 State Trunk Highway 17 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 WIS 17 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byWisDOT | ||||
| Length | 85.63 mi[1] (137.81 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |   WIS 64 / CTH-W inMerrill | |||
| Major intersections |   US 8 /WIS 47 inRhinelander   US 45 /WIS 32 /WIS 70 inEagle River | |||
| North end |  CR 436 nearPhelps | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Wisconsin | |||
| Counties | Lincoln,Langlade,Oneida,Vilas | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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State Trunk Highway 17 (often calledHighway 17,STH-17 orWIS 17) is astate highway in theU.S. state ofWisconsin. The highway is a secondary route in northeastern Wisconsin that directly connectsRhinelander,Eagle River and the central and eastern parts ofMichigan's Upper Peninsula withWausau, Wisconsin and points south and west.
WIS 17 begins atWIS 64, about a half mile east of WIS 64's interchange withUS 51 nearMerrill. From there, WIS 17 heads northeast, passing the Prairie Dells area and crossing several county routes inBloomville andGleason. The highway briefly crosses over out ofLincoln County intoLanglade County, Wisconsin[2] The highway then passes throughParrish and turns northwestward and returns to Lincoln County, briefly cutting throughOneida County in the process.[3] The route then turns north for seven miles (11 km) and enters Oneida County[2] heading north another five miles (8.0 km) and joiningUS 8 east andWIS 47 south just south ofRhinelander.[4]
The two and a half mile concurrency is actually a "wrong-way" concurrency between WIS 17 North and WIS 47 south. WIS 17 turns north off the concurrency as the other two highways continue east. WIS 17 passes east of Rhinelander on an urban arterial then continues north, passing throughSugar Camp.[4] WIS 17 then joinsWIS 70 east, continuing into Eagle River. in the downtown area, WIS 17 leaves concurrency with WIS 70 and followsUS 45 /WIS 32 north and out of the city. Four miles north, WIS 17 turns east off US 45/WIS 32 and heads northeast, entering theNicolet National Forest and passing throughPhelps. WIS 17 then heads east of Phelps, becoming Iron County Road 436 (Smokey Lake Road) upon entering Michigan.[5] CR 436 meetsForest Highway 16 a short distance across the Michigan state line.
WIS 17 originally began at the Illinois state line and passed throughKenosha,Racine, and intoMilwaukee via present dayWIS 32 toWhitefish Bay, then alongWIS 57 throughCedarburg,Grafton andSaukville (along what is now CTH O). The route in Milwaukee was realigned to run alongLake Michigan in 1920.[1] The route then headed north to Sheboygan and Manitowoc along present dayWIS 42 and up theLake Michigan Shoreline toSturgeon Bay andSister Bay.[6] The route's southern terminus became Manitowoc whenUS 141 debuted in 1926. The remainder was replaced withWIS 42 in 1932.[1]
The portion the current WIS 17 between Merrill and Eagle River was previouslyWIS 63.[6] This route began atWIS 10 in Merrill and ended atWIS 70 west of Eagle River. The portion northeast of Eagle River was numbered asWIS 70. This route was removed in 1934 whenU.S. Route 63 was opened into Wisconsin. The WIS 17 number was available at the time and applied to the route. The route was extended in 1947 when WIS 70 was changed to its current alignment. The southern terminus was relocated to its present location on WIS 64 in the late 1980s.[1]
WIS 17 originally passed through Rhinelander. In 2004, The 3.25-mile (5.23 km) long bypass east of the city was opened. The route was rerouted along US 8/WIS 47 south of the city to reach the new bypass route. The old alignment through Rhinelander followed Boyce Drive to Kemp Street, turning east on to Kemp for 1,200 feet (370 m), then turning onto Arbutus and Pelham Streets and Stevens Street.[7] This alignment was removed from the state trunkline books when the new route was opened and is now a city street.[1]
| County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln | Merrill | 0.00 | 0.00 |  CTH-W south /WIS 64 –Merrill,Antigo | Southern terminus; road continues as CTH-W | |||
| 1.0 | 1.6 |  CTH-G | ||||||
| | 5.3 | 8.5 |  CTH-C | |||||
| | 8.0 | 12.9 | CTH-G | |||||
| Bloomville | 10.5 | 16.9 |  CTH-J | |||||
| Gleason | 13.0 | 20.9 |  CTH-X | |||||
| | 19.4 | 31.2 |  CTH-B | |||||
| Langlade | Parrish | 23.1 | 37.2 |   CTH-H / CTH-Q | ||||
| Oneida | No major junctions | |||||||
| Lincoln | | 28.9 | 46.5 |  CTH-D | ||||
| Oneida | | 32.5 | 52.3 |  CTH-A | ||||
| Rhinelander | 37.5 | 60.4 |   US 8 west /WIS 47 north | South end of US 8/WIS 47 concurrency | ||||
| 38.8 | 62.4 | CTH-G | ||||||
| 40.1 | 64.5 |  US 8 east /WIS 47 south –Monico | North end of US 8/WIS 47 concurrency | |||||
| 41.5 | 66.8 |  CTH-P | ||||||
| 42.3 | 68.1 | CTH-C | ||||||
| | 44.8 | 72.1 | CTH-W | |||||
| Sugar Camp | 53.2 | 85.6 | CTH-A | |||||
| 55.0 | 88.5 | CTH-D | ||||||
| Vilas | Eagle River | 61.9 | 99.6 | WIS 70 west –St. Germain | South end of WIS 70 concurrency | |||
| 63.9 | 102.8 | US 45 /WIS 32 south /WIS 70 east (Pine Street east) –Three Lakes | North end of WIS 70 concurrency; south end of US 45/WIS 32 concurrency | |||||
| 65.9 | 106.1 | CTH-G | ||||||
| 68.0 | 109.4 | US 45 /WIS 32 north (32nd Division Memorial Highway) –Land O' Lakes | North end of US 45/WIS 32 concurrency | |||||
| Phelps | 80.0 | 128.7 |  CTH-E | |||||
| 81.7 | 131.5 | CTH-A | ||||||
| Wisconsin-Michigan line | 85.63 | 137.81 | CR 436 (Smokey Lake Road) | Continuation into Michigan | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Media related toWisconsin Highway 17 at Wikimedia Commons
