U.S. Route 24

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U.S. Route 24
Length: 1540[1] mi (2478.3 km)
Formed: 1926[1]
West end: Interstate 70,
U.S. Route 6 near Minturn, CO
Major
junctions:		 I-25 at Colorado Springs, CO

I-35 at Kansas City, MO
I-74 at Peoria, IL
I-69 at Fort Wayne, IN
I-94 near Taylor, MI
North end: Interstate 75 near Clarkston, MI
United States Numbered Highways
List - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

U.S. Route 24, a dual north-south/east-west route, is one of the original United States highways of 1926.[2] It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Missouri, in the west; today, it runs from Clarkston, Michigan, to Minturn, Colorado. The transition from north-south to east-west signage is in Toledo, Ohio.

As of 2004, the highway's northern terminus is west of Clarkston, Michigan, at an intersection with I-75. Its western terminus is near Minturn, Colorado at an intersection with I-70.

Contents

[edit] Route description

Major cities

[edit] Colorado

Main article: U.S. Route 24 in Colorado
U.S. Route 24 near Woodland Park, Colorado, viewed from Pike's Peak
U.S. Route 24 near Woodland Park, Colorado, viewed from Pike's Peak

In Colorado, US 24 runs from Interstate 70 (and implicitly, U.S. Route 6) at Minturn south to the Continental Divide at Tennessee Pass. It continues south to Johnson Village and then joins with U.S. Route 285 northbound to the Trout Creek Pass. After the pass, US 24 separates from US 285 and continues east to Colorado Springs and then northeast to Limon, where US 24 joins I-70 for most of the rest of its routing to the Kansas state line.

When the United States Highway System was started in 1926, US 24 in Colorado was designated U.S. Route 40S. It began in Grand Junction and went east along the current Interstate 70 corridor to Minturn, from which it follows the current route to Limon. From Limon east to the Kansas border, the current US 24 was designated U.S. Route 40N. US 40S west of Limon and US 40N east of Limon received the US 24 designation in 1936, when US 24 was extended west from Kansas City, Missouri. The segment between Grand Junction and Minturn was decommissioned in 1975.

[edit] Kansas

Main article: U.S. Route 24 in Kansas

In Kansas, US-24 enters from Colorado west of Kanorado; it overlaps I-70 for 45 miles (72 km) to Colby. US-24 does not meet I-70 again until the Kansas City, Kansas bridge over the Kansas River. US-24 serves the northern sides of Manhattan, Topeka and Lawrence.

The original designation for the current US-24 route in Kansas was U.S. Route 40N. It went from the Colorado border to Manhattan. In 1936, U.S. Route 24 received its current designation after an extension west from Kansas City.

In Kansas, US-24 is merged with US-59 from Williamstown to a place in North Lawrence called Teepee Junction. From there it is merged with US-40 until Kansas City, Kansas.

US-24 in Kansas is a violation of AASHTO numbering standards.[citation needed] The highway runs south of US-36, which hugs the Kansas/Nebraska border throughout the state.

[edit] Missouri

In Missouri, US 24 serves Kansas City, Independence, Lexington, Waverly, Carrollton, Moberly, Monroe City and West Quincy. It is concurrent with U.S. Route 65 between Waverly and Carrollton, passing over the Missouri River via the Waverly Bridge when concurrent. It is also concurrent with U.S. Route 36 east of Monroe City and with U.S. Route 61 from south of Palmyra to West Quincy. The segment shared with US 61 is part of the Avenue of the Saints.

[edit] Illinois

Main article: U.S. Route 24 in Illinois

In Illinois, U.S. Route 24 runs west across the Quincy Bayview Bridge and east across the Quincy Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River in Quincy. The cable-stayed Bayview Bridge brings westbound US 24 over the Mississippi River. Eastbound traffic is served by the older Quincy Memorial Bridge.

As of 2006, it is the main arterial highway from Quincy northeast to Peoria. From Peoria, US 24 runs directly east through a number of small towns en route to Indiana and Fort Wayne, Indiana, the next major metropolitan center. US 24 crosses into Indiana at the state line east of Sheldon.

[edit] Indiana

In Indiana, U.S. Route 24 runs east from the Illinois state line to Huntington. At Huntington, U.S. 24 turns northeast and runs to Fort Wayne; it then overlaps Interstate 69 and Interstate 469 to bypass the city before entering Ohio at the state line northeast of Fort Wayne. The segment of U.S. 24 between Logansport and Toledo, Ohio is part of the Hoosier Heartland Industrial Corridor project of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act.

[edit] Ohio

In Ohio the roadway enters the state east of Woodburn, Indiana near Antwerp. Between the Indiana state line and Toledo, this portion of the roadway is known as the Fort to Port segment of the Hoosier Heartland Industrial Corridor. At Toledo, US 24 turns north until it crosses the Michigan state line. At the municipal level, US 24 is known as "Detroit Avenue" on most of its path through Toledo, at the point where it turns north it becomes known as "Telegraph Road." It is known as Telegraph road from this point on, through the rest of the path north through Michigan until its northern terminus.

[edit] Michigan

Main article: U.S. Route 24 in Michigan

In Michigan U.S. Route 24 enters from Toledo, Ohio and serves the city of Monroe and the Detroit Metro Area.

[edit] History

Between Dixie Highway in Pontiac, Michigan and Laskey Road in Toledo, Ohio, the highway is known as Telegraph Road (see U.S. Route 24 in Michigan), its name before the highway system existed. Mark Knopfler of the pop group Dire Straits wrote the song "Telegraph Road", about the development and decay of the road, which he spotted en route to a concert. It is a major surface route through western areas of Metro Detroit. The highway has 8 lanes and is often busy, particularly during rush hour.

