIS 17, and from Manitowoc north to Green Bay, it was WIS 16.[2] The highway from Abrams north to the state line at Niagara was called WIS 57, and Michigan named a connector from the state line to Iron Mountain, M-57 in 1919. The segment through Florence County was WIS 69, and from the Crystal Falls area north to Covington, the M-69 moniker was used.[3]

US Highway 102
Location: Crystal Falls, MI – Covington, MI
Length: 32.5 mi[6] (52.3 km)
Existed: November 11, 1926[1]–c. 1928[4][5]

As originally proposed in 1925, several US Highways in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula were to be designated. The routings though for two highways were different in Michigan in the 1925 than on the final 1926 map. US 102 was to have replaced M-15 from US 2 at Rapid River, continue via Marquette into Baraga County, where it would have ended at US 41 near Covington. At the same time, US 41 was to have followed US 2 from Powers to Crystal Falls and continued north to Covington.[7] However, when the final plan was approved and implemented in November 1926, US 41 took the eastern routing through Rapid River and Marquette, and US 102 was routed between Crystal Falls and Covington. US 141 in both plans was only routed between Milwaukee and Green Bay, replacing WIS 17 and WIS 16.[8]

Only two years later in 1928, the US 102 designation was decommissioned when US 141 was extended northerly from Abrams over WIS 57 and M-57 to Iron Mountain. There it followed US 2 to Crystal Falls and north to Covington over the route formerly occupied by US 102.[4][5]

The next major changes were made at the end of the 1930s in Michigan. A realignment in the Iron Mountain area shifted US 2/US 141 to a new bridge over the Menominee River between 1932 and 1934.[9][10] Later, a new routing from the state line north to Crystal Falls was opened in 1940; the previous routing was returned to local control.[11][12] The northern end was relocated near Covington in late 1948 or early 1949 when US 41 was realigned in the area.[13][14] This terminus location was shifted again when US 141/M-28 was realigned in the area in late 1955 or early 1956.[15][16]

At about the same time in Wisconsin, a bypass of Manitowoc was opened in 1956, and another bypass of Port Washington in 1957.[2] In late 1961, the highway was rebuilt in northern Iron and southern Baraga counties between Amasa and Covington as the state smoothed out sharp corners in the routing;[17][18] a similar project was completed in 1972 south of Amasa to Crystal Falls.[19][20]

Wisconsin started the process to convert US 141 between Milwaukee and Abrams into a freeway starting in the 1960s. The first segments of freeway were opened in the Milwaukee area starting in 1963 through 1969. Another section, north of Green Bay to Suamico was opened in 1971. In 1972, the divided highway segment between Suamico and Abrams opened and a freeway bypass of Port Washington debuted. Bypasses of Sheboygan and Cedar Grove were converted to full freeways in 1973. With another segment of freeway opening in 1975, I-43 was designated along US 141 from Milwaukee to Sheboygan. Wisconsin started removing the US 141 markers from the highway on the state map and the roadway starting in 1977 and 1978. The highway was truncated north to the Green Bay area in 1981, resulting in the current routing.[2]

Major intersections

State County Location Mile[lower-alpha 2] Exit Destinations Notes
Wisconsin Brown
 Town of Ledgeview 0.00 I-43 – Milwaukee, Green Bay Exit 178 on I-43
0.81 WIS 29 east – Kewaunee Eastern end of WIS 29 concurrency
Green Bay 7.72 WIS 29 west / WIS 54 / WIS 57 – Algoma, Sturgeon Bay, Shawano Western end of WIS 29 concurrency
Howard 11.06 Military Avenue Former BUS US 41
12.01 170 US 41 – Appleton Southern end of US 41 concurrency; exit numbers follow US 41's mileage
12.39 171 I-43 south / LMCT south – Milwaukee, Wisconsin Southern end of LMCT concurrency
Town of Suamico 14.45 173 CTH-M (Lineville Road)
17.50 176 CTH-B (Sunset Beach Road)
Oconto
 Town of Little Suamico 20.48 179 Brown Road
23.49 182 CTH-S
Town of Abrams 26.53 185 CTH-D (Sampson Road)
28.12 — US 41 north / LMCT north – Oconto, Marinette Northern end of US 41 and LMCT concurrencies; US 141 becomes an expressway
Town of Stiles 35.12 — WIS 22 – Oconto Falls, Oconto Diamond interchange
Town of Lena 39.70 — CTH-A – Lena Diamond interchange
Marinette
 Coleman 47.43 — CTH-B – Coleman Diamond interchange
Town of Beaver 53.10 Expressway ends
Pound 55.27 WIS 64 – Marinette, Mountain
Crivitz 60.58 CTH-A north / CTH-W – Athelstane Former western terminus for WIS 158
Wausaukee 70.41 WIS 180 south – Marinette
Town of Pembine 88.76 US 8 west – Rhinelander Southern end of US 8 concurrency
Town of Niagara 98.28 US 8 east – Norway Northern end of US 8 concurrency
Menominee River
 102.87
0.000		 State line
Michigan Dickinson
 Breitung Township 1.132 US 2 east – Escanaba Eastern end of US 2 concurrency
Iron Mountain 3.620 M-95 south – Kingsford Southern end of M-95 concurrency
Breitung Township 7.227 M-95 north – Marquette, Republic, Sagola Northern end of M-95 concurrency
Menominee River
 7.892
0.00		 State line
Wisconsin Florence
 Town of Florence 3.91 WIS 70 west / WIS 101 south – Eagle River, Armstrong Creek
Brule River
 14.46
0.000		 State line
Michigan Iron
 Crystal Falls 10.030 M-69 east – Sagola Western terminus of M-69
Crystal Falls Township 11.186 US 2 west – Iron River Northern end of US 2 concurrency
Baraga
 Covington 39.448 M-28 west – Wakefield Western end of M-28 concurrency
Covington Township 43.602 US 41 / M-28 east / LSCT – Baraga, Houghton, Marquette Eastern end of M-28 concurrency
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
     Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Total mileage is a summation of the state mileages.
  2. ^ Mileage numbers reset at the Michigan–Wisconsin state line crossings.[21][22][6]

