U.S. Route 14 in Wisconsin

US Highway 14
Don Hutson Memorial Highway
Route information
Maintained by WisDOT
Length:	198.49 mi[1] (319.44 km)
Existed:	1926[2] – present
Major junctions
West end:	US 14 / US 61 in La Crosse
	US 53 / WIS 16 in La Crosse US 61 / WIS 131 in Readstown US 12 in Middleton US 18 / US 151 in Madison US 12 / US 18 / US 151 in Madison US 51 in Janesville I-39 / I-90 in Janesville I-43 in Darien
East end:	US 14 in Walworth
Location
Counties:	La Crosse, Vernon, Richland, Sauk, Iowa, Dane, Rock, Walworth
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Bannered Divided Replaced Wisconsin State Trunk Highway System Interstate U.S. State Scenic Rustic ← WIS 13 WIS 14 →

In the U.S. state of Wisconsin, U.S. Route 14 (normally called U.S. Highway 14, Highway 14 or US 14) runs northwest-southeast across the western to southwest portions of the state. It links La Crosse and the southwestern portion of the state with Madison and Janesville. US 14 is mostly two-lane surface road with the exception of a few multilane urban arterials and a freeway section around Madison that it mostly shares with US 12.

Route description

The La Crosse West Channel Bridge carrying US Route 14, US Route 61, Minnesota State Highway 16, and Wisconsin State Highway 16 across the Mississippi River between La Crescent, Minnesota, and La Crosse, Wisconsin. This is the river's West Channel.

US 14 enters Wisconsin from La Crescent along with US 61 and WIS 16 (linking to Trunk Highway 16). The three highways immediately junction with US 53 in the downtown area and WIS 16 continues east while US 14 along with US 61 turn southeast and out of La Crosse, linking up with WIS 35 south along the way for three miles (5 km), after a short concurrency, US 14 and US 61 turn east while WIS 35 continues south. The US routes then exit La Crosse County for Vernon County.^[3] In Vernon County, the routes passes through Coon Valley and Westby, joining with WIS 27 and turning south and passing through Viroqua. WIS 27 splits off to the southwest as US 14 and US 61 head southeast to Readstown where US 61 turns south and US 14 heads east into Richland County.^[4]

US 14 continues southeast into Richland County, bypassing Sylvan and Boaz before turning east. After a seven-mile (11 km) east trek, the highway enters Richland Center and immediately turns south. WIS 80 crosses the highway in the southern part of downtown before US 14 turns southeast and junctions with WIS 58. US 14 passes through Sextonville and turns south to collect WIS 60 at Gotham. The two highways then head east-southeast to Lone Rock where they cross WIS 130 and exit to Sauk County^[5] The routes then split at Spring Green while crossing WIS 23, with US 14 heading south into Iowa County while WIS 60 continues east.^[6] US 14 bypasses Helena and passes through Arena and into Dane County.^[7] US 14 turns southeast at Mazomanie and junctions with WIS 19, then passes through Black Earth, Cross Plains and turns east to meet US 12 east at the West Beltline Highway in Middleton, a suburb of Madison.^[8]

US 14 and US 12 follow the beltline south and around the west side of Madison and join US 18 east and US 151 north. All four US routes head east for three miles (5 km) through urban Madison where US 151 splits north to head into downtown Madison and US 12 and 18 continue east, while US 14 turns south toward Oregon on a seven-mile (11 km) stretch of freeway. the highway bypasses Oregon to the east and becomes a two lane road and enters Rock County east of Brooklyn.^[8] US 14 turns southeastward at Evansville and passes through Leyden and then takes a northeastern bypass around Janesville, crossing U.S. Route 51 in Wisconsin and meeting up with I-39, I-90 and WIS 26 at a triangle formed by the three distinct routes northeast of the city. US 14 then turns south and meets Wisconsin Highway 11. Both highways turn east and pass through Emerald Grove on the way into Walworth County^[9] US 14 turns southeast to Darien while WIS 11 continues east to Delavan. US 14 junctions with I-43 just before passing through Darien. At Walworth, the highway turns due south and heads into Illinois.^[10]

History

US 14 was signed later than the other US Routes in Wisconsin, being opened in 1933. The route replaced the old versions of WIS 11, from La Crosse to Madison, WIS 13 from Madison to Evansville, WIS 92 into Janesville, and WIS 20 and WIS 89 from Janesville to Illinois. The older WIS 14 was in existence when US 14 was opened, that was redesignated as WIS 81 and WIS 15 (the latter being the present-day I-43.^[1]

