 U.S. Route 33 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US 33 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byINDOT | ||||
| Length | 106.217 mi[1] (170.940 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  US 33 atOhio State line | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| North end |  US 20 inElkhart | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Indiana | |||
| Counties | Adams,Allen,Whitley,Noble,Elkhart | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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U.S. Route 33 (US 33) is part of theUnited States Numbered Highway System that runs fromRichmond, Virginia, toElkhart of the US state ofIndiana. In Indiana, it is astate road that enters the state at the Ohio state line betweenWillshire, Ohio, andPleasant Mills, Indiana. The 106.217 miles (170.940 km) of US 33 that lie within Indiana serve as a major conduit. All of the highway is listed on theNational Highway System. Various sections are rural two-lane highway, urbanized four-lane divided expressway and theLincoln Highway. The northernmost community along the highway is Elkhart. The highway ends at an interchange in southern Elkhart after serving the northeastern region of Indiana. US 33 passes through farm fields and urban areas.
US 33 was first designated as a U.S. Highway in 1937. A section of the highway originally served as part of the Lincoln Highway, a connection betweenFort Wayne andSouth Bend. US 41 replaced some the original State Road 2 (SR 2) designation of the highway which dated back to the formation of the Indiana State Road system. SR 2 ran from Illinois state line through South Bend to Elkhart and ended at the Ohio state line. Realignments and construction projects have expanded the highway to four lanes.
US 33 enters Indiana from Ohio heading northwest towardsDecatur, as a rural two-lane highway, passing through farmland with a few houses. Along the way passing through a shortconcurrency withState Road 101 (SR 101), inPleasant Mills. The highway entersDecatur by curving due west. The road begins a concurrency withUS 27, heading due north as a four-lane highway with a center turn lane. The concurrency passes through mostly commercial before heading into downtown Decatur. In downtown Decatur the two routes have an intersection withUS 224, this is the southern end of the US 224 concurrency. The three routes head north having an intersection at the northern end of the US 224 concurrency, US 224 turns due west. After the concurrency with US 224, US 27 and US 33 head north and then northwest towardsFort Wayne and the road becomes a four-lane divided highway. On the south side of Fort Wayne is adiamond interchange withInterstate 469 (I-469), this interchange is the north end of the concurrency with US 27.[2][3][4]
US 33 heads west on I-469, which is concurrent withUS 24. All three routes have an interchange with the northern terminus of the southern section ofSR 1; this interchange has access to theFort Wayne International Airport. After the interchange at SR 1, the interstate passes south of the airport. West of the airport is the terminus of I-469, both US 24 and US 33 turns north ontoI-69, passing through rural areas with farmland as a four-lane interstate. Then, the interstate has an interchange with Airport Expressway/Lower Huntington Road. North of the Airport Expressway interchange, the roadway becomes a six-lane interstate, passing through urban areas with a mix of commercial and industrial properties. The highway enters the southwest side of Fort Wayne and US 24 leaves the concurrency, heading southwest. After the interchange with US 24, the interstate has an interchange with the eastern terminusSR 14, on the west side of Fort Wayne. After the interchange with SR 14, the highway turn northeast curving around Fort Wayne. On the northwest side of Fort Wayne, US 33 leaves I-69 heading northwest concurrent withUS 30. The concurrency is a six-lane expressway, passing through woodlands with some commercial properties. Shortly after the concurrency with US 30 begins, it ends, with US 33 heading north and US 30 heading west. The highway becomes a four-lane highway with a center turn lane as it begins to leave Fort Wayne, passing through a mix of commercial and residential areas.[2][3][4]
