Rustic Road (Wisconsin)

The Rustic Road system is a system of Wisconsin scenic roads. They differ from the main trunkline highway system in that they are not meant to be major through routes, but lightly traveled local access,[1] and are to meet minimum standards for natural features. Rustic roads have lower speed limits than those on other highway systems.[2] Each route is marked by brown and yellow signs, with the route number on a small placard below the sign.[3] The letter "R" prefix is followed by the number designation. Wisconsin is the only state to have a system of rustic roads.[4] Wisconsin has a separate system of scenic byways following the development of a national system in the 1990s.[5]

Rustic Roads
Standard Rustic Road marker
Highway names
Interstates	Interstate X (I-X)
US Highways	U.S. Highway X (US X)
State	(State Trunk) Highway X (STH-X or WIS X)
County Highway:	(County Trunk) Highway X (CTH-X)
Rustic Road:	Rustic Road X (RX)
System links
Wisconsin State Trunk Highway System Interstate U.S. State Scenic Rustic

System description

The Rustic Road concept was conceived in 1973.[1] The Wisconsin State Legislature established the program to help preserve lightly traveled scenic rural roads. There are a few requirements that a road must have in order to be designated as a rustic road, such as having outstanding natural features or areas that set the road apart from other roads, be a lightly traveled road, not be scheduled for a major improvement which would change its rustic characteristics, and preferably be at least two miles (3.2 km) with a loop, completed closure, or connection to a major highway at both ends of the route.[6] The maximum speed limit established by law is 45 miles per hour (72 km/h), but can be set lower by a local government if desired.[6] Rustic roads may be dirt, gravel, or paved.[6] They can be one- or two-way and can have accommodations for bicycles and hiking adjacent to or incorporated into the road or surrounding area.[2] The designation process is initiated by application for designation by a local government.[1]

• Gallery
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  R51, Pierce County
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  R26 in autumn
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  The first Rustic Road, #1 north of Medford, was dedicated in 1975.[7]

History

The effort to identify rustic roads began in order to help local government and citizens preserve Wisconsin's scenic routes. The Rustic Roads system was established by the 1973 Wisconsin State Legislature.[3] The law created the Wisconsin Rustic Roads Board.[8] The first road was designated in 1975 in Taylor County in the Town of Rib Lake.[1] The application requires the reasons why a road should be designated, photographs, and a resolution of support from the local government.[1] A 10-member volunteer board develops the rules and standards for the roads, and enacts the final approval for each designation.[3] Before approving, two members of the board separately drive and personally assess the proposed route.[1] As of 2014, the system has 115 Rustic Roads for a total length of 665 miles (1,070 km) in 59 of the state's 72 counties.[1] At that time, the roads varied in length from 2 to 37 miles (3.2 to 59.5 km).[1]

