Wisconsin Highway 16

State Trunk Highway 16
Route information
Maintained by WisDOT
Length:	193.2 mi[1] (310.9 km)
Major junctions
West end:	US 14 / US 61 in La Crosse
	US 14 / US 53 / US 61 in La Crosse I-90 in La Crosse I-90 in Sparta US 12 / WIS 131 in Tomah I-90 in Tomah I-90 / I-94 in Wisconsin Dells US 12 / WIS 13 / WIS 23 in Wisconsin Dells I-39 / WIS 127 in Portage US 51 in Portage US 151 in Columbus
East end:	I-94 in Waukesha
Location
Counties:	La Crosse, Monroe, Juneau, Sauk, Columbia, Dodge, Jefferson, Waukesha
Highway system
Wisconsin State Trunk Highway System Interstate U.S. State Scenic Rustic ← WIS 15 WIS 17 →

State Trunk Highway 16 (often called Highway 16, STH-16 or WIS 16) is a Wisconsin state highway running from Pewaukee across the state to La Crosse. Much of its route in the state parallels the former mainline of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road). The highway parallels Interstate 90 (I-90) or I-94 for most of its length in the state. It serves local traffic in nearby cities including La Crosse, Tomah, Wisconsin Dells, Portage, Columbus, Watertown, Oconomowoc and Waukesha. The highway is mainly two-lane surface road or urban multi-lane expressway from La Crosse to Oconomowoc, and it is a freeway east of Oconomowoc.

Route description

The La Crosse West Channel Bridge carrying US 14, US 61, MN 16, and WIS 16 across the Mississippi River between La Crescent, Minnesota, and La Crosse, Wisconsin over the river's West Channel

WIS 16 enters from Minnesota via a connection with Trunk Highway 16 on the Mississippi River, running concurrently with US Highway 14 (US 14) and US 61. After the two US Highways turn south to follow 3rd Street in downtown La Crosse, WIS 16 passes through La Crosse via Cass and 7th streets and West Avene, crossing WIS 35 at Lang Drive. WIS 16 passes the northern edge of the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse campus, then turns north at Losey Boulevard North.^[2]

The route then turns northeastward and junctions with I-90 six miles (9.7 km) northeast of the city. WIS 16 becomes a parallel route to I-90 and passes through West Salem where it connects with WIS 108. Wisconsin Highway 162 junctions just north of Bangor. WIS 16 crosses into Monroe County in Rockland.^[3] WIS 16 enters Sparta and junctions with WIS 21, WIS 27, and WIS 71. WIS 16 provides access to the Elroy-Sparta State Bike Trail.

The route then follows I-90 very closely as a frontage road to Tomah where it junctions with WIS 131 and joins US 12. The highways continue paralleling I-90 and I-94 southeast and pass through Oakdale and into Juneau County^[4]

The freeway section of Highway 16, looking East from the Ryan Street overpass in Pewaukee, Wisconsin

WIS 16 and US 12 pass through Camp Douglas and cross WIS 80 in New Lisbon. The highways then junction with WIS 58 and WIS 82 in Mauston as they continue southeast. The routes slowly trek eastward and pass through Lyndon Station where Rocky Arbor State Park is located. The highways turn southeast again and crossing the Interstates and into Sauk County and Wisconsin Dells.^[5]

WIS 16 turns east off of US 12 onto WIS 13 north and passes through downtown Wisconsin Dells and into Columbia County. WIS 23 East also joins the highways at the same point.^[6] WIS 16 turns off from WIS 13 and WIS 23 and junctions with WIS 127 one mile (1.6 km) southeast. WIS 16 follows the Wisconsin River into Portage, meeting the other terminus of WIS 127 at the interchange with I-39.

The highway then passes through Portage, crossing WIS 33 and joining US 51 south for five miles (8.0 km). WIS 16 turns east off the US route and crosses WIS 22 in Wyocena and passes through Rio, Doylestown and Fall River. WIS 60 joins WIS 16 and together, they cross US 151, WIS 73 and junction with WIS 89 in Columbus as they enter Dodge County^[7]

WIS 16 and WIS 60 turn east and pass through the unincorporated town of Astico and Lowell. WIS 16 leaves WIS 60 and joins WIS 26 at the junction of the two highways in Clyman. WIS 16 leaves WIS 26 and bypasses Watertown to the north and east and into Jefferson County.^[8] WIS 19 terminates on WIS 16 east of Watertown.

