Wisconsin Highway 57

Wisconsin Highway 57 (often called Highway 57, STH-57 or WIS 57) is a 191.82-mile-long (308.70 km) state highway Wisconsin, United States. It runs from its southern terminus at Wisconsin Highway 59 in Milwaukee to its northern terminus at Wisconsin Highway 42 in Sister Bay. Much of WIS 57 parallels Interstate 43 and WIS 42, particularly from Saukville to its northern terminus in Sister Bay. The highway is concurrent with I-43 for 12 miles (19 km) in Ozaukee County. Like most Wisconsin state highways, WIS 57 is maintained by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT).

State Trunk Highway 57
WIS-57 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by WisDOT
Length	191.82 mi[1] (308.70 km)
Existed	1918 (1918)[2]–present
Tourist routes	Lake Michigan Circle Tour
Major junctions
South end	WIS 59 in Milwaukee
	I-94 in Milwaukee US 18 in Milwaukee I-43 / WIS 190 in Milwaukee I-43 / WIS 32 / WIS 167 in Mequon I-43 in Saukville US 151 in Chilton US 10 in Forest Junction US 141 / WIS 29 in Green Bay I-43 in Green Bay WIS 42 around Sturgeon Bay
North end	WIS 42 in Sister Bay
Location
Counties	Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Calumet, Brown, Kewaunee, Door
Highway system
Wisconsin State Trunk Highway System Interstate U.S. State Scenic Rustic ← WIS 56 WIS 58 →

WIS 57 serves as a major highway in eastern Wisconsin, and it was originally designed to connect the major cities of Milwaukee and Green Bay as well as several other large cities along its corridor. The state of Wisconsin proposed that the WIS 57 route become an Interstate Highway corridor when the Interstate Highway System was planned in the 1950s; the state's plan was rejected in favor of the current routing of Interstate 43. WIS 57 is also a major route to the popular tourist destination of Door County; it is one of only two state highways to serve the county.[3]

History

When the Wisconsin State Highway system was laid out in 1918, WIS 57 ran from Racine north to Milwaukee along a route that later became U.S. Route 41 and is now Wisconsin Highway 241.[2] By 1921, WIS 57 had been significantly expanded. It was extended northward from Milwaukee to Green Bay along what is generally its present-day route and southward from Racine to the Illinois state line. WIS 57 grew even more in 1923, when the state extended the highway northward from Green Bay to the Michigan state line. However, WIS 57 did not keep this alignment for very long. In 1927, when the U.S. Highway System was established in Wisconsin, WIS 57 was shortened at both ends. The section between Green Bay and Michigan became U.S. Route 141, and the section south of Milwaukee became part of US 41.

WIS 57 replaced WIS 78 in the Door Peninsula in 1930, reaching its present-day terminus in Sister Bay. This routing from Milwaukee to Sister Bay stayed mostly the same until the 1990s, with a few minor exceptions. WIS 57 was rerouted onto its current alignment between Hilbert and Askeaton in 1932, replacing a former routing to Hollandtown; the original routing was replaced by county roads. The highway was also realigned between Plymouth and Kiel in 1956, and the former route became part of WIS 67.

When the federal government was planning the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s, Wisconsin proposed that the WIS 57 corridor become the route of an interstate highway. The state wanted an interstate to connect Milwaukee and Green Bay, two of Wisconsin's largest cities. Their plan chose the WIS 57 route over the nearby US 41 and US 141 corridors; the state did not want the interstate's route to favor either the port cities of Manitowoc and Sheboygan or the inland cities of Appleton, Fond du Lac and Oshkosh. Wisconsin wanted to designate the highway as Interstate 57 to preserve the highway's number; while this numbering would have fit in the west–east Interstate number scheme, an Interstate 57 was already planned in Illinois and Missouri. The state's proposal was ultimately rejected, and Interstate 43 was built on the US 141 corridor along the lakeshore instead.[1] The US 41 corridor eventually became Interstate 41 in 2015, providing interstate access to all the cities the WI 57 routing would not have favored.

