Wisconsin Highway 15

State Trunk Highway 15 (STH-15, commonly known as Highway 15 or WIS 15) is a 14.8-mile (23.8km) state highway in Outagamie County in the US state of Wisconsin that runs east–west and provides a shortcut to Appleton from U.S. Highway45 (US45) for travelers inbound from points north and west. Most of WIS15 was once part of US45, which was redirected south of New London to bypass Appleton and provide direct access to Oshkosh and points south.

Route description

WIS15 begins at the junction of US45 and County Trunk Highway T (CTH-T) in the Town of Hortonia (just southeast of New London) as a four-lane divided expressway and heads southeast to Hortonville where the route runs around the northern edge of the village. Access to the center of Hortenville is provided with roundabouts at either end of the village. The route then continues southeast into Greenville. The highway intersects WIS76 in Greenville then continues southeast for one mile (1.6km) before turning east at the junction with CTH-CB. WIS15 then junctions with Interstate 41 (I-41) where it ends and Northland Avenue and CTH-OO begin in the Town of Grand Chute, just northwest of Appleton. WIS15 provides access to Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium.

History

This is the third iteration of the route number. The first iteration followed present day US41 from the Illinois border to Marinette via Milwaukee, Fond du Lac, Appleton and Green Bay. The second is the more well-known alignment following the present day I-43 from the Hale Interchange in Milwaukee to I-90 in Beloit as the Rock Freeway. From the Hale Interchange, this iteration followed I-894 northward then turned east onto National Avenue and ended in downtown Milwaukee.

Previously, the current WIS15 route was US45, which turned south at its intersection with WIS76. The later highway continued straight on to intersect with Wisconsin Avenue (then US10) at the north entrance road to the Fox River Mall in Appleton. The road was realigned as part of a large project that realigned US10 and US45. Essentially, the road south of Greenville became an extension of WIS76, and WIS15 is now the sole route number on the current stretch.

Between 2022 and 2024, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) completed an expansion and reconstruction project between US45 in New London to WIS76 in Greenville. The entire length of WIS15 was converted into a four-lane divided expressway as part of the project which was previously a two-lane undivided highway. Also included was the construction of a bypass section of Hortonville which completed in 2023; the previous alignment through Hortonville is now designated as an extension of CTH-JJ.

Future

Between 2024 and 2026, the highway's interchange with I-41 in Grand Chute will be reconstructed as a part of the wider Appleton area I-41/US41 expansion project.

Major intersections

The entire route is in Outagamie County.

See also

• U.S. Roadsportal

External links

• Media related toWisconsin Highway 15at Wikimedia Commons