WIS 16 passes around Ixonia, becomes an expressway, and enters Waukesha County along a bypass of Oconomowoc.^[9] WIS 67 joins the expressway north of Oconomowoc. WIS 16 turns east onto the freeway segment and passes into Hartland, crossing WIS 83 there. WIS 190, also known as Capitol Drive, terminates at WIS 16 as the freeway turns south in Pewaukee WIS 16 ends at a flyover Interchange and its traffic merges onto I-94 east near Waukesha^[10]

History

In 1918, today's alignment of WIS 16 was WIS 21 from La Crosse to New Lisbon, along with WIS 12 east of Tomah. The route from Kilbourn (Wisconsin Dells) to Clyman was WIS 29. WIS 26 followed its current alignent to Watertown and the route from Watertown to Waukesha was WIS 19.^[11] WIS 29 was extended westward to La Crosse when WIS 21 was truncated back to north of New Lisbon. When the U.S. Routes debuted in 1926, WIS 29 was removed from the books as the entire alignment was replaced by US 16.^[12] WIS 19 was truncated back to its current terminus.

The current eastern terminus of WIS 16 was the site of the dedication ceremonies for the first completed segment of Interstate 94 in Wisconsin. The segment was opened on September 4, 1958. The first major interchange on the new Interstate was originally where US 16 turned north towards Pewaukee and WIS 30 continued west with I-94. The section of US 16 between the interchange outside of Waukesha and downtown Milwaukee was truncated at the interchange in the 1960s. US 16's designation was removed from the route and replaced with the current WIS 16 in 1978.^[13]

The original WIS 16 followed present day WIS 29 from Chippewa Falls to Green Bay via Wausau and Shawano. The route then followed a route that would become US 141 to Manitowoc where it ended at then WIS 17 (present day WIS 42).^[1]

Oconomowoc bypass

The alignment of the eastern section of Highway 16 changed in late 2006 when the rest of the Oconomowoc bypass was opened to traffic. The four-lane, limited access divided highway routes Highway 16 around Lac La Belle on the west side of the city, meeting up with Highway 67 north of downtown. Eventually, the bypass will result in the removal of the state highway designation from Wisconsin Avenue through downtown Oconomowoc.

The signs for Highway 16 through downtown Oconomowoc have not yet been changed, due to the reconstruction of Wisconsin Avenue through the downtown area during the summer of 2008.^[14] As of November 2008, Oconomowoc officials and WisDOT had not yet set a firm date for the jurisdictional transfer, though it was likely that it will be done by the summer of 2009.^[15]