WisDOT rerouted WIS 57 in south Ozaukee County during the early 1990s in response to local municipalities who complained about heavy traffic on the road. This realignment signed the highway along WIS 167 and Interstate 43 to avoid entering the downtown areas of Mequon, Thiensville, Grafton and Cedarburg. WIS 57's former routing became a municipal road. This realignment plan also turned WIS 143 over to the county and extended WIS 181 northward from WIS 167 to WIS 60.[4]

Lake Michigan Circle Tour sign in Nasewaupee along the expanded highway

A WisDOT project rebuilt and widened the stretch of WIS 57 between WIS 54 and WIS 42, between Sturgeon Bay and Green Bay, a primary route to the Door Peninsula, to four lanes between 1999 and 2008.[5] This section had been a two-lane highway, but traffic during the vacation season caused long delays and made an expansion necessary. The heavy traffic also resulted in the deaths of eighteen people on this section between 1994 and 1997, earning the highway the nickname "Bloody Route 57" among locals.[6] The results of extensive archeological excavations made in connection with the project are detailed along with a discussion of the highway expansion in informational kiosks at the County C Park & Ride lot in Door County and at Wequiock Falls in Brown County.[7] The project began in 1999 when the interchange between WIS 54 and WIS 57 was rebuilt as Phase I of the project.[8] Phase 2 widened WIS 57 to four lanes on the 8 miles (13 km) between WIS 54 and Dyckesville during 2002 and 2003.[9] The first section of four-lane road officially opened on December 2, 2003.[10] WisDOT then began Phase 3 of the project, which widened the rest of the highway through the WIS 42 junction. The first part of this phase, a 6-mile (9.7 km) bypass of Dyckesville that reached the Door-Kewaunee county line, opened on December 1, 2006.[11] The entire project was completed on October 6, 2008, when the last 11-mile (18 km) section near Sturgeon Bay was officially opened.[12]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[13][14]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Milwaukee	Milwaukee	0.0	0.0		WIS 59
		0.8	1.3		I-94	Access to I-94 via St. Paul Avenue
		1.5	2.4		US 18 west	Southern end of concurrency with US 18
		2.2	3.5		US 18 east	Northern end of concurrency with US 18
		3.1	5.0		WIS 145 south	Southern end of concurrency with WIS 145
		3.4	5.5		WIS 145 north	Northern end of concurrency with WIS 145
		6.2	10.0		WIS 190 – Pewaukee
		6.3	10.1		I-43 south	Northbound entrance ramp can be accessed via WIS 190 and 7th Street
	Brown Deer	13.0	20.9	—	WIS 100 – Wauwatosa	Interchange
Ozaukee	Thiensville	16.2	26.1		WIS 167 west – Holy Hill	Southern end of concurrency with WIS 167
		19.3	31.1	85	I-43 south / WIS 32 south / WIS 167 ends / LMCT	Southern end of concurrency with I-43 and WIS 32; northern end of concurrency with WIS 167
	Town of Grafton			89	CTH-C – Cedarburg
	Ulao	26.2	42.2	92	WIS 60 west – Cedarburg
	Grafton	27.6	44.4	93	WIS 32 north / CTH-V south / LMCT – Port Washington, Grafton	Northern end of concurrency with WIS 32
	Saukville	30.7	49.4	96	WIS 33 – Saukville, Port Washington
		31.5	50.7		I-43 north	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; northern end of concurrency with I-43
Sheboygan	Random Lake	43.3	69.7		WIS 144 west – West Bend
	Waldo	50.9	81.9		WIS 28 south – Kewaskum	Southern end of concurrency with WIS 28
		51.4	82.7		WIS 28 north – Sheboygan	Northern end of concurrency with WIS 28
	Plymouth	56.6	91.1		WIS 23 – Fond du Lac, Sheboygan
Manitowoc	Millhome	66.2	106.5		WIS 32 south	Southern end of concurrency with WIS 32
	Kiel	69.8	112.3		WIS 67	Roundabout
Calumet	Chilton	81.0	130.4		US 151 north – Manitowoc	Southern end of concurrency with US 151
		81.8	131.6		US 151 south – Fond du Lac, Madison	Northern end of concurrency with US 151
	Hilbert	89.4	143.9		WIS 114 west – Neenah
	Forest Junction	94.5	152.1		US 10	Roundabout
Brown	Greenleaf	102.3	164.6		WIS 96 – Wrightstown, Denmark	Roundabout
	De Pere			—	CTH-PP south (Broadway Street) – Reedsville	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		112.1	180.4		WIS 32 north (Main Avenue)	Northern end of concurrency with WIS 32
	Allouez	114.4	184.1		WIS 172 – Hobart
	Green Bay	116.9	188.1		WIS 54 west	Southern end of concurrency with WIS 54
		117.4	188.9		WIS 29 west – Shawano	Southern end of concurrency with WIS 29
		117.7	189.4		US 141 east / WIS 29	Northern end of concurrency with WIS 29
		120.6	194.1	—	I-43 / LMCT – Milwaukee	Southwestern end of freeway
				—	University Avenue; Nicolet Drive
				—	CTH-EA (Huron Road/Bay Settlement Road)
		125.1	201.3	—	WIS 54 east / CTH-I west – Algoma, Luxemburg	Northern end of concurrency with WIS 54, northeastern end of freeway, southern end of Expressway
	Town of Green Bay			—	CTH-P south / CTH-DK north – Dyckesville
Kewaunee	No major junctions
Door	Maplewood	154.1	248.0		WIS 42 south / LMCT – Algoma	Southern end of concurrency with WIS 42
	Sturgeon Bay	159.1	256.0	—	Bus. WIS 42 / Bus. WIS 57	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
				Bridge over Sturgeon Bay
		163.5	263.1		Bus. WIS 42 / Bus. WIS 57	Roundabout
	Sevastopol	164.9	265.4		WIS 42 north / LMCT – Egg Harbor, Fish Creek	Northern end of concurrency with WIS 42
	Sister Bay	191.82	308.70		WIS 42 / LMCT – Ephraim, Ellison Bay
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

