In the U.S. state of Wisconsin, U.S. Highway 14 (US 14) runs northwest-southeast across the western to southwest portions of the state. It links

La Crosse La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's populat ...

and the southwestern portion of the state with

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

and Janesville. US 14 is mostly two-lane surface road with the exception of a few multilane urban arterials and a freeway section around Madison that it mostly shares with US 12.

Route description

Bridge on Mississippi River between Minnesota and Wisconsin

US 14 enters Wisconsin from La Crescent along with US 61 and WIS 16 (linking to Trunk Highway 16). The three highways immediately junction with US 53 in the downtown area and WIS 16 continues east while US 14 along with US 61 turn southeast and out of La Crosse, linking up with WIS 35 south along the way for three miles (5 km), after a short concurrency, US 14 and US 61 turn east while WIS 35 continues south. The US routes then exit

La Crosse County La Crosse County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 120,784. Its county seat is La Crosse. La Crosse County is included in the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area with ...

for Vernon County. In Vernon County, the routes passes through

Coon Valley Coon Valley is a village in Vernon County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 765 at the 2010 census. Coon Valley was hit by the floods ravaging Wisconsin in 2018. Geography Coon Valley is located at (43.701628, -91.014083). Accord ...

and Westby, joining with

WIS 27 State Trunk Highway 27 (often called Highway 27, STH-27 or WIS 27) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The highway spans a length of and is generally two-lane local road with the exception of urban multilane arterials within some ...

and turning south and passing through

Viroqua Viroqua is the county seat of Vernon County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,504 at the 2020 census. The city is in the town of Viroqua. Etymology The town was originally named “Farwell” after Leonard J. Farwell, second Gov ...

. WIS 27 splits off to the southwest as US 14 and US 61 head southeast to Readstown where US 61 turns south and US 14 heads east into Richland County. US 14 continues southeast into Richland County, bypassing Sylvan and Boaz before turning east. After a seven-mile (11 km) east trek, the highway enters Richland Center and immediately turns south.

WIS 80 State Trunk Highway 80 (abbreviated as Highway 80, STH-80 or WIS 80) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It runs north–south in southwest and west central Wisconsin from just south of Marshfield, near the geographic center o ...

crosses the highway in the southern part of downtown before US 14 turns southeast and junctions with

WIS 58 State Trunk Highway 58 (often called Highway 58, STH-58 or WIS 58) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It runs north–south in southwest Wisconsin from the Necedah to Richland Center. Route description WIS 58 starts at ...

. US 14 passes through Sextonville and turns south to collect

WIS 60 State Trunk Highway 60, often called Highway 60, STH-60 or WIS 60, is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It runs east–west in southern Wisconsin from Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi River at the Iowa state line to the ...

at Gotham. The two highways then head east-southeast to Lone Rock where they cross

WIS 130 State Trunk Highway 130 (often called Highway 130, STH-130 or WIS 130) is a state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ...

and exit to Sauk County The routes then split at

Spring Green Spring green is a color that was traditionally considered to be on the yellow side of green, but in modern computer systems based on the RGB color model is halfway between cyan and green on the color wheel. The modern spring green, when plott ...

while crossing

WIS 23 State Trunk Highway 23 (often called Highway 23, STH-23 or WIS 23) is a state highway (US), state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The route is signed as a north–south route from Shullsburg, Wisconsin, Shullsburg to Wisconsin Dells, Wisco ...

, with US 14 heading south into Iowa County while WIS 60 continues east. US 14 bypasses

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer *Helena, mother of Constantine I Places Greece * Helena (island) Guyana * ...

and passes through Arena and into Dane County. US 14 turns southeast at Mazomanie and junctions with

WIS 19 State Trunk Highway 19 (often called Highway 19, STH-19 or WIS 19) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It provides a more direct route from U.S. Highway 14 near Mazomanie east to Highway 16 at Watertown, passing around the north ...