US 24 (Telegraph Road) west of Detroit, Michigan served as a testing ground for the Michigan Left. Several other channelization techniques are also used; for instance the M-153 (Ford Road) intersection includes a southbound jughandle and a cutoff for northbound left-turning traffic. [3]

US 24 from Minturn, Colorado to Limon, Colorado is a former route of U.S. Route 40S. Between Limon and Manhattan, Kansas, US 24 follows the old route of US 40N.

As Michigan enacted alcohol prohibition earlier than Ohio, for a time this road was notorious for its use by bootleggers, bringing booze from Cincinnati and Cleveland into Detroit.[citation needed]

[edit] Future

In Missouri, with the passage of Proposition 36B, the portion of US 24 that overlaps US 36, from the Rocket Junction 7 miles (11 km) west of Hannibal, Missouri to Monroe City, Missouri, will be upgraded to a 4-lane expressway highway by December 31, 2010.

[edit] Fort-to-Port (Ohio/Indiana)

 This article contains information about a planned or expected future road.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the road's construction or completion approaches and more information becomes available.

[edit] Indiana: Freeway or At-Grade Highway Controversy

Major upgrades have taken place throughout much of Indiana where US 24 comprises most of a High Priority Corridor and has been recently upgraded from a two-lane highway to a four-lane at-grade expressway from Logansport to Fort Wayne. Further upgrades are planned for this corridor: US 24 from Fort Wayne to Toledo, Ohio and Indiana 25 from Logansport, Indiana to Lafayette, Indiana will be upgraded to similar standards. The grass roots effort to improve the section from New Haven, Indiana (Fort Wayne) to Toledo started from a meeting organized by Indiana State Representative Mitch Harper in 1989 at Woodburn, Indiana. It was at this meeting that the project name 'Fort to Port' was born. There are no plans to upgrade the entire corridor to Interstate standards at this time, but maps from the 2005 Final EIS show that Indiana will build its portion as a freeway with no at-grade intersections. The most complex and expensive portion of the Indiana segment is reconstructing the interchange with Interstate 469 east of Fort Wayne. The existing parclo interchange will be reconfigured with flyover ramps to allow high-speed movement of traffic through the interchange.

In November 2007, Indiana announced they would change their segment as an expressway with at-grade intersections at Bruick Road, Webster Road, and SR 101, instead of a freeway section with interchanges and overpasses. The only overpasses would be two narrow (12' wide) overpasses for non-motorized traffic (Amish buggies) to cross US 24. Also, the interchange of I-469 and US 24 would remain as-is with traffic signals at the US 24 ramp terminals. The cost savings without interchanges would be approximately $75-$80 million. Right of way would be purchased for future interchanges. This change has been unpopular due to safety concerns with the heavy truck traffic on the corridor. INDOT claims that the current traffic on US 24 does not justify interchanges, even though the 2005 Final EIS states that it does.

Responding to widespread public outcry over the scaled-back design, Governor Mitch Daniels announced on December 12, 2007, that US-24 will be built as a freeway from Bruick Road to the Ohio state line, with interchanges at SR-101 and Webster Road. [4] Construction is expected to begin on the first section between the Ohio state line and SR-101 in the spring of 2008. The entire 13.5 mile segment is slated for completion in 2012. The intersection with Bruick Road will initially be an at-grade crossing, and the upgraded US-24 will tie into the existing intersection with I-469. Excess land will be acquired to eventually convert the Bruick Road intersection to an intechange and construct flyover ramps to I-469 when future funding becomes available.

Governor Daniels and INDOT held the groundbreaking ceremony for the Indiana section on April 30, 2008.

[edit] Ohio

Originally Ohio planned to upgrade US-24 between the Indiana state line and Toledo as a 4-lane highway with some at-grade crossings. In 2005, it was announced that the 22-mile segment between Napoleon and Interstate 475 near Waterville will be built as a freeway. The remaining Ohio segments fron Napoleon to Indiana will follow the original plan, containing both at-grade and grade-separated intersections. Every intersection with a state or US highway on US 24 from the Indiana State Line to I-475 at Toledo will be an interchange. In accordance with the 2005 Final EIS, US-24 from the Ohio/Indiana state line to I-469 in New Haven will be constructed as an interstate-quality freeway. Interchanges are planned for Bruick Road, Webster Road, and SR-101.[5]

[edit] See also

[edit] Related U.S. Routes

[edit] Bannered and suffixed routes

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Droz, Robert V. U.S. Highways : From US 1 to (US 830). URL accessed 29 April 2006.
  2. ^ End of U.S. highway 24. mapguy. URL accessed 29 April 2006.
  3. ^ aerial photo
  4. ^ Interchanges to be built on Fort to Port project, INDOT News Releases, December 12, 2007
  5. ^ US-24 New Haven, Indiana to Defiance, Ohio Final Environmental Impact Statement, Figure 1, November 2005

[edit] External links


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Main U.S. Routes
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20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
40 41 42 43 44 45 46 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59
60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
80 81 82 83 84 85 87 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
101 400 412 425
Lists  U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Bypassed - Portal
Browse numbered routes
< SH 23 CO I-25 >
< K-23 KS K-25 >
< Route 23 MO Route 25 >
< I-24 IL IL 24 >
< SR 23 IN SR 25 >
< M-23 MI M-24 >
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