Special routes

Shield for Business Highway 42/57

Michigan Street Bridge

Wisconsin Highway 57 has one special route, Wisconsin Business Highway 42/57 in Sturgeon Bay. Business Highway 42/57 is 3.55 miles (5.71 km) long[15] and connects to downtown Sturgeon Bay, which WIS 42 and WIS 57 bypass. It is cosigned as a business route of both WIS 42 and WIS 57 because it splits off of the concurrency of the two highways at both of its ends. Like most auxiliary state highways in Wisconsin, Business Highway 42/57 is locally maintained.

Business Route 42/57 crossed Sturgeon Bay via the Michigan Street Bridge, a historic drawbridge near downtown Sturgeon Bay, until September 2008. This bridge was built in 1930 and is 1,420 feet (430 m) long.[16] The bridge is one of only three crossings of Sturgeon Bay, the others being the WIS 42/WIS 57 bridge and the recently opened Maple and Oregon Streets Bridge. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 17, 2008.[17] The bridge was closed to all traffic in July 2008 when structural problems were found in its supports, though it was reopened to light traffic after two days.[18] It was again closed to all traffic when the Maple and Oregon Streets Bridge opened in September 2008, and Business Highway 42/57 was expanded over this bridge while the older bridge was repaired.[19]

See also

• List of state highways in Wisconsin
• Door County Coastal Byway (WIS 42 and 57 north of Sturgeon Bay to Northport is classified as a Coastal Byway)

References

1. Bessert, Christopher J. "Highways 50–59". Wisconsin Highways. Retrieved March 20, 2007.
2. Original State Trunk Highway System in Wisconsin (Map). Southeast Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. 1918. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
3. Door Co (PDF) (Map). Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 28, 2008. Retrieved November 2, 2008.
4. Devine, Matt (December 22, 1992). "Plans Afoot to Get Highway 57 Out of a Jam". Milwaukee Journal.
5. "WIS 57 Expansion Project". Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on May 5, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2008.
6. Jones, Meg (September 14, 1997). "Heavy Traffic, 2 Lanes to Door a Fatal Mix: Those Who've Lost Kin to Highway 57 Say Widening Can't Come Too Soon". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
7. Interpretive Kiosk panels online
8. Walters, Steven (June 6, 1998). "Road Projects in Northeast Wisconsin Get Lift: Tax Money to Allow Faster Completion of Highway 57 Work, Governor Announces". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
9. Brinkmann, Paul (May 5, 2003). "Wis. 57 Project Will Widen Road, Lengthen Drive". Green Bay Press-Gazette.
10. Brinkmann, Paul (December 3, 2003). "Widened Stretch of 57 Opens Today for Traffic". Green Bay Press-Gazette.
11. Green Bay Press-Gazette Staff (December 1, 2006). "Wis. 57 Bypass Project Completed". Green Bay Press-Gazette.
12. Bintz, Ramelle (October 7, 2008). "Final Piece of Four-Lane Road to Door Co. Opens". Green Bay Press-Gazette.
13. Google (December 13, 2010). "Overview Map of Wisconsin Highway 57 between Milwaukee and Hilbert" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
14. Google (December 13, 2010). "Overview Map of Wisconsin Highway 57 between Hilbert and Sister Bay" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
15. Bessert, Christopher J. "Business Connections". Wisconsin Highways. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
16. "Sturgeon Bay bridge projects". Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on June 3, 2008. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
17. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
18. "Sturgeon Bay Bridge Reopens". Green Bay, WI: WFRV-TV. July 23, 2008. Retrieved November 7, 2008.
19. Kubisiak, Kristen (September 22, 2008). "Residents Come Out to Give Bridge a Test Drive". Green Bay Press-Gazette.

External links

Media related to Wisconsin Highway 57 at Wikimedia Commons