, then passes through Black Earth, Cross Plains and turns east to meet US 12 east at the West Beltline Highway in Middleton, a suburb of

. US 14 and US 12 follow the beltline south and around the west side of Madison and join US 18 east and

US 151 U.S. Highway 151 (US 151) is a United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of Iowa and Wisconsin. The southern terminus for US 151 is at a junction with Interstate 80 (I-80) in Iowa County, Iowa, and its northern terminu ...

north. All four US routes head east for three miles (5 km) through urban Madison where US 151 splits north to head into downtown Madison and US 12 and 18 continue east, while US 14 turns south toward Oregon on a seven-mile (11 km) stretch of freeway. the highway bypasses Oregon to the east and becomes a two lane road and enters Rock County east of Brooklyn. US 14 turns southeastward at Evansville and passes through Leyden and then takes a northeastern bypass around Janesville, crossing

U.S. Route 51 in Wisconsin U.S. Highway 51 (US 51) in the U.S. state of Wisconsin runs north–south through the central part of the state. It enters from Illinois at Beloit, and runs north to its northern terminus in Hurley where it meets US 2. Much of the ro ...

and meeting up with

I-39 Interstate 39 (I-39) is a highway in the Midwestern United States. I-39 runs from Normal, Illinois, at I-55 to State Trunk Highway 29 (WIS 29) in the town of Rib Mountain, Wisconsin, which is approximately south of Wausau. I- ...

I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...

and WIS 26 at a triangle formed by the three distinct routes northeast of the city. US 14 then turns south and meets

Wisconsin Highway 11 State Trunk Highway 11 (often called Highway 11, STH-11 or WIS 11) is a state highway running east–west across southern Wisconsin. The highway connects Dubuque, Iowa with the cities of Janesville, Racine and Elkhorn. Most of the route ...

. Both highways turn east and pass through

Emerald Grove Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, ...

on the way into Walworth County US 14 turns southeast to Darien while WIS 11 continues east to Delavan. US 14 junctions with

I-43 Interstate 43 (I-43) is a Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Wisconsin, connecting I-39/ I-90 in Beloit with Milwaukee and I-41, U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) and US 141 in Green Bay. State Trunk Highwa ...

just before passing through Darien. At Walworth, the highway turns due south and heads into Illinois.

History

US 14 was signed later than the other US Routes in Wisconsin, being opened in 1933. The route replaced the old versions of WIS 11, from La Crosse to Madison, WIS 13 from Madison to Evansville, WIS 92 into Janesville, and WIS 20 and WIS 89 from Janesville to Illinois. The older WIS 14 was in existence when US 14 was opened, that was redesignated as WIS 81 and WIS 15 (the latter being the present-day I-43. La Crosse saw a major upgrade in the Mississippi River Bridge on its west side which carried US 14 along with US 61 and WIS 16/TH 16. An additional bridge was added to the existing "Cass Street Bridge" in 2003-2004 to relieve traffic congestion that plagued the old bridge. The old bridge, which served two-lane traffic before 2004, now serves two lanes of westbound traffic and the new bridge, dubbed the "Cameron Avenue Bridge," carries two lanes of eastbound traffic along with pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Additional lanes were added to the highway between the channels of the Mississippi River.

Major intersections

Special routes

Business Route US 14 in Janesville was a locally posted route along what used to be mainline US 14 until the early 1950s. Currently, only the portion from I-39/I-90, east toward US 14 east of Janesville, runs along WIS 11. Northwest of Janesville, BUS US 14 runs along County Trunk Highway E (CTH-E). Signage for BUS US 14 appears to be missing at some locations within the city. It is unknown if the route markers are currently being maintained by the city or if they are no longer being replaced as they reach the end of their lifespans. While City US 14 became BUS US 14 in the 1960s, several City US 14 route marker assemblies remain in Janesville. Also, the first reassurance marker assembly along CTH-E also includes a sign for BUS US 14.

References

External links