Wisconsin Highway 11

State Trunk Highway 11
Route information
Maintained by WisDOT
Length:	157.56 mi[1] (253.57 km)
Major junctions
West end:	US 61 / US 151 / WIS 35 in Kieler
	US 51 in Janesville I-39 / I-90 in Janesville I-39 / I-90 in Janesville US 14 in Janesville US 14 / WIS 89 in Darien I-43 in Elkhorn US 45 in Union Grove I-41 / I-94 in Mt. Pleasant
East end:	WIS 32 in Racine
Location
Counties:	Grant, Lafayette, Green, Rock, Walworth, Racine
Highway system
Wisconsin State Trunk Highway System Interstate U.S. State Byways Rustic ← WIS 10 US 12 → ← WIS 341 WIS 351 WIS 441 →

State Trunk Highway 11 (often called Highway 11, STH 11 or WIS 11) is a state highway running east–west across southern Wisconsin. The highway connects Dubuque, Iowa with the cities of Janesville, Racine and Elkhorn. Most of the route is two-lane road with the exception of a freeway bypass of Monroe, a multilane bypass of Janesville, a section where it is concurrent with I-39 and I-90 and urban multilane highway in the greater Racine area.

Route description

WIS 11 begins in Grant County at the freeway carrying US 61 and US 151 and concurrent with WIS 35. WIS 35 turns south to Illinois a half of a mile into the route as WIS 11 meanders to the east to Hazel Green where it picks up WIS 80 north for 3 miles (4.8 km) before turning east again into Lafayette County while WIS 80 continues north along the county line.^[2] The highway passes through Benton and Shullsburg before reaching the WIS 23 southern terminus five miles (8 km) east of Shullsburg. WIS 11 then junctions with WIS 78 in Gratiot and passes through South Wayne two miles (3 km) west of the Green County line.^[3]

Browntown is the first community that WIS 11 passes through in Green County. WIS 11 then becomes a freeway and circles around Monroe to the north, picking up concurrency with WIS 81 east and Crossing WIS 69 and the terminus of WIS 59 while on the freeway segment. WIS 81 turns southeast toward Beloit two miles (3 km) south of Brodhead while WIS 11 passes through the city and turns east into Rock County.^[4] The highway crosses WIS 213 in Orfordville and passes through Footville before beginning its southern bypass of Janesville. The bypass crosses US 51 and then joins I-39 and I-90 for 3 miles (4.8 km) back up north where it turns east toward US 14 and joins it concurrently - the two routes continuing east to Walworth County.^[5]

Two miles into Walworth County, US 14 turns south to Darien while WIS 11 heads east into Delavan where it meets WIS 50. the highway heads northeast to Elkhorn where it junctions with WIS 67 and the freeways of US 12 which it does not have direct access to, and I-43. WIS 11 then heads east through Spring Prairie and into Racine County at Burlington.^[6] Currently construction is underway on the western section of the Burlington Bypass that will carry WIS 11 around the south side of Burlington and bypassing the downtown area. The route will run cuncurrently with WIS 36 and WIS 83 in portions. Today in Burlington, the highway crosses or meets WIS 36, WIS 83 and WIS 142. WIS 11 passes through Union Grove and crosses US 45 then passes over I-94 and US 41 and into the greater Racine area - crossing WIS 31 in Sturtevant and ending at WIS 32 in downtown Racine - just a half mile from the shores of Lake Michigan.^[7]

History

The current Highway 11 is the second route to be known by that name. The first Highway 11 ran from Prairie du Sac to Gotham, then to LaCrosse, and then to Superior. The route that WIS 11 currently follows was previously designated WIS 20 from the Iowa state line to Burlington. The remaining route was not a part of the state highway system at the time.^[8]

WIS 11 previously ran through downtown Janesville. A southern bypass was constructed and opened to traffic on November 11, 2002.^[8] The former route was turned back to the city and county but not given any county route designations. The bypass consisted of a two lane road between the western end and CTH-D, and four-lane roadway between CTH-D and the interstates. section of WIS 11 between I-39/I-90 and US 51 was previously numbered as WIS 351.^[9]

Major intersesctions

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Grant	Sandy Hook			US 61 / US 151 / WIS 35 north – [[Dubuque, Wisconsin|Dubuque]], Madison	WIS 35 South follow WIS 11 East
				WIS 35 south – [[East Dubuque, Illinois, Wisconsin|East Dubuque, Illinois]]	WIS 35 North follow WIS 11 West
	Sinsinawa			CTH-Z – Sinsinawa Mound
	Hazel Green			WIS 80 south – [[Galena, Illinois, Wisconsin|Galena, Illinois]]	WIS 80 North follow WIS 11 East
				WIS 80 north – Cuba City, Platteville	WIS 80 South follow WIS 11 West
Lafayette	Benton			CTH-J – New Diggings
	Shullsburg			CTH-O – [[Scales Mound, Illinois, Wisconsin|Scales Mound, Illinois]]
				WIS 23 north – Darlington	Southern terminus of WIS 23
	Gratiot			WIS 78 – Wiota, Argyle
	South Wayne			CTH-D – Lamont
Green	Browntown			CTH-M
	Monroe			CTH-N (West 6th Avenue)	Interchange
				WIS 69 south / WIS 81 west – [[Freeport, Illinois, Wisconsin|Freeport, Illinois]], Jordan Center	WIS 81 East and WIS 69 North follow WIS 11 East; Interchange
				WIS 69 north – New Glarus, Madison	WIS 69 South follow WIS 11 West; Interchange
				WIS 59 – Albany, Evansville	Interchange
	Brodhead			WIS 81 east – Beloit	WIS 81 West follow WIS 11 West
Rock				WIS 104 – Brooklyn
	Orfordville			WIS 213 – Beloit, Evansville
	Footville			CTH-B
	Janesville			US 51 – Fulton
				I-39 south / I-90 east – Beloit	WIS 11 follow I-39/90 North
				I-39 north / I-90 west – Milton	WIS 11 follow I-39/90 South
				US 14 west – Janesville	WIS 11 East follow US 14 East
	Emerald Grove			WIS 140 – Clinton
Walworth	Darien			US 14 east	WIS 11 West follow US 14 West
	Delavan			WIS 50 – Lake Geneva
	Elkhorn			WIS 67 – Whitewater, Williams Bay
				I-43
	Spring Prairie			WIS 120
Racine	Burlington			WIS 36 / WIS 83
				WIS 142
	Kansasville			WIS 75
	Union Grove			US 45
	Sturtevant			I-41 / I-94
				WIS 31 (Green Bay Road)
	Racine			WIS 32
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wisconsin Highway 11.