U.S. Route 8

U.S. Route 8
Length:	281 mi[1] (452 km)
Formed:	1926[1]
West end:	I-35 in Forest Lake, MN
Major junctions:	US 53 at Cameron, WI US 51 near Bradley, WI
East end:	US 2 in Norway, MI
United States Numbered Highways List – Bannered – Divided – Replaced

U.S. Route 8 is a United States highway that runs primarily east-west for 281 miles (452 km), mostly within the state of Wisconsin. Its eastern terminus is in Norway, Michigan at U.S. Highway 2 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan near the border with Wisconsin. The western terminus is in Forest Lake, Minnesota at Interstate 35.^[2]

Except for the short freeway segment near Forest Lake, Minnesota, and a section between the eastern junction of WIS 35 and the St. Croix River bridge, it is all undivided surface road.

All 22 miles (35 km) of U.S. Highway 8 in Minnesota is officially designated the Moberg Trail.^{[citation needed]}

Route description

Minnesota

U.S. 8 begins at a southbound-exit/northbound entry interchange with Interstate 35 in Forest Lake. The first one-mile (1.6 km) segment of the route — to U.S. 61 is a freeway. East of there, U.S. 8 proceeds in a northeast direction to Chisago City. U.S. 8 then heads east and passes through Lindstrom and Shafer before collecting State Highway 95 two miles (3 km) southwest of Taylors Falls. The two routes concurrently turn northeast along the St. Croix River into Taylors Falls, where State Highway 95 continues north along the river while U.S. 8 turns east into Wisconsin.^[2]

Wisconsin

St. Croix Falls to Ladysmith

US 8 enters Polk County from Minnesota at St. Croix Falls and briefly is a multilane highway in the St Croix Falls area. The highway collects WIS 35 north at a diamond interchange located approximately one mile from the state line. The two highways run concurrently for four miles (6 km) before WIS 35 splits off to the north. Four miles east from that junction, WIS 46 joins the highway from the north for four mile (6 km) conconcurrency before splitting off to the south. US 8 passes through Range and crosses into Barron County at Turtle Lake^[3] U.S. Route 63 joins US 8 from the south west of Turtle Lake and departs to the north in the downtown area. US 8 passes through Poskin and junctions with WIS 25 in Barron. East of Barron, the highway meets U.S. Route 53 at a mixed diamond/cloverleaf interchange and turns north into Cameron, then turns east in downtown to leave Cameron. after a straight nine miles (14 km), the highway crosses into Rusk County^[4]

US 8 continues due east for five miles (8 km) before turning northeast and passing through Weyerhaeuser and crossing WIS 40 in Bruce. US 8 meets WIS 27 in downtown Ladysmith^[5]

Ladysmith to Rhinelander

Upon leaving Ladysmith, US 8 passes through the communities of Tony, Glen Flora, Ingram (where it meets the northern terminus of WIS 73 and Hawkins on its way out of Rusk county.^[5] In Price County, US 8 passes through Kennan and Catawba. WIS 111 terminates at its south end on US 8 just east of Catawba. US 8 meets WIS 13 at a diamond interchange northwest of Prentice and passes north of the city. The highway passes through Brantwood and enters Lincoln County at Clifford^[6] US 8 passes through Tripoli and McCord and passes north of Tomahawk as it passes through the Lake Nokomis area. U.S. Route 51 crosses US 8 northeast of Tomahawk.^[7] US 8 turns northeast into Oneida County and on a twisting northeastward road passes through Woodboro and expands to a divided highway into Rhinelander. It collects WIS 47 south on the southwest side of Rhinelander. WIS 17 north joins the highways a half of a mile to the southeast, creating a wrong-way concurrency with WIS 47. WIS 17 turns to the north two miles (3 km) southeast of there and US 8 and WIS 47 head eastbound out of the Rhinelander area. ^[8]

