Wisconsin Highway 131
Route information | ||||
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Maintained by WisDOT | ||||
Length | 78.9 mi[1] (127.0 km) | |||
Existed | 1924–present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | WIS 60 in Wauzeka | |||
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North end | US 12 / WIS 16 in Tomah | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Wisconsin | |||
Counties | Crawford, Vernon, Richland, Monroe | |||
Highway system | ||||
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State Trunk Highway 131 (also called Highway 131, STH-131 or WIS 131) is a 78.9-mile (127.0 km)
WIS 131 was designated by 1924 on a road between Ferryville and Gays Mills. It was realigned and extended several times in the next twenty-five years, and by 1948 it connected Wauzeka and Tomah roughly along its present route. The highway was rerouted in northern Vernon County in the 1970s in expectation of a new dam on the Kickapoo River; however, part of the rerouting between Rockton and Ontario was put on hold when the dam project stalled in 1975. WisDOT consequently performed very little maintenance on this section of WIS 131 for the next two decades, and it fell into disrepair. The state ultimately rebuilt the highway in the early 2000s, and the refurbished highway opened in 2003.
Route description
Wauzeka to Viola
WIS 131 runs through hilly, rural terrain characteristic of the Driftless Area and
WIS 131 turns north again outside of Steuben and passes through
La Farge to Tomah
After it returns to Vernon County, WIS 131 heads north toward La Farge. It enters La Farge from the south as State Street and follows WIS 82 west for four blocks before turning north and leaving the village as Mill Street. The highway enters the Kickapoo Valley Reserve north of La Farge; it continues through the Reserve until its northern border south of Ontario.[7] WIS 131 passes through unincorporated Rockton and briefly enters the southwest corner of Wildcat Mountain State Park before reaching the village of Ontario.[8] The road crosses the Kickapoo River seven times in the 7.3 miles (11.7 km) between Rockton and Ontario.[4][9] In Ontario, WIS 131 meets WIS 33 and briefly follows it east before turning north and entering Monroe County. The highway heads north into Wilton, where it becomes concurrent with WIS 71. WIS 131 follows WIS 71 northeast out of Wilton as Walker Street, and the two highways are concurrent for 3.4 miles (5.5 km). The two highways parallel the Elroy-Sparta State Trail for most of their concurrency, and the trail crosses over the roads before they separate at a 3-way intersection northeast of Wilton.[10] WIS 131 heads due north from this intersection toward Tomah. The highway intersects with Interstate 90 (I-90) in south Tomah and enters the city as Superior Avenue. This section of WIS 131 is the busiest of its entire route; according to WisDOT, this portion had an average daily traffic of 6800 vehicles in 2017.[11] WIS 131 terminates at a four-way intersection with US 12 and WIS 16 in southern Tomah; traffic continues straight as US 12.[10]
History
WIS 131 was first designated by 1924 on a route from
In the 1970s, the federal government planned to dam the Kickapoo River between La Farge and Ontario. As WIS 131 crossed the river eleven times between these towns, the state had to relocate the highway to make way for the dam.[20] The first section of WIS 131 to be moved, between La Farge and Rockton, was realigned away from the river to the east in 1976.[21][22][23] The original highway was abandoned at first, as the dam was expected to flood the surrounding area, but was later converted to a recreational trail.[24] The state planned to relocate the portion of WIS 131 between Rockton and Ontario as well; the proposed new highway would run along the east bank of the Kickapoo River to a realigned WIS 33, which it would follow into Ontario.[25] The relocation plans were put on hold when work halted on the dam project, which was ultimately canceled in the 1990s; the federal government did not fully resolve the ownership of the underlying land until 2000.[24]
Despite continued talks of reconstructing WIS 131 in the 1980s and 1990s, the ownership issues and local opposition delayed any plans to rebuild it. In the meantime, the section between Rockton and Ontario received little to no maintenance, leaving the road with a heightened accident rate and issues with flooding.