The roadway leaves Fort Wayne heading northwest as a two-lane mainly rural highway, passing through farmland with some woods. InChurubusco, the route has atraffic light withSR 205. Then the road heads towardsLigonier, passing through a four-stop intersection withSR 9 inMerriam. Then inWolf Lake the road has an intersection withSR 109 at the main intersection in town. Then south of Ligonier the road passes throughKimmell and the route begins a concurrency withSR 5. The concurrency with SR 5 ends at the intersection withUS 6 in Ligonier. Both US 6 and US 33 head west away from Ligonier as a two-lane highway passing through farmland with some houses, for 5.75 miles (9.25 km). Then US 33 turns north, now concurrent withSR 13, the concurrency with SR 13 last for 2 miles (3.2 km), with SR 13 turning east and US 33 turning northwest. Now the road heads towardsGoshen passing throughBenton on the way.[2][3][4]
The road enters Goshen on the southeast side of the city as a two-lane highway with a center turn lane, passing commercial properties. As the road gets closer to downtown Goshen the road narrows to a two-lane street without turn lanes and passesGoshen High School. After the high school the road has a traffic light with the old alignment of US 33, before curving northwest and parallel to theNorfolk Southern Chicago Line. While parallel to the rail tracks US 33 is a limited access roadway and passes over another rail track. The road and rail tacks separate as they enter downtown Goshen. US 33 enters downtown Goshen on Pike Street as a four-lane city street and has a traffic light atSR 15. The route leaves downtown Goshen as a four-lane undivided highway, passing through acommercial district andresidential area. After crossing theElkhart River the highway widens to a four-lane highway with a center turn lane. The route heads towardsElkhart, paralleling theNorfolk Southern railroad and passing through Midway andDunlap. On the south side of Elkhart, US 33 has an interchange withUS 20; this interchange is the northern terminus for US 33.[2][3][4]
The entire length of US 33 in Indiana is included as a part of theNational Highway System (NHS).[5] The NHS is a network of highways that are identified as being most important for the economy, mobility and defense of the nation.[6] The highway is maintained by theIndiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) like all other U.S. Highways in the state. The department tracks the traffic volumes along all state highways as a part of its maintenance responsibilities using a metric calledaverage annual daily traffic (AADT). This measurement is a calculation of the traffic level along a segment of roadway for any average day of the year. In 2010, INDOT figured that lowest traffic levels were 3,290 vehicles and 650 commercial vehicles used the highway daily at the Noble-Whitley County area. The peak traffic volumes were 79,520 vehicles and 11,060 commercial vehicles AADT along the section of US 33 at is concurrent with I-69, between the SR 14 and US 30 exits in Fort Wayne.[7]
The Lincoln Highway was planned from Illinois state line toSouth Bend to Fort Wayne and the Ohio state line in 1913. In 1915, the highway opened and passed through downtown Fort Wayne on its route through Indiana.[8] In 1917, Main Market route number 2 was the given number to the Lincoln Highway in Indiana.[9][10] In the early 1920s, the Lincoln Highway was moved farther south between Valparaiso and Fort Wayne, to what is now known mostly as Old US 30, passing through Plymouth and Warsaw.[11] The route became SR 2 from Ohio state line to South Bend, SR 1 from South Bend to Michigan state line. Then in 1924, the sections of the road that was part of the original Lincoln Highway was paved.[12][13] The next few years the rest of the route was paved across Indiana, then in 1937 US 33 was created.
Prior to its 1998 rerouting, US 33 followed a route through Fort Wayne. Entering from the south with US 27, the routes continued north along Decatur Road/Lafayette Street, before entering a one-way system of Lafayette Street (northbound) and Clinton Street (southbound). In downtown Fort Wayne, US 33 departed to the west on another one-way pair, with Washington Boulevard handling westbound (north US 33) traffic and Jefferson Boulevard handling eastbound (south US 33) traffic. After following these streets, the route departed to the north on a third one-way pair, with Ewing Street handling northbound traffic and Fairfield Avenue handling southbound traffic. These streets met at Superior Street, where US 33 turned to the east, before turning north on Van Buren Street and crossing the St. Mary's River to exit downtown Fort Wayne on Sherman Boulevard. The route continued north on Sherman until it met Goshen Avenue, which carried the route northwest out of the city.[14]