References

  1. ^ a b Weingroff, Richard F. (January 9, 2009). "From Names to Numbers: The Origins of the U.S. Numbered Highway System". Highway History. Federal Highway Administration. http://wwwcf.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/numbers.cfm. Retrieved April 21, 2009. 
  2. ^ a b c Bessert, Christopher J. (January 31, 2009). "Highways 140–149". Wisconsin Highways. http://www.wisconsinhighways.org/listings/WiscHwys140-149.html#US-141. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  3. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (July 1, 1919). State of Michigan: Upper Peninsula (Map). Cartography by MSHD. 
  4. ^ a b Michigan State Highway Department (May 1, 1928). Official Highway Service Map (Map). Cartography by MSHD. 
  5. ^ a b Michigan State Highway Department (October 1, 1929). Official Highway Service Map (Map). Cartography by MSHD. 
  6. ^ a b Michigan Department of Transportation (2009). MDOT Physical Reference Finder Application (Map). Cartography by Michigan Center for Geographic Information. http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/prfinder/. Retrieved May 12, 2010. 
  7. ^ Secretary of Agriculture (November 18, 1925). Report of Joint Board on Interstate Highways, October 30, 1925 (Report). US Department of Agriculture. 
  8. ^ Bureau of Public Roads (November 11, 1926) (PDF). United States System of Highways (Map). Cartography by American Association of State Highway Officials. http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/hqdiv/p-r-div/maps/misc-maps/1926us.pdf. Retrieved May 10, 2008. 
  9. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (April 1, 1932). Official Highway Service Map (Map). Cartography by H.M. Gousha. 
  10. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (September 1, 1934). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map). Cartography by Rand McNally. 
  11. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (July 15, 1940). 1940 Official Michigan Highway Map (Map). Cartography by Rand McNally (Summer ed.). Section D4. 
  12. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (December 1, 1940). 1940 Official Michigan Highway Map (Map). Cartography by Rand McNally (Winter ed.). Section D4. 
  13. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (July 1, 1948). 1948 Official Highway Map (Map). Section B4. 
  14. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (July 1, 1949). Michigan Official Highway Map (Map). Section B4. 
  15. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (October 1, 1955). 1955 Official Highway Map (Map). Section B4. 
  16. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (April 15, 1956). 1956 Official Highway Map (Map). Section B4. 
  17. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (1961). Official Highway Map (Map). Section B4–C4.  (Includes all changes through July 1, 1961)
  18. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (1962). Official Highway Map (Map). Section B4–C4. 
  19. ^ Michigan Department of State Highways (1972). Official Highway Map (Map). 1 in:14.5 mi. Section C4–D4. 
  20. ^ Michigan Department of State Highways (1973). Official Highway Map (Map). 1 in:14.5 mi. Section C4–D4. 
  21. ^ Staff (May 14, 2009). State Trunk Highway Log for Region 3. Green Bay, WI: Wisconsin Department of Transportation. pp. 544–562. 
  22. ^ Staff (December 31, 2008) (XLS). State Trunk Highway Log for Region 4. Rhinelander, WI: Wisconsin Department of Transportation. 

External links

U.S. Routes related to US 2
U.S. Routes related to US 41