U.S. Route 51 in Wisconsin

U.S. Highway 51
Route information
Maintained by WisDOT
Length:	316.51 mi[1] (509.37 km)
Existed:	1926 (1917 as WIS 10) – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 51 at the Illinois border
	US 12 / US 18 in Madison US 151 in Madison I-39 / I-90 / I-94 near Madison I-39 near Portage US 10 in Stevens Point I-39 / WIS 29 in Wausau US 8 near Tomahawk
North end:	US 2 near Hurley
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List • Bannered • Divided • Replaced Wisconsin highways County • Bannered • Rustic ← WIS 50 WIS 52 → ← US 10 WIS 11 →

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.

Contents 1 Route description 2 History 3 Exit list 4 See also 5 References

Route description

From Beloit, US 51 passes through Janesville, and Stoughton, then passes through the east side of Madison as a side route paralleling Interstate 39 and Interstate 90 on the west side. North of Madison, US 51 parallels the interstate on the east side passing through De Forest and Portage. The route joins I-39 north of Portage. They stay joined until I-39 ends at WIS 29. Along the way, the route bypasses the small communities of Endeavor, Packwaukee, Westfield, Coloma, Hancock, Plainfield, Plover, and Whiting prior to arriving at Stevens Point. Proceeding north from Stevens Point, the highway bypasses Knowlton, Mosinee, and Rothschild where I-39 terminates at WIS 29 East interchange. US 51 continues on with WIS 29 for 5 miles (8.0 km) bypassing Schofield, then proceeding into Wausau where WIS 29 splits to the west. US 51 continues as a freeway to Merrill, passing Brokaw along the way.

The section of US 51 from Portage at its junction with I-39 to Merrill is built to Interstate highway standards. The freeway in the Wausau area was not originally fully up to interstate standards, but a project to upgrade the freeway to full interstate standards in the area was recently completed. The upgrades in the Wausau area replaced all of the existing 1963-era low clearance overpasses; upgraded the WIS 29 East, CTH N, CTH NN, Sherman St, WIS 52, and Bridge St interchanges; and constructed a free-flow interchange for WIS 29 West. US 51 exists as an expressway from CTH K on the north side of Merrill 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 highway passes through Minocqua, Manitowish Waters, and Mercer on its northwest trek toward Hurley and its terminus — at its junction with US 2.

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 I-39 (originally 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]

The Wisconsin mileage of US 51 is designated by the state as the Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway.^[3]

Exit list

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		191A	WIS 29 West - Abbotsford, Chippewa Falls
			191B	Sherman Street	Northbound exit; Southbound entrance only.
			192	Stewart Ave	. WIS 29 follow South
			193	Bridge St
			194	Business US 51, CTH U, CTH K - Wausau
	Brokaw		197	CTH WW - Brokaw
Lincoln	Pine River		205	CTH Q - Merrill
	Merrill		208	- WIS 64, WIS 17 Merrill, Antigo	Rhinelander, Eagle River use exit 208
			211	CTH K - Merrill
	Town of Merrill	212.77		CTH-C – North Star Dr	at-grade intersection
		214.85		Lincoln Dr	at-grade intersection
	Irma	220.22		CTH-K – Nelson Dr	at-grade intersection
		221.24		CTH-J – Irma	at-grade intersection
		222.24		CTH-V	at-grade intersection
	Skanawan	223.31		Tamarack Ln	at-grade intersection
			225	CTH S - Tomahawk
	Tomahawk		229	WIS 86, CTH D - Tomahawk
			231	CTH A - Tomahawk
	Bradley		234	US 8 - Prentice, Rhinelander
End of Freeway - two-way traffic.

See also

• U.S. Route 151, diagonal route that runs from Amana Colonies in Iowa to Manitowoc
• Interstate 39, Cosigned from Wausau to Portage — also contains an Exit list which includes this portion.

References

U.S. Route 51
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