U.S. Route 151 in Wisconsin

Infobox road
state=WI
type=US
route=151
length_mi=
length_ref=
length_round=
maint=WisDOT
established=1926Droz, Robert V. [http://www.us-highways.com/usbt.htm U.S. Highways : From US 1 to (US 830)] . URL accessed 02:55, 4 July 2006 (UTC).]
direction_a=West
direction_b=East
starting_terminus=Iowa Border near Dubuque
junction=
ending_terminus= in Manitowoc
previous_type=WI
previous_route=150
next_type=WI
next_route=152
commons=categoryIn the U.S. state of Wisconsin, U.S. Route 151 (normally called U.S. Highway 151, Highway 151 or US 151) runs northeast-southwest across the eastern to southwest portions of the state.

Route description

It enters the state at the corner of Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin (along with US 61) and heads northeastward towards Dodgeville. U.S. 61 leaves the route about 8 miles into Wisconsin at Dickeyville. US 151 passes Platteville and Mineral Point on the way to Dodgeville. U.S. 18 joins the route at Dodgeville and they continue eastward together into Madison passing Mount Horeb and Verona. The route follows the Madison beltline (joining US 12 and US 14 for 3 miles before turning off and through downtown Madison while US 18 stayed on the beltline. Upon departure from Madison, U.S. 151 heads northeastward to Fond du Lac The road passes Sun Prairie. Columbus. and Beaver Dam . From the Fond du Lac bypass northeast to Manitowoc, the highway proceeds northward for about 15 miles near the eastern shore of Lake Winnebago, generally following what used to be Fort Howard military road, before turning eastward about 8 miles southwest of Chilton, proceeding thence roughly east to a junction with I-43 (I-43 exit #149) in southwestern Manitowoc. The road heads to downtown Manitowoc where it ends at US 10.

History

Nearly all of the portion of the route in Wisconsin has been upgraded to a four lane expressway.

Dubuque, Iowa to Madison

Over the course of several years highway 151 from the Iowa-Wisconsin border to Madison was expanded into a four lane highway. This part of the project was completed in stages. The first sections to be completed were from Madison to Dodgeville, where it overlaps U.S. 18, and from the Iowa-Wisconsin border to just outside Dickeyville, Wisconsin. Next the highway was expanded from Dodgeville to Belmont, and from there to Platteville. The last stage to be completed was the 8 mile (13 km) stretch of highway between Dickeyville and Platteville. This final stage was finished and opened by December 2005.

The upgrading of this route has led to the expansion of business along the newly created four lane highways in some communities. In Belmont, a new truck stop and hotel were built just to the north of the Belmont exit.

Madison to Fond du Lac

The stretch of road between Madison and Fond du Lac is a four-lane divided expressway or freeway. However, there are currently at-grade intersections on the Fond Du Lac Bypass portion of 151 from U.S. 41 (soon to be I-41) to the North-East corner of the city.

Since its completion in 2006, the Fond du Lac bypass portion of U.S. 151 has been plagued with accidents, including four fatalities, caused by poor design, namely the inclusion of at-grade crossings at busy intersections with county trunk highways. In 2007 Wisconsin DOT closed the medians at these intersections, preventing traffic on County Trunk Routes V and T from crossing the highway. WisDOT has begun planning for a long-term solution, which will upgrade the bypass to a freeway from US 41 to WIS 23. This will eliminate all at-grade intersections and construct free-flow interchanges with US 41 and WIS 23. WisDOT hopes to complete this study by mid-2009. cite web | author=Wisconsin Department of Transportation | title =US 151 Corridor Plan - Fond du Lac Bypass | year=2008 | month=March | format=PDF | url =http://www.dot.state.wi.us/projects/docs/ne-nl-mar2008.pdf | accessdate = 2008-04-17]

Fond du Lac to Manitowoc

From the Fond du Lac bypass northeast to Manitowoc, the highway narrows to two lanes and proceeds northward following the Eastern shore of Lake Winnebago. WI 55 joins US 151 just North of Fond Du Lac. A few miles after Brothertown WI 55 splits off of US 151 to continue Northward, as US 151 turns East towards Manitowoc. US 151, as Calumet Ave., crosses I-43 in Manitowoc. US 151 then ends at South 8th Street (also US 10) in Manitowoc, a few blocks from Lake Michigan. There are currently no plans to expand this section of the highway to four lanes.

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Exit list

Dubuque to Madison

Madison to Fond du Lac

ee also

*U.S. Route 51 in Wisconsin

References