Rhinelander to US 141

US 8 junctions with U.S. Route 45 south in Monico and WIS 47 follows US 45 south while US 45 North follows US 8 for 1-mile (1.6 km) before splitting north. US 8 enters Forest County five miles (8 km) east of Monico.^[8] Seven miles in, the highway collects WIS 32 from the north in Crandon and the two routes head east to Laona where US 8 turns north and WIS 32 turns south. US 8 turns east again at Cavour and passes through Armstrong Creek one mile (1.6 km) from the Marinette County line.^[9] The highway passes through Goodman and Dunbar as it meanders through the county and joins U.S. Route 141 at Pembine. The two routes split ten miles (16 km) north near Niagara, and with US 8 heading east. the highway takes a northward turn and heads across the Menominee River into Michigan near Pier's Gorge Park ^[10]

Michigan

Eastern terminus in Norway, Michigan

US 8 enters Michigan about two miles (3 km) south of Norway and proceeds north into the city where it ends at U.S. Route 2. US 8 in Michigan is 2.3 miles (3.7 km) long.^[11] In this segment, the road passes by the Dickinson County fairgrounds and Norway Speedway.

History

Wisconsin

One business route existed for U.S. 8 until circa 2004-05 in Rhinelander.^[12]

From the Minnesota — Wisconsin state line to Armstrong Creek, U.S. 8 was originally STH 14^[12]

The original eastern terminus was to be in Powers, Michigan, at the junction of US 2 and US 41. The route originally was co-signed with US 141 north from Pembine, Wisconsin, to US 2 between Iron Mountain and Quinnesec, Michigan. It is unclear if it was ever co-signed with US 2 east to Powers. US 8 was shifted to its current terminus in Norway, MI in 1929.^[13]

Major Intersections

Minnesota

County	Location	Mile	Roads intersected	Notes
Washington	Forest Lake		I-35	Route accessible from Northbound I-35 only. Westbound US 8 only accesses Southbound I-35.
			US 61
Chisago	Chisago City		CR 22
	Shafer		CR 21
	Taylors Falls		MN 95 south
			MN 95 north

Wisconsin

County	Location	Mile	Roads intersected	Notes
Polk	St. Croix Falls		WIS 87
			WIS 35 south	WIS 35 North follow US 8 East, Diamond interchange
			WIS 35 north	WIS 35 South follow US 8 West
	Balsam Lake		WIS 65
			WIS 46 north	WIS 46 South follow US 8 East
			WIS 46 south	WIS 46 North follow US 8 West
	Turtle Lake		US 63 south	US 63 North follow US 8 East
Barron			US 63 north	US 63 South follow US 8 West
	Almena		CTH P
	Barron		WIS 25
	Cameron		US 53
Rusk	Weyerhaeuser		CTH F
	Bruce		WIS 40
	Ladysmith		WIS 27
	Tony		CTH I
	Ingram		WIS 73
Price	Catawba		WIS 111
	Prentice		WIS 13
	Brantwood		CTH D
Lincoln	Tripoli		CTH T
	Bradley		CTH L
			US 51
Oneida	Woodboro		CTH N
	Rhinelander		WIS 47 north	WIS 47 South follow US 8 East
			WIS 17 south	WIS 17 North follow US 8 East
			CTH G
			WIS 17 north	WIS 17 South follow US 8 West
	Monico		US 45 south / WIS 47 south	US 45 North follow US 8 East, WIS 47 North follow US 8 West
			US 45 north	US 45 South follow US 8 West
Forest	Crandon		WIS 32 north	WIS 32 South follow US 8 East
	Laona		WIS 32 south	WIS 32 North follow US 8 West
	Cavour		WIS 139
	Armstrong Creek		WIS 101
Marinette	Goodman		CTH I
	Pembine		US 141 south	US 8 East follow US 141 North
	Pembine		CTH R
	Niagara		US 141 north	US 8 West follow US 141 South

See also

Related U.S. Routes

• U.S. Highway 208

References

External links

• US-8 endpoint photos
• Michigan US-8 endpoints

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