Existed: 1926 – present North end: US 2 at Moquah, WI Constructed 1926 | South end: I‑20 at Ruston, LA Length 2,070 km | |
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States: Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin | ||
U.S. Route 63 (US 63) is a 1,286-mile (2,070 km) north–south United States highway primarily in the Midwestern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at Interstate 20 in Ruston, Louisiana. The northern terminus is at U.S. Route 2 in Benoit, Wisconsin, about 60 miles (97 km) east of Duluth, Minnesota.
Contents
- Map of US Hwy 63 United States
- Louisiana
- Arkansas
- Missouri
- Iowa
- Minnesota
- Wisconsin
- History
- Major intersections
- References
Map of US Hwy 63, United States
Louisiana
U.S. 63 overlaps US 167 for its entire route in Louisiana, from Ruston north, to Junction City, at the Arkansas state line, a distance of 35 miles (56 km).
Arkansas
U.S. 63 overlaps numerous other Interstate and U.S. highways on its way from Junction City, at the Louisiana line, north to Mammoth Spring, at the Missouri line; along the way it crosses one U.S. highway twice, and just misses crossing three others twice:
Many of these concurrencies and multiple crossings occurred when the south end of U.S. 63 was extended from Turrell to Ruston in 1999, in a very different direction from the Mammoth Spring-to-Turrell segment; the only non-concurrent parts of the extension are from Hazen to Stuttgart (formerly Arkansas Highway 11) and Pine Bluff to El Dorado (formerly Arkansas Highway 15). In addition, U.S. 63 from Jonesboro (including the U.S. 49 concurrency) to Turrell is now designated as Interstate 555, which involved building service roads and a few other upgrades to interstate standards. It has been questioned as to whether or not U.S. 63 will be rerouted to eliminate the dogleg from Jonesboro to West Memphis to Hazen. Possible reroutings could be U.S. 63/49 from Jonesboro to Brinkley and U.S. 63/70 from Brinkley to Hazen or U.S. 63/AR 1 from Jonesboro to Forrest City and U.S. 63/70 from Forrest City to Hazen.
Missouri
The highway passes south-to-north through Missouri, from Arkansas to Iowa, serving cities such as Rolla, Jefferson City, Columbia, Moberly, Macon, and Kirksville. Notable routes that are intersected include U.S. Route 60 in Howell County, Interstate 44 at Rolla, U.S. Route 50 (which it shares a concurrency with into Jefferson City south of the Missouri River until it reaches the junction with U.S. 54), U.S. Route 54 (which it overlaps in Jefferson City from the junction with U.S. Route 50 and crosses the Missouri River with on the Jefferson City Bridge), Interstate 70 at Columbia, U.S. Route 24 at Moberly, U.S. Route 36 at Macon, and U.S. Route 136 at Lancaster.
The road enters the state (passing the Oregon County line) at Thayer and has alternating passing lanes from here to West Plains. From West Plains through Cabool, the road (concurrent with U.S. 60 from Willow Springs to Cabool) is four lanes. North of Cabool, the highway returns to alternating passing lanes until it reaches Rolla. As the road enters Rolla, it becomes Bishop Avenue, although it is four lanes that change to two lanes near Stonehenge at the university. Also in Rolla, it shares a second concurrency — one with Business 44 — from Kingshighway to I-44. As it leaves Rolla, it is still two lanes as it intersects with Highway 42 at Vienna and Highway 133 at Westphalia. Then finally, it has its concurrency with U.S. 50. Through Jefferson City up until Kirksville (excepting downtown Macon, where it returns to two-lane pavement), this highway remains on four-lane divided highway with some freeway sections in both Jefferson City and Columbia.
In Columbia, the highway has a short business loop. However, there is no access to Interstate 70 from the actual highway, but with the business route, there is. At the short route's southern terminus, there is a northbound exit and a southbound entrance and at the northern one is southbound exit and a northbound entrance. Along the road, there are three traffic light junctions (at I-70 Drive SW, I-70, and Clark Lane).
The highway leaves Boone County and enters Randolph County remaining a divided highway. U.S. 63 upgrades to a freeway for about four miles as it passes through Moberly. It has a business route for Moberly (which passes right through Renick) and intersects the traffic light with US 24 in Moberly before rejoining U.S. 63 about a mile later.
U.S. 63 enters Macon County just north of Jacksonville. It remains a divided highway through Macon County except the Macon city area where it narrows to four or three undivided lanes for about five miles. In Macon, the highway intersects U.S. 36 which is part of the Chicago-Kansas City Expressway (also designated MO Highway 110). Just north of La Plata, U.S. 63 enters Adair County. Then south of Kirksville the highway splits into U.S. 63 and Business 63. U.S. 63 narrows to two lanes as it bypasses central Kirksville near the city's eastern boundary. Northbound Business 63 narrows to a one lane "flyover" ramp as it crosses over northeast bound U.S. 63. Then Business 63 returns to four-lane divided highway for about a mile before it narrows into Baltimore Street and passes through Kirksville before rejoining U.S. 63 at an interchange near the city's northern limits. From there, U.S. 63 continues north on two lanes entering Schuyler County. After passing through Queen City, the highway enters Iowa about five miles north of Lancaster.
U.S. 63 in Missouri was Route 7 from 1922 to 1926.
Iowa
U.S. 63 passes south-to-north through Iowa. It enters the state from Missouri south of Bloomfield. Between Ottumwa and Oskaloosa, the highway overlaps Iowa Highway 163. This segment is an expressway which connects Des Moines with Burlington, with freeway bypasses of Ottumwa and Eddyville. Near Malcom, U.S. 63 meets Interstate 80. Only a few miles later, it joins U.S. 6 westbound for several miles near Grinnell, then goes north again. At Toledo, it intersects U.S. 30 and at Waterloo, U.S. 63 meets U.S. 20. An expressway section opened in October 2012, completing the four-lane link between Waterloo and New Hampton. The highway enters Minnesota just north of Chester.
Minnesota
U.S. 63 enters Minnesota from Iowa south of Spring Valley. After meeting Interstate 90, U.S. 63 serves the local airport and then intersects with U.S. Route 52. In this area, U.S. 63 is an expressway, but plans are to upgrade the highway to a freeway between Stewartville and the U.S. 52 interchange. In 2014, U.S. 63 was rerouted around downtown Rochester, running concurrently with U.S. 52 to 75th St NW, jutting back to the east to the existing route. North of Rochester, the highway meets U.S. Route 61 at Lake City. From there, the two routes run concurrent to Red Wing, where U.S. 63 turns north and crosses the Mississippi River to enter Wisconsin over the Eisenhower Bridge.
The Minnesota section of U.S. 63 is defined as Routes 59 and 161 in Minnesota Statutes §§ 161.114(2) and 161.115(92).,
Wisconsin
U.S. 63 enters Wisconsin south of Hager City. Near Baldwin, U.S. 63 intersects Interstate 94. The highway briefly overlaps near Spooner with U.S. Route 53. At Trego, they separate and U.S. 63 runs southwest to northeast, ending near Benoit at U.S. Route 2.
History
Though US 63 as a stand-alone highway had always ended at Turrell, Arkansas before the 1999 extension, in the past it was concurrent with US 61/US 64/US 70/US 79 (and later I-55) on into Memphis, Tennessee, over the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge. Unlike the 1999 extension, this concurrency to Memphis was generally in line with the rest of US 63. Though some maps continued to show this concurrency until 1999, Arkansas had not recognized US 63 south of Turrell for many years, since at least the 1960s.