Major intersections
County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Crawford | Wauzeka | 0.0 | 0.0 | WIS 60 – Wauzeka, Prairie du Chien, Sauk City | |
Steuben | 7.1 | 11.4 | WIS 179 west – Eastman | ||
Gays Mills | 19.3 | 31.1 | WIS 171 – Mount Sterling, Boaz | ||
US 61 south – Boscobel | Southern end of US 61 concurrency | ||||
Northern end of US 61 concurrency; western end of US 14 concurrency | |||||
31.5 | 50.7 | US 14 east – Richland Center, Madison | Eastern end of US 14 concurrency | ||
Viola | 38.9 | 62.6 | WIS 56 west – Viroqua | Western end of WIS 56 concurrency | |
Richland | 39.2 | 63.1 | WIS 56 east – Richland Center | Eastern end of WIS 56 concurrency | |
Vernon | La Farge | 45.2 | 72.7 | WIS 82 east – Hillsboro | Eastern end of WIS 82 concurrency |
45.4 | 73.1 | WIS 82 west – Viroqua | Western end of WIS 82 concurrency | ||
Ontario | 58.1 | 93.5 | WIS 33 west – Cashton | Western end of WIS 33 concurrency | |
58.2 | 93.7 | WIS 33 east – Hillsboro | Eastern end of WIS 33 concurrency | ||
Monroe | Wilton | 66.0 | 106.2 | WIS 71 west – Norwalk, Sparta | Western end of WIS 71 concurrency |
69.4 | 111.7 | WIS 71 east – Kendall, Elroy | Eastern end of WIS 71 concurrency | ||
Tomah | 78.3 | 126.0 | I-90 – La Crosse, Madison | ||
78.9 | 127.0 | US 12 / WIS 16 – Sparta, Black River Falls, Oakdale | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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See also
- U.S. Roads portal
References
- ^ a b Google (January 15, 2009). "Overview Map of State Highway 131 Distances Between Interchanges" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
- ^ a b Wisconsin Department of Transportation (January 2020). Crawford Co. (PDF) (Map). 1:100,000. Madison: Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Federal Highway Administration (September 30, 2020). National Highway System: Wisconsin (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ a b Wisconsin Department of Transportation (January 2020). Vernon Co. (PDF) (Map). 1:100,000. Madison: Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ "Kickapoo High". Best High Schools. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Wisconsin Department of Transportation (January 2020). Richland Co. (PDF) (Map). 1:100,000. Madison: Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 24, 2009.
- ^ Kickapoo Valley Reserve (n.d.). Kickapoo Valley Reserve Trail & Campsite Map (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Kickapoo Valley Reserve. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (n.d.). Wildcat Mountain State Park (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Madison: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Google (January 17, 2009). "Overview Map of State Highway 131 Between Rockton and Ontario" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved January 17, 2009.
- ^ a b Wisconsin Department of Transportation (January 2020). Monroe Co. (PDF) (Map). 1:100,000. Madison: Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Wisconsin Department of Transportation (December 5, 2020). TCMap (Traffic Count Map) (Map). Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- Rand McNally & Company (1923). "District No. 8, Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, Northeast Iowa, Northern Michigan" (Map). Rand McNally Official 1923 Auto Trails Map. [c. 1:657,000]. Chicago: Rand McNally & Company. Retrieved December 6, 2020 – via Wisconsin Historical Society.
- .
- OCLC 829937616– via Wisconsin Historical Society.
- State Highway Commission of Wisconsin (1939). Official Highway Service Map of Wisconsin(PDF) (Map). 1:538,560. Madison: State Highway Commission of Wisconsin. Retrieved February 5, 2023 – via Wikimedia Commons.
- ^ State Highway Commission of Wisconsin (1940). Official Highway Service Map of Wisconsin (PDF) (Map). 1:887,040. Madison: State Highway Commission of Wisconsin. Retrieved February 5, 2023 – via Wikimedia Commons.
- ^ State Highway Commission of Wisconsin (January 1947). Official Highway Map of Wisconsin (PDF) (Map). 1:887,040. Madison: State Highway Commission of Wisconsin. Retrieved February 5, 2023 – via Wikimedia Commons.
- ^ OCLC 232303069. Retrieved February 5, 2023 – via Wikimedia Commons.
- ^ State Highway Commission of Wisconsin (January 1949). Official Highway Map of Wisconsin (PDF) (Map). 1:887,040. Madison: State Highway Commission of Wisconsin. Retrieved February 5, 2023 – via Wikimedia Commons.
- ^ Anderson, Al. "La Farge Dam Project". Kickapoo Valley Reserve. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
- Newspapers.com.
- . Retrieved February 5, 2023 – via American Geographical Society Library Digital Map Collection.
- OCLC 174123957. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
- ^ a b "Wild Area Now Wisconsin's: Tribe to Share in Control of Kickapoo Land". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison. December 30, 2000. p. B1. Retrieved December 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Notice of Public Hearing in the Matter of a Proposed Change in the State Trunk Highway System in Vernon County: Highways 131 and 33". The La Crosse Tribune. October 21, 1971. p. 22. Retrieved December 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Marks, Jerry (Fall 2004). "STH-131: Mobility in Harmony With Economic Stewardship" (PDF). Wisconsin Transportation Builder: 8–13. Archived from the original on May 5, 2006. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Vanden Brook, Tom (September 8, 1998). "River Road Is Paved with Apprehensions: All Agree Kickapoo Valley Route Needs Fixing, but Plans Are Too Big to Some". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- ^ a b Trevelen, Ed (August 30, 2001). "Highway 131 Project to Continue: Opponents Wanted Court to Stop It". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison. p. B3. Retrieved December 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
- Geographic data related to State Trunk Highway 131 at OpenStreetMap
- WIS 131 at Wisconsin Highways