U.S. Route 16

U.S. Route 16
US 16 highlighted in red
Route information
Length:	540 mi[1] (869 km)
Existed:	1926[1] – present
Major junctions
West end:	US 14 / US 20 at Yellowstone National Park entrance
	I-25 / US 87 in Buffalo, WY US 85 in Newcastle, WY
East end:	I-90 / I-190 / US 14 in Rapid City, SD
Location
States:	Wyoming, South Dakota
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List Bannered Divided Replaced ← WYO 14 WY US 18 → ← SD 15 SD SD 16 →

U.S. Route 16 (US 16) is an east–west United States Highway between Rapid City, South Dakota and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.

As of 2004, the highway's eastern terminus is at a junction with Interstate 90/U.S. Route 14 (I-90/US 14), concurrent with I-190, in Rapid City, South Dakota. The western terminus is the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park, concurrent with US 14 and US 20.

Route description

Wyoming

US 16 in Wyoming crosses through the towns of Newcastle and Upton before joining I-90 near Moorcraft. It runs concurrently with I-90 to Gillette, where it splits off north and then arcs back down to the town of Buffalo. From Buffalo it goes over the Powder River Pass on its way to Worland. In Worland, it turns north and overlaps US 20 through the towns of Basin and Greybull. In Greybull, the two routes combine with US 14 and go west to Cody and into Yellowstone National Park. For most of the way it is a two-lane road.

South Dakota

US 16 is also known as Mount Rushmore Road in western South Dakota. The highway enters South Dakota east of Newcastle, Wyoming. It travels near Jewel Cave, the second-longest cave in the world.^[2] The highway goes through the city of Custer and shares alignment with US 385. East of Hill City, US 16 splits off US 385. It then becomes a four-lane divided highway, with the two roadways separated by up to a half-mile (0.8 km) in some places, including the old gold-mining town of Rockerville, South Dakota, which is contained entirely between the two roadways. In Rapid City, a newly complete truck bypass runs along Catron Boulevard and Elk Vale Road up to Exit 61 on I-90.

The South Dakota section of US 16 is defined at South Dakota Codified Laws § 31-4-138.^[3]

History

The US 16 in the Ten Sleep Canyon, Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming

US 16 originally connected Detroit with Yellowstone, including a ferry link across Lake Michigan between Muskegon, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In Michigan, the route was in use long before automobiles and was known to white settlers as the Grand River Road, and prior to the designation of US Routes in 1926, had been designated as M-16 in the 1920s from Detroit to south of Muskegon. In 1938, reflectorized discs were placed on US-16 every 100 feet (30 m) from Detroit to Lansing, resulting in fewer nighttime traffic accidents. Other states would later do the same on their roads.

US 16 initially crossed the South Dakota – Wyoming state line west of Spearfish. U.S. Route 216 was commissioned in 1930 as a loop off US 16 to the south between Rapid City and Moorcroft, crossing the state line west of Custer. In 1934, US 16 was moved to the US 216 alignment, while the former US 16 became part of an extension of US 14.

In Michigan, most of US 16 was superseded by I-96 and a segment of Grand River Avenue in Detroit ultimately became M-5. US 16 was later decommissioned in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and eastern South Dakota to its present termini.^[4] Between Rapid City and Dexter, Minnesota, it has been supplanted by I-90. East of there it is now Minnesota State Highway 16 and Wisconsin Highway 16. In South Dakota it was replaced by various state highways (including South Dakota Highway 38) and county roads: generally, in West River the old alignment was transferred to county responsibility entirely, while in East River it remained a state-maintained highway.

An older Alternate US 16 in South Dakota has become South Dakota Highway 240.

In South Dakota, in 2009, the South Dakota Department of Transportation designated US-16/US-385 between Custer and Hill City, which passes by the Crazy Horse Memorial, now being carved in the Black Hills. This segment of US-385 is also a part of the George Hearst Memorial Highway.

Major intersections

Mileage resets at the state line crossing.

