U.S. Route 16

U.S. Highway16 (US16) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway between Rapid City, South Dakota, and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The highway's eastern terminus is at a junction with Interstate90 (I-90)/US14, concurrent with I-190, in Rapid City. The western terminus is the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park, concurrent with US14 and US20. US16 used to extend all the way to Michigan but has been truncated in favor of I-90 and I-96.

Route description

Wyoming

US16 begins at the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park, along with US14 and the eastern segment of US20. From the park, the three highways run concurrently to Cody and Greybull. In Greybull, US14 splits off to the east, while US16/US20 heads due south to Basin and Worland. In Worland, US16 splits off from US20 and heads east over Powder River Pass on its way to the city of Buffalo. After passing Buffalo, US16 arches north to the community of Ucross, meeting US14 again, before arching back south to Gillette. US16 then runs east concurrently with I-90 between Gillette and Moorcroft before heading southeast to the towns of Upton and Newcastle. The highway then heads east to the South Dakota state line. For most of the way through the state, the highway is a two-lane road. US16 is 419 miles (674km) long in Wyoming.

South Dakota

US16 is also known as Mount Rushmore Road in western South Dakota. From the state line, the highway travels near Jewel Cave, the fifth longest cave in the world. The highway goes through the city of Custer and shares alignment with US385. East of Hill City, US16 splits off US385. It then becomes a four-lane divided highway, with the two roadways separated by up to a half-mile (0.80km) in some places, including the old gold-mining town of Rockerville, which is contained entirely between the two roadways. In Rapid City, a truck bypass runs along Catron Boulevard and Elk Vale Road up to exit61 on I-90. US16 is 71 miles (114km) long in South Dakota.

The South Dakota section of US16 is defined at South Dakota Codified Laws § 31-4-138.

History

US16 originally connected Detroit with Yellowstone National Park, including a ferry link across Lake Michigan between Muskegon, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin aboard SS Milwaukee Clipper. In Michigan, the route was in use long before automobiles and was known to white settlers as the Grand River Road, and prior to the designation of U.S. Highways in 1926, had been designated as M-16 in the 1920s from Detroit to south of Muskegon. In 1938, reflectorized discs were placed on US16 every 100 feet (30m) from Detroit to Lansing, resulting in fewer nighttime traffic accidents. Other states would later do the same on their roads.

US16 initially crossed the South Dakota–Wyoming state line west of Spearfish. U.S. Highway216 (US216) was commissioned in 1930 as a loop off US16 to the south between Rapid City and Moorcroft, crossing the state line west of Custer. In 1934, US16 was moved to the US216 alignment, while the former US16 became part of an extension of US14.

In Michigan, most of US16 was superseded by I-96 and a segment of Grand River Avenue in Detroit ultimately became M-5. US16 was later decommissioned in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and eastern South Dakota to its present termini.

Between Rapid City and Dexter, Minnesota, it has been supplanted by I-90. In Faribault County, Minnesota, the highway took on another number as there was already a county highway numbered 16. Residents of the county continued referring to the road as "16" or "old 16" and eventually the county renumbered it as County Road16 (CR16). From the county's western border with Martin County, US16 continued east through the city of Blue Earth as part of 1st Street and Leland Parkway until it briefly combines with US169/Grove Street. One-half mile (0.80km) south of that point at the intersection of Grove and 7th streets, CR16 followed 7th Street and continued east to the border of Freeborn County. Most of the stretch through Faribault County was a relatively narrow two-lane highway with wide gravel shoulders that has been widened at least two times since US16 was decommissioned. East of Dexter, it is now Minnesota State Highway 16 and State Trunk Highway16 in Wisconsin. In South Dakota, it was replaced by various state highways (including South Dakota Highway 38, or SD38, and SD248) and county roads: generally, in West River, the old alignment was transferred to county responsibility entirely, while, in East River, it remained a state-maintained highway.

An older US16A in South Dakota has become SD240.

In South Dakota in 2009, the South Dakota Department of Transportation designated US16/US385 between Custer and Hill City, which passes by the Crazy Horse Memorial, now being carved in the Black Hills, as the Crazy Horse Memorial Highway. This segment of US385 is also a part of the George Hearst Memorial Highway.

Major intersections

Mileage resets at the state line crossing.

See also

Related routes

• U.S. Route 116
• U.S. Route 216

Special and suffixed routes

• U.S. Route 16A in South Dakota
• Special routes of U.S. Route 16

Notes

External links

• December 30, 2014, at theWayback Machine