Wisconsin Highway 136 Explained

State:WI
Type:WI
Route:136
Length Mi:17.1
Map Custom:yes
Map Notes:WIS 136 highlighted in red
Direction A:West
Direction B:East
Terminus A: in Reedsburg
Terminus B: in Baraboo
Counties:Sauk
Previous Type:WI
Previous Route:135
Next Type:WI
Next Route:137

State Trunk Highway 136 (often called Highway 136, STH-136 or WIS 136) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It runs east–west in southwest Wisconsin from near Reedsburg to Baraboo. The route was first designated in 1917 but not as WIS 136 until 1935. The highway was extended in 2017.

Route description

The highway begins at an intersection with WIS 23/WIS 33 east of Reedsburg. From there, it runs south along Copper Creek. Where Copper Creek drains into the Baraboo River, the highway follows the river in a southeasterly direction to Rock Springs, where it intersects WIS 154 and County Trunk Highway DD (CTH-DD). The highway then runs north of the Baraboo River in an easterly direction from Rock Springs. It intersects CTH-I and continues east and then starts running along Linn Street into West Baraboo. It intersects US 12, where it starts running concurrently with WIS 33 until the concurrency ends at Pine Street, on which it runs south. The highway continues along the Pine Street alignment until it curves to the west, at which point the highway runs east from it. The highway then reaches CTH-DL, and runs concurrently with it until ending at the entrance of Devil's Lake State Park.[1]

History

A highway running near or along the Baraboo River from Reedsburg to Baraboo was designated when the state highway system was established in 1917 as part of WIS 33.[2] In 1935, WIS 33 was rerouted to the north and the bypassed section was redesignated as WIS 136. A former WIS 136 designation running from the current route near North Freedom to Prairie du Sac was downgraded to a County Trunk Highway.[3] [4]

In 2017, the route was extended onto the old US 12 route, when a freeway was built in Baraboo.

WIS 159

State:WI
Type:WI
Route:159
Length Mi:1.6
Established:1924
Decommissioned:2017
Location:Baraboo

Wisconsin Highway 159 (WIS 159) was a highway that ran from US 12 south of Baraboo to the entrance of Devil's Lake State Park.[5] The highway was first designated in 1924, as a connection between WIS 12 (later US 12[6]) and WIS 123 near its southern terminus at Devil's Lake State Park.[7] [8] In 2016, WIS 123 was decommissioned and the section between WIS 159 and the Devil's Lake State Park entrance would become part of WIS 159. In 2017, it (along with the part of US 12 between it and WIS 136) was redesignated as part of WIS 136 after US 12 was bypassed near Baraboo.[9]

Notes and References

  1. Wisconsin Department of Transportation . 2019 . Official State Highway Map . c. 1:823,680 . Madison . Wisconsin Department of Transportation . F9 . May 17, 2020 .
  2. Wisconsin State Highway Commission . Wisconsin Department of Transportation . Official map of the state trunk highway system of Wisconsin, 1918 . 1918 . c. 1:1.010,000 . I13–J13 . Madison . 388371736 . April 15, 2020 . Wisconsin Historical Society .
  3. Wisconsin State Highway Commission . Official Highway Map of Wisconsin 1934 . 1934 . 1:823,680 . Madison . 227048467 . April 15, 2020 . Wisconsin Historical Society .
  4. Wisconsin State Highway Commission . Official Highway Map of Wisconsin 1935 . 1935 . 1:823,680 . Madison . 320788595 . April 15, 2020 . Wisconsin Historical Society .
  5. Wisconsin Department of Transportation . 2017 . Wisconsin Official Highway Map . https://web.archive.org/web/20170430190948/http://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/travel/road/hwy-maps/statemap.pdf . April 30, 2017 . c. 1:823680 . Madison . May 17, 2020 . F9 .
  6. Wisconsin Highway Commission . Wisconsin State Atlas 1956 Highway Maps . 1956 . http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/68114/Sauk+County/Wisconsin+State+Atlas+1956+Highway+Maps/Wisconsin/ . Scale not given . Sauk County . Madison . Wisconsin Highway Commission . April 15, 2020 . Historic Map Works .
  7. Our Own Map of Wisconsin . Scale not given . 1923 . J16–J17 . Wisconsin Motorists Association . Wisconsin Historical Society . May 17, 2020 .
  8. Wisconsin Motorists Association . 1924 . Our Map of Wisconsin . Scale not given . J16–J17 . May 17, 2020 . Wisconsin Historical Society .
  9. News: Hill . Rebecca Powell . Major highway changes taking place around Baraboo . April 15, 2020 . Baraboo News Republic . June 8, 2016 .