State Road 63 (SR 63) in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
is a north–south route in the western portion of the state. Until mid-2008, it covered a distance of just over , but now is a discontinuous route. For , from the city of
Terre Haute
Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...
until it rejoins
U.S. Route 41
U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, ...
(US 41) near
Carbondale, it is a four-lane divided highway and replaces US 41 as the major north–south artery in this portion of the state.
Route description
Only the divided highway section of SR 63 from US 41 in Terre Haute to US 41 north of Attica is included as a part of the
National Highway System (NHS),
a network of highways identified as being most important for the economy, mobility and defense of the nation.
The highway is maintained by the
Indiana Department of Transportation
The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Indiana charged with maintaining and regulating transportation and transportation related infrastructure such as state owned airports, List of numbered ...
(INDOT) like all other state roads and US highways in the state. The department tracks the traffic volumes along all state highways as a part of its maintenance responsibilities using a metric called
average annual daily traffic
Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a y ...
(AADT). This measurement is a calculation of the traffic level along a segment of roadway for any average day of the year. In 2010, INDOT figured that lowest traffic levels were the 700 vehicles and 40 commercial vehicles used the highway daily near the southern terminus. The peak traffic volumes were 14,900 vehicles and 1,980 commercial vehicles AADT along the section of SR 63 immediately north of the US 41 in Terre Haute.
Southern section
SR 63 starts in the small town of
Merom in
Sullivan County at the western terminus of
SR 58. The highway heads east from the southern terminus on Poplar Street and takes a sharp curve heading due north. The road heads north on Fifth Street leaving Merorn and the highway becomes a narrow two-lane rural highway. The road passes through farmland with a few houses along the way towards Prairie Creek. The highway passes through an intersection with
SR 154. North of SR 154, the route begins to turn more northeasterly, before turning due north again. The road has an intersection with the western terminus of
SR 48. The northern terminus of the southern section of SR 63 is at an
all-way stop
An all-way stop – also known as a four-way stop (or three-way stop etc. as appropriate) – is a traffic management system which requires vehicles on all the approaches to a road intersection to stop at the intersection before proceeding throu ...
with the western terminus of
SR 246.
Northern section
The southern terminus of the northern section is at an interchange with US 41, just north of the traffic light at Maple Avenue in Terre Haute. The highway heads northwest as a four-lane expressway, paralleling the west bank of the
Wabash River
The Wabash River ( French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows fro ...
. The expressway passes through rural farmland and woodland, with a few houses. The route curves north-northeast near a traffic light at
SR 163, then bypasses
Clinton and curves back north. North of Clinton the expressway passes by the
Clinton Airport
Clinton Airport was a privately owned, public-use airport located north of the central business district of Clinton, a city in Vermillion County, Indiana, United States.
Facilities and aircraft
Clinton Airport covers an area of at an ele ...
and a folded-diamond interchange at
US 36. The route turns northwest bypassing
Newport, followed by an intersection with the north terminus
SR 71. After SR 71, the road heads north and has an intersection at
SR 234, just east of
Cayuga Cayuga often refers to:
* Cayuga people, a native tribe to North America, part of the Iroquois Confederacy
* Cayuga language, the language of the Cayuga
Cayuga may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Cayuga, Ontario
United States
* Cayuga, Illinois ...
. The highway has an interchange with
Interstate 74
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Interstate 74 (I-74) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western end is at an interchange with I-80 in Davenport, Iowa (Quad Cities); the eastern end of its Midwest segment is at an interchange ...
and a diamond interchange with
US 136, just west of
Covington. North of the interchange at US 136, the road has an intersection with
SR 263, also known as old SR 63. The expressway has an intersection at
SR 28, northwest of
West Lebanon. The road has another intersection with SR 263 and then ends at an interchange with US 41. At its northern terminus, it rejoins US 41 in northern
Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War:
* Warren County, Georgia
* Warren County, Illinois
* Warren County ...
, near the small town of
Carbondale. At this point, US 41 once again becomes a four-lane divided highway, taking over from SR 63.
History
Before 1973, the state road from US 41 in Terre Haute to US 41 north of West Lebanon was two-lanes. In 1973, the State of Indiana began to build a four-lane divided highway in this area, the rest of the road stayed two-lanes. The expressway was completed in 1978, and some of the old route was designated as
SR 263, to serve the towns bypassed. The road was one section until 2008 when the State of Indiana decommissioned the section from SR 246 south of Terre Haute to US 41 at the north end of Terre Haute.
Major intersections
References
External links
{{Attached KML
063
Transportation in Sullivan County, Indiana
Transportation in Vigo County, Indiana
Transportation in Vermillion County, Indiana
Transportation in Warren County, Indiana