County	Location	mi[5][6]	km	Destinations	Notes
Park	Yellowstone National Park	0.000	0.000	US 14 / US 20 begin	Western end of US 14 and US 20 overlap
	Cody	49.410	79.518	WYO 291
		51.900	83.525	US 14A east / WYO 120 north – Powell	Western end of WYO 120 overlap
		54.119	87.096	WYO 120 south – Meeteetse, Thermopolis	Eastern end of WYO 120 overlap
Big Horn		85.056	136.884	WYO 30 east – Burlington
		85.655	137.848	WYO 32 north – Lovell
		99.197	159.642	US 310 north / WYO 789 north – Lovell	Northern end of WYO 789 overlap
	Greybull	204.05	328.39	US 14	Eastern end of US 14 overlap
		199.27	320.69	WYO 36 (Golf Course Road)
	Basin	196.42	316.11	WYO 30
		185.52	298.57	WYO 433
	Manderson	184.35	296.68	WYO 31
Washakie	Worland	0.00	0.00	US 20 / WYO 789 west WYO 432 south	Eastern end of US 20 overlap; southern end of WYO 789 overlap
	Ten Sleep	26.42	42.52	WYO 434
		30.04	48.34	WYO 436
		33.90	54.56	WYO 435
Johnson	Buffalo	92.12	148.25	I-25 Bus. / US 87 Bus. / WYO 196 (Main Street)	Southern end of WYO 196 overlap
		100.00	160.93	I-25 Bus. / US 87 Bus. / WYO 196 (Main Street)	Northern end of WYO 196 overlap
		100.61	161.92	I-25 / US 87	I-25 exit 299; interchange.
		2.12	3.41	I-90	I-90 exit 58; interchange.
Sheridan	Ucross	17.64	28.39	US 14	Western end of US 14 overlap
		54.72	88.06	WYO 341
Campbell		102.07	164.27	WYO 59	Northern end of WYO 59 overlap
	Gillette	114.86	184.85	WYO 50 (Skyline Drive)
		113.10	182.02	WYO 59 (Douglas Highway)	Southern end of WYO 59 overlap
		127.57	205.30	I-90 WYO 51 ahead	Western end of I-90 overlap, exit 128.
Crook	Moorcroft	153.41	246.89	I-90	Eastern end of I-90 overlap, exit 153.
		153.56	247.13	WYO 51
		200.00	321.87	US 14	Eastern end of US 14 overlap
Weston	Upton	219.83	353.78	WYO 116	Western end of WYO 116 overlap
		220.13	354.26	WYO 116	Eastern end of WYO 116 overlap
	Osage	233.29	375.44	WYO 451
		245.67	395.37	WYO 450
	Newcastle	247.34	398.06	US 16 Bus.
		248.99	400.71	US 16 Bus.
		249.82	402.05	US 85
		259.08 0.00	416.95 0.00	Wyoming–South Dakota state line
Custer	Custer	26.46	42.58	US 385 / SD 89	Southern end of US 385 overlap; western end of SD 89 overlap
		26.96	43.39	US 16A / SD 89	Eastern end of SD 89 overlap
Pennington		37.49	60.33	SD 87 (Needles Highway)
		37.69	60.66	SD 244
	Hill City	40.51	65.19	US 16 Truck / US 385 Truck
		41.06	66.08	US 16 Truck / US 385 Truck
		45.00	72.42	US 385	Northern end of US 385 overlap
		50.60	81.43	US 16A
	Rapid City	64.19	103.30	US 16 Truck
		69.00	111.04	SD 44 (Omaha Street) to I-190
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

See also

Related routes

• U.S. Route 116
• U.S. Route 216

Bannered and suffixed routes

• U.S. Route 16A in South Dakota

References

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• US 16 endpoint photos
• Highways and Gas Stations- US Hwy 16 Page
• 1937 South Dakota Transportation Map
• 1930 Minnesota Transportation Map
• 1937 Wisconsin Transportation Map

United States Numbered Highways 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 All Bannered Divided Replaced Routes in italics are no longer a part of the system. Highlighted routes are considered main routes of the system.