Currently, the limited-access highway around Oconomowoc is designated as Wisconsin Highway 16 on signage. Some signage, especially the signs located at the end of the freeway segment on West Highway 16 when a right turn must be made to continue on the bypass, say Bypass West Wisconsin Highway 16.^[16]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Exit[17]	Destinations	Notes
La Crosse	La Crosse	0	0.0		US 14 west / US 61 north / MN 16 west / I-90 Alt. west – La Crescent	Minnesota state line (La Crosse West Channel Bridge)
				Mississippi River Bridge over the Mississippi River
					US 14 east / US 61 south (3rd Street South) / Great River Road south – Viroqua, Cashton	Eastern end of US 14 / US 61 concurrency
					US 53 north / Alt. I-90 east / Great River Road north (4th Street South) – Onalaska	Eastern end of Alt. I-90 concurrency; one-block WIS 16 east / US 14 west / US 61 west / Great River Road north concurrency
					WIS 35 (Lang Drive / West Avenue)
					CTH-B (Gillette Street) / Sunset Lane	Western end of CTH-B concurrency
					CTH-B / Coneco Road – Barre Mills, La Crosse River State Trail	Eastern end of CTH-B concurrency
	Onalaska				Holiday Heights	Interchange
	La Crosse				WIS 157 west / Alt. I-90 west – Onalaska, Airport	Western end of Alt. I-90 concurrency
	Onalaska				I-90 – Minnesota, Madison, Airport	Exit 5 along I-90
	West Salem				CTH-C / Alt. I-90 (Leonard Street North)	Western end of CTH-C concurrency
	​				WIS 108 north / CTH-C – Mindoro, Melrose	Eastern end of CTH-C concurrency
	Town of Burns				WIS 162 north – Melrose	Western end of WIS 162 concurrency
					WIS 162 south / Alt. I-90 – Bangor	Eastern end of WIS 162 concurrency
Monroe	Sparta				WIS 27 / WIS 71 west / Alt. I-90 (Black River Street) – Black River Falls, Cashton	Western end of WIS 21 / WIS 71 concurrency
					WIS 21 east (Water Street) – Fort McCoy, Business District	east end of WIS 21 overlap
	​				WIS 71 east – Norwalk	Eastern end of WIS 71 concurrency
	​				I-90 – Tomah, Madison, La Crosse	Exit 28 along I-90
	Tomah				US 12 west / WIS 131 south / Alt. I-90 / Alt. I-94 west (Superior Avenue) – Black River Falls, Wilton, Amtrak Station	Western end of US 12 / Alt. I-94 concurrency
					I-90 / Alt. I-94 – Madison, La Crosse	Exit 43 along I-90
	Oakdale				CTH-N / CTH-PP / Alt. I-90 / Alt. I-94 (Oakwood Street)
Juneau	Camp Douglas				CTH-C / CTH-H – Camp Douglas	west end of CTH C / CTH H overlap
					CTH-H / Castle Street	east end of CTH H overlap
					CTH-C to I-90 / I-94 – Camp Williams, Volk Field	east end of CTH C overlap
	New Lisbon				WIS 80 north / CTH-A / Alt. I-90 / Alt. I-94 (Bridge Street) – Necedah	Western end of WIS 80 concurrency
					WIS 80 south (Monroe Street) – Elroy, Elroy-Sparta State Trail, The "400" State Trail	Eastern end of WIS 80 concurrency
	Mauston				Division Street	former WIS 58 south / WIS 82 west / CTH G
					WIS 58 / WIS 82 / CTH-G (Union Street) to I-90 / I-94
	Lyndon Station				CTH-HH to I-90 / I-94
	​				I-90 / I-94 – Tomah, Madison	Exit 85 along I-90 / I-94
Sauk	Wisconsin Dells				CTH-A	west end of CTH A overlap
					US 12 east / WIS 23 west / CTH-A / Alt. I-90 east / Alt. I-94 east – Lake Delton WIS 13 south / Alt. I-90 / Alt. I-94 – Madison	Eastern end of US 12 / CTH A / Alt. I-90 / Alt. I-94 concurrency; west end of WIS 13 / WIS 23 concurrency
Columbia					WIS 13 north / WIS 23 east / Alt. I-39 north – Wis Rapids, Montello	east end of WIS 13 / WIS 23 / Alt. I-39 concurrency
	​				WIS 127 east – Briggsville
	Portage				I-39 / WIS 127 west to I-90 / US 51 / WIS 78 – Stevens Point, Merrimac, Madison, Briggsville, Columbia Correctional Institution	I-39 exit 89; west end of Alt. I-90 overlap
					MacFarlane Road	west end of WIS 16 east / US 51 south overlap
					WIS 33 (Cook Street)
					US 51 north (DeWitt Street) to WIS 33 east	west end of WIS 16 west / US 51 north overlap
	​				US 51 south / Alt. I-39 south / Alt. I-90 east – Madison	east end of US 51 / Alt. I-39 / Alt. I-90 overlap
	Wyocena				WIS 22 – Wyocena, Madison	Interchange
	​				WIS 146 north – Cambria
	Columbus				WIS 60 west – Arlington, Lodi	Western end of WIS 60 concurrency
					US 151 – Beaver Dam, Sun Prairie, Madison	interchange; US 151 exit 118
					WIS 73 (Ludington Street) to WIS 89
Dodge	​				WIS 26 north / WIS 60 east – Juneau, Hustisford	interchange; eastern end of WIS 60 concurrency; western end of WIS 26 concurrency; WIS 16 west follows exit 52
	​				WIS 26 south (Bus. WIS 16 east) – Watertown	interchange; eastern end of WIS 26 concurrency; west end of Bus. WIS 26 overlap; WIS 16 east follows exit 45
	​				Bus. WIS 26 south to CTH-L – Watertown	interchange; east end of Bus. WIS 26 overlap
	​				To CTH-M	interchange
Jefferson	​				WIS 19 west / Bus. WIS 16 west – Watertown	interchange; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	​				Oconomowoc	interchange; west end of expressway
Waukesha	​				WIS 67 north – Oconomowoc, Mayville	interchange; western end of WIS 67 concurrency
	​				WIS 67 south / Alt. I-94 west to I-94 – Downtown Oconomowoc	interchange; eastern end of WIS 67 concurrency; west end of Alt. I-94 overlap; west end of freeway
	​			176	CTH-P (Brown Street) / Gifford Road
	​			178	CTH-P (Sawyer Road)
	Nashotah			179	CTH-C – Nashotah, Delafield
	​			181	WIS 83 / Alt. I-94 – Delafield, Chenequa
	Hartland			182	CTH-E / CTH-KC – Hartland, Merton	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				183	CTH-KC / CTH-E – Hartland, Merton	Eastbound entrance and westbound exit
	​			184	CTH-JK / CTH-KE (Jungbluth Road / North Shore Drive)
	City of Pewaukee			186	CTH-KF (Ryan Street)
	Village of Pewaukee			187	WIS 190 (Capitol Drive)
	City of Pewaukee			188	CTH-JJ / CTH-T to I-94 west / Main Street
					I-94 east – Milwaukee	I-94 exit 293C
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

Special routes

Watertown business loop

Business State Trunk Highway 16
Location:	Watertown

Business State Trunk Highway 16 (Bus. WIS 16) in Watertown follows the former alignment of Bus. US 16. The route travels south along Wisconsin Highway 26 Business (Watertown)Bus. WIS 26 (North Church Street) and east along WIS 19 (Main Street).

References

External links

Route map: Google

• Media related to Wisconsin Highway 16 at Wikimedia Commons