La Crosse saw a major upgrade in the Mississippi River Bridge on its west side which carried US 14 along with US 61 and WIS 16/TH 16. An additional bridge was added to the existing "Cass Street Bridge" in 2003-2004 to relieve traffic congestion that plagued the old bridge. The old bridge, which served two-lane traffic before 2004, now serves two lanes of westbound traffic and the new bridge, dubbed the "Cameron Avenue Bridge," carries two lanes of eastbound traffic along with pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Additional lanes were added to the highway between the channels of the Mississippi River.^[1]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
La Crosse	La Crosse	0	0.0		US 14 west / US 61 north / MN 16 west – La Crescent	Continuation into Minnesota
					Mississippi River Bridge
					US 53 north (4th Street South) / WIS 16 east (Cass Street)	Eastern end of WIS 16 overlap; national end of US 53
					WIS 33 east (Jackson Street)
					WIS 35 north (West Avenue South)	Northern end of WIS 35 overlap
					WIS 35 south / Great River Road south	Southern end of WIS 35 overlap
Vernon	Town of Hamburg				WIS 162 south	Western end of WIS 162 overlap
	Coon Valley				WIS 162	Eastern end of WIS 162 overlap
	Westby				WIS 27 north	Northern end of WIS 27 overlap
	Viroqua				WIS 58 / WIS 82 east	Northern end of WIS 82 overlap
	Town of Franklin				WIS 35 north	Southern end of WIS 27 and WIS 82 overlaps
	Readstown				US 61 south / WIS 131 south	Eastern end of US 61 overlap; western end of WIS 131 overlap
					WIS 131 north	Eastern end of WIS 131 overlap
Richland	Town of Dayton				WIS 171 west
	Richland Center				WIS 80
	Town of Richland				WIS 58 north
	Gotham				WIS 60 west	West end of WIS 60 overlap
	Lone Rock				WIS 130 north	Western end of WIS 130 overlap
					WIS 130 south / WIS 133 south	Eastern end of WIS 130 overlap
Sauk	Spring Green				WIS 23 north	Western end of WIS 23 overlap
					WIS 60 east	Eastern end of WIS 60 overlap
					WIS 23 south	Eastern end of WIS 23 overlap
Iowa	No major junctions
Dane	Mazomanie				WIS 78 north	Northern end of WIS 78 overlap
	Black Earth				WIS 78 south	Southern end of WIS 78 overlap
	Middleton				US 12 west	Western end of US 12 overlap
				251B	Parmenter Street	Westbound exit only
	Madison			252	Greenway Boulevard
				253	Old Sauk Road
				254	CTH-M / CTH-S (Mineral Point Road)
				255	Gammon Road
				257	Whitney Way
				258	US 18 west / US 151 south (Verona Road) / Midvale Boulevard – Dodgeville	Western end of US 18 and US 151 overlaps
				258A	Seminole Highway	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance only
				259	Todd Drive
				260	CTH-D	Eastbound exits signed 260A (south) and 260B (north)
				132 261	US 12 east / US 18 east (Beltline Highway) / US 151 north (Park Street)	Eastern end of US 12, US 18, and US 151 overlaps
	Fitchburg			133	McCoy Road	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance only
				134	Lacy Road	Opened October 18, 2012
				139	CTH-MM – Oregon, Fitchburg
	Oregon			140	WIS 138 – Stoughton
	Town of Rutland				WIS 92 – Brooklyn
Rock	Town of Union				WIS 59 east	Northern end of WIS 59 overlap
	Evansville				WIS 59 west / WIS 213	Southern end of WIS 59 overlap
	Janesville				US 51
					WIS 26
					I-39 / I-90
					WIS 11 west	Western end of WIS 11 overlap
	Town of Bradford				WIS 140 south
Walworth	Town of Darien				WIS 11 east / WIS 89 north	Eastern end of WIS 11 overlap
	Darien				I-43
	Walworth				WIS 67 north	Northern end of WIS 67 overlap
	Town of Walworth				WIS 67 south	Southern end of WIS 67 overlap
					US 14 east – Harvard	Continuation into Illinois
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Unopened

Bannered routes

Business US Highway 14
Location:	Janesville
Length:	8.4 mi[11] (13.5 km)
Existed:	c. 1963–c. 2006[11]

Business Route US 14 in Janesville was a locally posted route along what used to be mainline US 14 until the early 1950s. Currently, only the portion from I-39/I-90, east toward US 14 east of Janesville, runs along WIS 11. Northwest of Janesville, BUS US 14 runs along County Trunk Highway E (CTH-E).

Signage for BUS US 14 appears to be missing at some locations within the city. It is unknown if the route markers are currently being maintained by the city or if they are no longer being replaced as they reach the end of their lifespans.

While City US 14 became BUS US 14 in the 1960s, several City US 14 route marker assemblies remain in Janesville. Also, the first reassurance marker assembly along CTH-E also includes a sign for BUS US 14.^[11]

References

Route map: Bing / Google

U.S. Route 14
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