South end: US 51 in Janesville South end US 51 in Janesville | Length 158 km | |
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North end: I-41 / US 41 / CTH-N in Oshkosh Counties Rock County, Wisconsin, Jefferson County, Wisconsin | ||
State Trunk Highway 26 (often called Highway 26, STH 26 or WIS 26) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The route is generally two-lane with the exception of a few urban multi-lane arterials. WIS 26 provides direct access from Janesville and Oshkosh to Waupun, Watertown and Fort Atkinson.
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Route description
WIS 26 begins in downtown Janesville, Rock County at US 51 (North Parker Drive), and follows East Centerway Street, to turn northeast on Milton Ave. WIS 26 crosses US 14 and I-39 / I-90 on the northeast side of the city. WIS 26 then passes through Milton at about five miles (8 km) northeast of the Interstates. WIS 59 crosses WIS 26 in Milton. WIS 26 crosses over to Jefferson County about five miles (8 km) north of Milton. The highway turns northeast at the county line and approaches Fort Atkinson, but turns northwestward prior to entering the city, and bypasses it to the west along a two-lane road with interchanges. Direct access is provided to WIS 106 and US 12. WIS 89 crosses the route, but no direct access is provided. WIS 26 then continues north for four miles (6 km) into Jefferson, where it crosses US 18. The highway passes through Johnson Creek at the interchange with I-94. After crossing WIS 19 in Watertown, the highway crosses into Dodge County
On the Dodge County side of Watertown, WIS 26 joins WIS 16 west. The concurrency continues for eight miles (13 km) to Clyman where WIS 16 turns westward onto WIS 60 west, and WIS 60 East joins WIS 26 for one mile (1.6 km) before turning eastward. WIS 26 passes through Juneau then crosses WIS 33 three miles (5 km) north of Juneau. After eleven more miles, WIS 26 crosses US 151 and passes through Waupun. WIS 26 joins US 151 crosses into Fond du Lac County at its junction with WIS 49 in Waupun. WIS 26 joins US 151 for one mile (1.6 km) then turns north off the US route. After ten miles (16 km), the highway crosses WIS 23 in Rosendale. The highway then angles northeastward over the remaining seven miles (11 km) before entering Winnebago County Four more miles into the county the route terminates at its interchange with Interstate 41, about two miles (3 km) south of the Wittman Regional Airport, site of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.
History
The original 1917 alignment of WIS 26 mostly followed the current alignment south of Juneau, but the segment north of Juneau was directed towards Theresa. 1921 saw WIS 26 extended via Kewaskum and Waldo to end at Sheboygan - via present-day Wisconsin Highway 28. In 1924, the route was realigned. From Juneau, it followed its present alignment to US 41 and into Oshkosh, then continued north from that point along present day WIS 76 up to Greenville, turning westward onto present-day WIS 15 there to continue to New London. From there, the route followed present-day US 45, passing through Clintonville, Wittenberg, Antigo and Eagle River. The route connected with then M-26. WIS 26 was also concurrent with WIS 10 south of Janesville. 1934 saw the debut of US 45, which replaced WIS 26 from Oshkosh northward. The route was truncated on the southern end to end at Janesville in the late 1940s.
Four bypasses were constructed for WIS 26 - around Milton to the west in 2013-14, around Fort Atkinson to the west in the 1990s, around Jefferson to the west in the 2000s, and around Watertown to the west in 2012-14.