In the 1980s, US 33 was rerouted to continue following the Lafayette/Clinton one-way pair through downtown towards the north, where the one-way pair ended at Spy Run Avenue. North of that intersection, US 33 departed to the northwest on Lima Road, before turning west on Coliseum Boulevard. After following Coliseum Boulevard, the route turned to the northeast at Goshen Road, and continued on its present-day route.[15]
In 1998, INDOT rerouted most of its maintained routes onto interstate highways around Fort Wayne, so US 33 was routed onto I-469 and I-69 around the south side of the city. In the same year, INDOT removed US 33 north ofUS 20 and theSt. Joseph County portion becameSR 933.[16] In 2004, INDOT tried to return SR 933 to the local communities but they did not accept.[17]
In 2018 a new alignment of US 33 bypassing downtown Goshen to the northeast opened.[18]
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | St. Marys Township | 0.000 | 0.000 |  US 33 east –St. Marys,Wapakoneta,Columbus | Ohio state line | |
| 2.703 | 4.350 |   SR 101 south | Eastern end of SR 101 concurrency | |||
| 2.876 | 4.628 |  SR 101 north (Monroe Street) –Monroeville | Western end of SR 101 concurrency | |||
| Decatur | 8.505 | 13.687 |  US 27 south –Portland | Southern end of US 27 concurrency | ||
| 10.298 | 16.573 |  US 224 east –Van Wert | Southern end of US 224 concurrency | |||
| 10.506 | 16.908 |  US 224 west –Huntington | Northern end of US 224 concurrency | |||
| Allen | Marion Township | 23.928 | 38.508 | 11 |   I-469 east /US 27 north | Northern end of US 27 concurrency |
| Pleasant Township | 26.287 | 42.305 | 9 | Winchester Road | ||
| 28.873 | 46.467 | 6 |   SR 1 south / Bluffton Road –Fort Wayne,Bluffton,Fort Wayne International Airport | Northern terminus of the southern section of SR 1 | ||
| Lafayette Township | 33.648 | 54.151 | 2 | Indianapolis Road | formerSR 3 | |
| 34.512 | 55.542 | 1 | Lafayette Center Road east | |||
| 35.500 | 57.132 | 296 0 |   I-69 south –Indianapolis | Southern end of I-69 concurrency and western terminus of I-469; Exit 296 on I-69 and Exit 0 on I-469 | ||
| 38.034 | 61.210 | 299 | Airport Expressway – Lower Huntington Road | ToFort Wayne International Airport | ||
| Fort Wayne | 41.045 | 66.056 | 302 |  US 24 west / Jefferson Road –Huntington,Fort Wayne | Southern end of US 24 concurrency | |
| 44.282 | 71.265 | 305 |  SR 14 west / Illinois Road –South Whitley,Fort Wayne | Eastern terminus of SR 14 | ||
| 48.238 | 77.632 | 309 |   I-69 north /US 24 east /US 30 east  SR 930 east /Lincoln Highway / Goshen Road –Fort Wayne | Northern end of I-69 concurrency and eastern end of US 30 concurrency; northern end of US 24 concurrency; western terminus of SR 930 | ||
| 48.238 | 77.632 | — | US 30 west –Columbia City,Warsaw,Chicago | Western end of US 30 concurrency;trumpet interchange | ||
| Whitley | Churubusco | 58.886 | 94.768 |  SR 205 (Whitley Street) –Columbia City,Garrett | ||
| Noble | Merriam | 66.382 | 106.831 |  SR 9 –Columbia City,Albion | ||
| 66.400 | 106.860 | Lincoln Highway (50 West) | ||||
| 67.096 | 107.981 | Lincoln Highway (Oak Street) | ||||
| Wolflake | 70.905 | 114.111 |  SR 109 south –Columbia City | Northern terminus of SR 109 | ||
| Kimmell | 75.967 | 122.257 | Lincoln Highway (Clark Street) | |||
| 77.196 | 124.235 | Lincoln Highway (Clark Street) | ||||
| Ligonier | 79.399 | 127.780 |  SR 5 south –Cromwell | Southern end of SR 5 concurrency | ||
| 81.076 | 130.479 |  US 6 east /SR 5 north /Lincoln Highway –Kendallville,Shipshewana | Eastern end of US 6 concurrency and northern end of SR 5 concurrency | |||
| Elkhart | Benton Township | 86.833 | 139.744 |  US 6 west /SR 13 south –Nappanee,Wabash | Western end of US 6 concurrency and southern end of SR 13 concurrency | |
| 87.870 | 141.413 | SR 13 north /Lincoln Highway –Millersburg,Middlebury | Northern end of SR 13 concurrency | |||
| Goshen | 95.970 | 154.449 |  CR 38 –Wakarusa,Topeka | |||
| 98.962 | 159.264 | Lincoln Highway (Madison Street) | ||||
| 98.972 | 159.280 | Lincoln Highway (Main Street) | ||||
| 99.044 | 159.396 |  SR 15 (3rd Street) | ||||
| 99.395 | 159.961 | Lincoln Highway (Chicago Avenue) | ||||
| 101.823 | 163.868 | Lincoln Highway (Peddlers Village Road) | ||||
| 102.796 | 165.434 |  CR 17 –Elkhart,Goshen | Grade separation; indirect access via Rieth Boulevard | |||
| Elkhart | 105.166 | 169.248 | Lincoln Highway (Sunnyside Avenue) | |||
| 106.110– 106.217 | 170.767– 170.940 | US 20 –South Bend,Angola | Northern terminus of US 33 | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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The realignment of U.S. 33 through Goshen opened to traffic in June 2018.
 U.S. Route 33 | ||
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