 State Road 26 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 SR 26 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byINDOT | ||||
| Length | 150.100 mi[1] (241.563 km) | |||
| Existed | October 1, 1926[2]–present | |||
| Western segment | ||||
| Length | 29.857 mi[1] (48.050 km) | |||
| West end |   SR 352 /IL 9 nearAmbia | |||
| Major intersections |  US 41 west ofPine Village | |||
| East end |   US 52 /US 231 nearWest Lafayette | |||
| Eastern segment | ||||
| Length | 120.243 mi[1] (193.512 km) | |||
| West end |  I-65 atLafayette | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| East end |  SR 119 east ofPortland | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Indiana | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
| ||||
State Road 26 (IN 26 orSR 26) is an east–west discontinuous state road in thecentral part of the US state of Indiana. The western end of the western segment is at theIllinois border, where it continues asIllinois Route 9. The highway passes through rural areas ofWarren andTippecanoe counties, before ending nearWest Lafayette. The eastern segment begins at an interchange withInterstate 65 (I-65) and heads east passing through the cities ofKokomo,Hartford City, andPortland, before ending at theOhio border, where it continues east asOhio State Route 119. The road covers a distance of about 150.1 miles (241.6 km), passing through mostly rural areas.
The originally designated road along modern SR 26 was SR 29, running between Lafayette and US 31, with SR 26 being routed between Bloomington and Madison. In the mid-1920s the state of Indiana renumbered its state road system and the SR 26 designated was moved to its contemporary alignment. During the early 1930s the route was extended, with several segments of SR 26 added to the state system. The last major addition happen in the late 1930s between SR 9 and Hartford City. The entire roadway was paved in the 1960s. In December 2013, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) relinquished the road through West Lafayette and Lafayette to the two cities.
SR 26 runs for 150.1 miles (241.6 km) as an almost entirely east–westundivided surface highway in central Indiana. Most of the highway is two-lane undivided rural highway. There is a section east ofLafayette that is a four-lane highway. The road exists in two segments with the first running between theIllinois border, near the town ofAmbia, and nearWest Lafayette. The second segment is routed between Lafayette and theOhio border.
SR 26 is a two-lane highway that connects withIllinois Route 9 andSR 352 at the Illinois state line in westernWarren County. The road heads east passing through agricultural land, before turning south concurrent withU.S. Route 41 (US 41). The concurrency heads southeast, before SR 26 leaves the concurrency heading east towards Lafayette. The road makes a few curves, but the roadway stays generally east–west in direction. North ofPine Village SR 26 joinsSR 55. The concurrency enters town on Main Street. At the intersection of Main Street and Lafayette Street, SR 26 turns east onto Lafayette Street, while SR 55 continues south on Main Street. The street passes some businesses before reaching the east side of town. The road enters rural Warren County before entering ruralTippecanoe County. The highway turns towards the southwest before passing by many houses on the west edge of West Lafayette. SR 26 passes north ofPurdue University Forestry and Natural Resources Farm, before an intersection withUS 52/US 231. At this intersection the SR 26 designation ends, but the roadway continues east as State Street, passing through West Lafayette and heading towards Lafayette.[1][3][4]
The eastern segment of SR 26 begins, as a continuation of South Street, at an interchange with I-65 on the east side of Lafayette. The road heads east as a four-lane highway, passing through both commercial and residential properties. As the road continues east it becomes a two-lane road, with some curves, and passes through farmland. The highway enters ruralClinton County, before enteringRossville. In Rossville SR 26 is concurrent with Main Street and passes through a business district. The business district becomes houses as the street heads east. The road enters the downtown area of Rossville passing through an intersection with Plank Street (US 421/SR 39). East of Plank Street, SR 26 passes more houses before leaving Rossville. East of Rossville, SR 26 passes through agricultural land, heading due east towards Kokomo. In rural Clinton County SR 26 has an intersection withSR 75, before passing throughSedalia andGeetingsville. The road entersMiddlefork and has an intersection withSR 29. East of Middlefork the highway entersHoward County.[3]