List

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Number	Length (mi)	Length (km)	Southern or western terminus	Northern or eastern terminus	Counties	Formed	Removed	Notes
R1	5.0	8.0	CTH-D in Rib Lake	WIS 102 in Rib Lake	Taylor	01975-01-011975	current	Gravel, first Rustic Road in Wisconsin
R2	7.9	12.7	Center and Grove Streets in Burlington	WIS 83 in Waterford	Racine	—	—	Paved; three segments with 0.9 mi (1.4 km) of connecting highway
R3	3.6	5.8	CTH-E in Springfield	WIS 128 in Glenwood	Saint Croix	—	—	Paved
R4	4.0	6.4	CTH-W in Springfield	WIS 128 in Glenwood	Saint Croix	—	—	Gravel; gas a spur segment included in R4 Spur for a total mileages of 4.6 mi (7.4 km)
R4 Spur	0.6	1.0	R4 in Springfield	CTH-W in Springfield	Saint Croix	—	—	Gravel; it is included in R4 mileage and description by WisDOT
R5	3.1	5.0	WIS 164 in Waterford	WIS 36 in Wind Lake	Racine	—	—	Paved
R6	13.6	21.9	WIS 64 in Cleveland	CTH-D in Washington	Chippewa, Rusk	—	—	Paved; WisDOT lists the route stopping 0.3 mi (0.48 km) short at the Rusk County line, but it is signed to CTH–D; route is concurrent with CTH-E
R7	3.5	5.6	CTH-AB in Franklin–Montpelier	WIS 29 in Montpelier	Kewaunee	—	—	Paved
R8	3.0	4.8	Loop including CTH-IR, Sunrise Road, Pine Lane, and Westview Road in Suamico		Brown	—	—	Paved; loop route
R9	6.7	10.8	CTH-T and Brauer Road in Sevastopol–Sturgeon Bay	CTH-T and Whitefish Bay Road in Sevastopol	Door	—	—	Paved; route is concurrent with CTH-T
R10	2.5	4.0	Main Street in Summit	CTH-P in Summit	Waukesha	—	—	Paved; part of route is concurrent with CTH-B
R11	8.9	14.3	WIS 50 in Lyons	R11 / S Road in Lyons	Walworth	—	—	Paved; loop route that has two spur segments included in R11 Spur A and R11 Spur B for a total mileage as 10.3 mi (16.6 km)
R11 Spur A	0.2	0.3	R12 in Lyons	R11 in Lyons	Walworth	—	—	Paved; it is included in R11 mileage and description by WisDOT
R11 Spur B	0.3	0.5	R11 in Lyons	Walburg Road in Lyons	Walworth	—	—	Paved; it is included in R11 mileage and description by WisDOT
R12	5.7	9.2	WIS 50 in Lyons	WIS 36 in Lyons	Walworth	—	—	Paved
R13	3.0	4.8	Baer Drive in Hudson	River Road in Saint Joseph	Saint Croix	—	—	Paved
R14	2.0	3.2	CTH-A in Easton	CTH-B in New Chester–Easton	Adams	—	—	Gravel
R15	5.4	8.7	Fish Lake Road in Grantsburg	Hickerson Road in Grantsburg	Burnett	—	—	WisDOT lists portions of the route as gravel, but it appears to be fully paved
R16	6.0	9.7	CTH-O at city limits of Two Rivers	CTH-V in Two Rivers	Manitowoc	—	—	Paved; WisDOT lists the route starting 0.8 mi (1.3 km) late at the city limits of Two Rivers, but it is signed from a point parallel with 25th Street; route is concurrent with CTH-O
R17	2.7	4.3	CTH-T in Lanark	US 10 in Lanark	Portage	—	—	Paved
R18	6.8	10.9	Loop including 23rd Street, 23-24 1/2 Street, 16 1/4 Avenue, 25th Street, and 17 1/4 Avenue in Stanley and Sumner		Barron	—	—	Paved; two segments with CTH-M as a connecting highway
R19	2.3	3.7	CTH-B in Dunn	Goodland Park Road in Dunn	Dane	—	—	Paved
R20	2.9	4.7	Dreyson Road in Stoughton	Schneider Road in McFarland	Dane	—	—	Paved
R22	5.5	8.9	White River Road in Neshkoro	White River Road in Neshkoro	Green Lake	—	—	Gravel and paved portions
R23	3.6	5.8	Rural Road in Hartman Creek State Park	Rural Road in Rural	Waupaca	—	—	Paved
R24	2.7	4.3	Emmons Creek Road near Waupaca	Emmons Creek Road near Rural	Waupaca	—	—	Paved and gravel portions
R41	2.3	3.7	70th Street north of CTH-G	Eastern end of Clara Lake Drive at CTH-E	Polk	—	—	Paved and gravel sections; the road turns from north–south to east–west just north of the Hunky Dory resort and just south of the Straight River and the south end of Big Round Lake.
R61	3.3	5.3	CTH-M in Hortonville	Wisconsin Highway 76 near Stepehnsville	Outagamie	—	—	Paved
R81	2.9	4.7	WIS 39 near New Glarus	CTH-H near New Glarus	Green	—	—	Paved, known to locals as Marty Road
R116	2.2	3.5	CTH-A in Boardman	120th St	St. Croix	—	—	Travels along 140th Avenue
R117	1.8	2.9	CTH-A near Saxeville	CTH-W and 26th rd near Saxeville	Waushara	—	—	Connects with R-48

See also

•  U.S. Roads portal

References

Footnotes

1. Woldt, Jennifer K. (October 23, 2014). "Waushara County Road Seeking Rustic Designation". The Post Crescent. Appleton, WI. p. A11.
2. Rustic Roads Board (June 1, 1981). "Chapter Trans-RR 1" (PDF). State of Wisconsin. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 24, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2008.
3. Logan et al. (1995), pp. 101+
4. "Wisconsin Rustic Roads". Green Bay, WI. January 15, 2010. Wisconsin Channel/Wisconsin Public Television. WPNE-TV. Missing or empty |series= (help)
5. "Designated byways". Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
6. Logan et al. (1995), p. 103
7. "Rustic Road 1". Rustic Roads. Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
8. Logan et al. (1995), p. 105

Works cited

• Logan, Ben; Vukelich, George; Feraca, Jean; Blei, Norbert; Stokes, Bill (1995). Wisconsin's Rustic Roads: A Road Less Travelled. Boulder Junction, WI: Lost River Press. ISBN 978-1-883755-02-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

• Rustic Roads at Wisconsin Highways
• Rustic Roads at WisDOT