In Howard County the road entersRussiaville, passing through town on Main Street. While in Russiaville, Main Street passes through commercial and residential properties. SR 26 leaves Russiaville and enters rural Howard County, passing through mostly farmland. The road entersKokomo, passing through theIndian Heights neighborhood. While in Indian Heights the road passes through an intersection withSR 931. East of SR 931, SR 26 leaves Kokomo and passes through the community ofOakford. After passing through Oakford, SR 26 has an interchange withUS 31, before passing through rural Howard County, having intersections withSR 19 andSR 213.[3]
The road leaves Howard County and entersGrant County and passes through an intersection withSR 13, inPoint Isabel. East of Point Isabel SR 26 has an intersection withSR 37 andSR 9, before enteringFairmount. In Fairmount SR 26 is routed along Eighth Street and passes through residential part of town. Before leaving town the street has an at-grade crossing with aNorfolk Southern railroad track. East of Fairmount SR 26 has an interchange withI-69, before crossing over theMississinewa River. After the river SR 26 turns north at a four-way intersection with County Road 900 South and County Road 950 East, formerlySR 221. SR 26 heads north for about 2 miles (3.2 km) towards the town ofUpland, before turning east at a four-way intersection withSR 22 and County Road 700 South, southeast ofTaylor University. The road then leaves Grant County and entersBlackford County.[1][3]
SR 26 then entersHartford City on Water Street before curving onto Washington Street, prior to an intersection withSR 3. East of SR 3, Washington Street enters theHartford City Courthouse Square Historic District and passes on the south side of theBlackford County Courthouse. SR 26 leaves the historic district and turns south on Mill Street for one block, before turning east onto Water Street and crossing a Norfolk Southern Railroad track. The highway leaves Hartford City and enters rural Blackford County, before coming to an intersection with the north end ofSR 167 at the Blackford–Jay county line. SR 26 joinsSR 1 for a short distance heading south, before SR 26 turns east towardsPortland. The road joins SR 67 before entering Portland. The two state roads enter Portland on Votaw Street, passing through mostly commercial lots. At US 27 (Meridian Street) SR 67 turns north concurrent with US 27, while SR 26 turns south concurrent with US 27. Meridian Street heads south passing through thePortland Commercial Historic District, about a block east of theJay County Courthouse. SR 26 turns east on Water Street, while US 27 continues south across theSalamonie River. Water Street leaves the historic district and passes through a residential part of town, before leaving Portland. As the road leaves Portland it crosses over the Salamonie River. East of Portland SR 26 parallels the Salamonie River, before the highway crosses over the river again. The road passes through agricultural land, before the Ohio state lines the road curves towards the southeast. SR 26 ends at the Ohio–Indiana border, just outside of Fort Recovery, the roadway continues east into Ohio asState Route 119.[1][3]
SR 26 was originally designated between Bloomington and Madison along approximately the modern alignment of SR 46 and SR 7. The highway ran between SR 22 in Bloomington and SR 40 in Madison, passing through Columbus.[5] When the Indiana State Highway Commission renumber the state road system in 1926 in coordination with the creation of theUnited States Numbered Highway System, the SR 26 designated was moved north to its modern alignment.[2]
The modern SR 26 was designated on October 1, 1926, on a route that ran between Lafayette and Oakford, this route was previously known as SR 29.[2] The modern route of SR 26 between the Indiana–Illinois state line and US 41 was added between 1927 and 1928, as SR 22.[6][7] During 1930 a state road was proposed between US 41 and Lafayette and between US 31 and SR 9. Also at this time a state road was proposed from Upland east to the Ohio–Indiana state line.[8][9] Between late 1930 and early 1932 the highway commission added SR 26 between US 31 and SR 9 to the state road system and the SR 22 designation west of US 41 was changed to SR 26. During this time frame SR 26 was added to the state road system between Hartford City and SR 67 and the modern route of SR 26 between the modern eastern end of SR 22 and Hartford City became part of SR 22.[9][10][11] During 1932 the proposed route between Portland and the Ohio–Indiana state line was commissioned as part of SR 26 and the small north–south segment of modern SR 26, southeast of Upland, was commissioned as part of SR 221.[10][12] SR 26 proposed to be extended east from SR 9 to SR 221 between 1936 and 1937.[13][14] The road was extended from SR 9 to Hartford City between late 1938 and early 1939.[15][16] The entire road was paved between 1966 and 1967.[17][18]
SR 26 formerly passed through the campus ofPurdue University inWest Lafayette, where it was concurrent with State Street, and through Lafayette as South Street and Columbia Street. The segment of roadway between the US 231 junction in the west and Interstate 65 interchange in the east were relinquished to the cities of West Lafayette and Lafayette in December 2013;[19] SR 26 is now discontinuous.[20]
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermilion | Grant Township |  IL 9 west –Hoopeston | Continuation into Illinois | ||||
| Warren–Vermilion county line | Indiana–Illinois line | 0.000 | 0.000 | SR 352 –Ambia | Western terminus | ||
| Warren | Pine Township | 7.866 | 12.659 |  US 41 north –Kentland,Fowler | West end of US 41 concurrency | ||
| 8.406 | 13.528 |  US 41 south –Attica | East end of US 41 concurrency | ||||
| Adams Township | 15.703 | 25.272 |  SR 55 north –Oxford | West end of SR 55 concurrency | |||
| Pine Village | 15.941 | 25.655 | SR 55 south –Attica | East end of SR 55 concurrency | |||
| Tippecanoe | Wabash Township | 29.857 | 48.050 | US 52 /US 231 | |||
| Gap in route | |||||||
| Lafayette | 29.858– 30.005 | 48.052– 48.288 | I-65 –Chicago,Indianapolis | I-65 exit 172 | |||
| Clinton | Rossville | 51.709 | 83.218 |   US 421 /SR 39 (Plank Street) | |||
| Owen Township | 55.279 | 88.963 |  SR 75 –Flora,Frankfort | ||||
| Middlefork | 62.261 | 100.199 |  SR 29 –Logansport,Indianapolis | ||||
| Howard | Kokomo | 76.321 | 122.827 |  SR 931 | |||
| Taylor Township | 78.052– 78.199 | 125.613– 125.849 |  US 31 –South Bend,Indianapolis | US 31 exit 158 | |||
| 81.300 | 130.840 |  SR 19 –Tipton | |||||
| Union Township | 85.292 | 137.264 |  SR 213 –Greentown,Windfall | ||||
| Grant | Point Isabel | 92.252 | 148.465 |  SR 13 –Wabash,Elwood | |||
| Liberty Township | 96.927 | 155.989 |  SR 37 –Marion,Indianapolis | ||||
| Liberty–Fairmount township line | 100.248 | 161.334 |  SR 9 –Marion,Anderson | ||||
| Jefferson Township | 106.666– 106.814 | 171.662– 171.900 |   I-69 /US 35 –Fort Wayne,Indianapolis | I-69 exit 255 | |||
| Upland | 111.747 | 179.839 |  SR 22 west –Upland | Eastern terminus of SR 22 | |||
| Blackford | Hartford City | 118.263 | 190.326 |  SR 3 (Walnut Street) | |||
| Blackford–Jay county line | Jackson–Knox township line | 126.960 | 204.322 |  SR 167 south –Dunkirk | Northern terminus of SR 167 | ||
| Jay | Knox Township | 129.914 | 209.076 |  SR 1 north | west end of SR 1 concurrency | ||
| 130.000 | 209.215 | SR 1 south | east end of SR 1 concurrency | ||||
| Wayne Township | 138.010 | 222.106 |  SR 67 south | Western end of SR 67 concurrency | |||
| Portland | 139.972 | 225.263 |  US 27 north /SR 67 north (Meridian Street) | Eastern end of SR 67 concurrency; west end of US 27 concurrency | |||
| 140.006 | 225.318 | US 27 south (Meridian Street) | east end of US 27 concurrency | ||||
| Noble Township | 150.100 | 241.563 |  SR 119 east –Fort Recovery | Ohio state line | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||||
Media related toIndiana State Road 26 at Wikimedia Commons