 State Trunk Highway 70 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 WIS 70 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byWisDOT | ||||
| Length | 246.49 mi[1] (396.69 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  MN 70 inGrantsburg | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| East end |    US 2 /US 141 /WIS 101 inFlorence | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Wisconsin | |||
| Counties | Burnett,Washburn,Sawyer,Price,Oneida,Vilas,Forest,Florence | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
State Trunk Highway 70 (often calledHighway 70,STH-70 orWIS 70) is astate highway in the U.S. state ofWisconsin. It runs east–west in northern Wisconsin from a shared terminus withWIS 101 atUS Highway 2 (US 2) andUS 141 nearFlorence to a connection withMinnesota State Highway 70 (MN 70) at theSt. Croix River five miles (8.0 km) west ofGrantsburg inBurnett County. It serves the communities ofGrantsburg,Siren,Spooner, and the resort areas ofMinocqua,Woodruff andEagle River along its route. WIS 70 is the third-most northern route to almost completely crossWisconsin (after US 2 andWIS 77), stretching from Minnesota to within four miles (6.4 km) of theMichigan border.
The highway begins at a bridge over theSt. Croix River as a continuation ofMN 70, running east from it. AtGrantsburg, the highway intersectsWIS 87/WIS 48. The highway continues east from there, curving slightly south to avoidMud Hen Lake before running northeast to meetWIS 35 inSiren. It thenruns concurrently with WIS 35, running north from Siren before leaving the concurrency at aroundabout. The highway then runs east, passing through intersections with County Trunk Highway X (CTH-X), CTH-H, and CTH-O. It then passes through an intersection withUS 63 inSpooner and an interchange withUS 53 east of Spooner.[2]
The highway then continues running east before curving north throughStone Lake to reachWIS 27, with which the highway runs concurrently. It then passes through the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation, where the highway starts following theCouderay River, and thevillage of Couderay before reachingWIS 40 inRadisson, where it starts following the Crooked Rapids, and the end of the WIS 27 concurrency inOjibwa, where it stops following the Crooked Rapids. The highway then curves north, intersecting with CTH-B, CTH-GG, and CTH-M south of theChequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. It then intersects withWIS 13 before entering the Riley Lake Wildlife Management Area, where the highway runs before exiting it and running east and concurrently withUS 51 inWoodruff.[2] In 2014, theaverage annual daily traffic on the highway west of US 51 was 4776, down from 5168 in 2008.[3]
In Woodruff, the highway intersectsWIS 47 and leaves the US 51 concurrency inArbor Vitae, Wisconsin. It then runs east, intersecting withWIS 155 before following theWisconsin River toEagle River, where it runs concurrently withUS 45. It then enters theHeadwaters Wilderness, intersectingWIS 55 and running concurrently withWIS 139 within it. After exiting the wilderness, the highway continues east, intersecting and running concurrently withWIS 101 before terminating atUS 2 inFlorence.[2][4]
In 1914, much of the current route was unbuilt, though a section between Woodruff and Eagle River and a section east of Grantsburg had been constructed.[5] In 1917, a short stub connecting WIS 35 to Grantsburg was assumed and designated as WIS 70.[6] By the early 1920s, the highway had been extended east to WIS 32 (by 1935 part of US 45[7]) in Eagle River.[8] Throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s, the highway was the same and continued to be unpaved along the entire route.[9] In 1931, the highway was extended west to a toll bridge over the St. Croix River.[10] In 1934, a section of the highway northeast of Eagle River was designated.[11] In 1935, the highway was paved in some sections.[7] Between 1948 and 1956, the highway was extended east to Florence and the original section northeast of Eagle River had been redesignated as part ofWIS 17.[12][13]
| County | Location | mi[2][4] | km | Destinations | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnett | Town of Grantsburg | 0.0 | 0.0 |  MN 70 west –Rock Creek | Minnesota state line | |||
| Grantsburg | 4.8 | 7.7 |     WIS 48 east /WIS 87 south –Frederic,St. Croix Falls | |||||
| Siren | 19.8 | 31.9 |  WIS 35 south –Frederic | Southern end of WIS 35 concurrency | ||||
| Meenon–Siren line | 21.3 | 34.3 |  WIS 35 north –Webster,Superior | Northern end of WIS 35 concurrency | ||||
| Washburn | Spooner | 45.8 | 73.7 |  US 63 –Hayward,Shell Lake,Cumberland | ||||
| Town of Spooner | 47.5 | 76.4 |  US 53 –Superior,Rice Lake | Interchange | ||||
| Sawyer | Edgewater | 66.5 | 107.0 |  WIS 27 north –Hayward | Western end of WIS 27 concurrency | |||
| Radisson | 84.1 | 135.3 |   WIS 40 south / CTH-H north –Bruce | |||||
| Ojibwa | 89.6 | 144.2 |  WIS 27 south / CTH-G north –Ladysmith | Eastern end of WIS 27 concurrency | ||||
| Price | Fifield | 128.8 | 207.3 |  WIS 13 –Park Falls,Phillips | ||||
| Oneida | No major junctions | |||||||
| Vilas | No major junctions | |||||||
| Oneida | Woodruff | 166.3 | 267.6 |  US 51 south –Merrill,Wausau | Southern end of US 51 concurrency | |||
| 167.0 | 268.8 |  WIS 47 –Lac du Flambeau,Rhinelander | ||||||
| Vilas | Arbor Vitae | 168.7 | 271.5 | US 51 north –Hurley | Northern end of US 51 concurrency | |||
| St. Germain | 179.3 | 288.6 |  WIS 155 north –Sayner | |||||
| Lincoln | 190.1 | 305.9 |  WIS 17 south –Rhinelander | Western end of WIS 17 concurrency | ||||
| Eagle River | 192.0 | 309.0 |   US 45 north /WIS 17 north /WIS 32 north –Conover,Phelps | Eastern end of WIS 17 concurrency, western end of US 45 concurrency | ||||
| Lincoln | 193.4 | 311.2 | US 45 south /WIS 32 south –Three Lakes | Eastern end of US 45 concurrency | ||||
| Forest | Alvin | 213.6 | 343.8 |  WIS 55 –Iron River,Crandon | ||||
| Florence | Tipler | 222.2 | 357.6 |  WIS 139 north –Iron River | Northern end of WIS 139 concurrency | |||
| 225.0 | 362.1 | WIS 139 south –Long Lake | Southern end of WIS 139 concurrency | |||||
| Commonwealth | 243.2 | 391.4 | WIS 101 south –Armstrong Creek | Western end of WIS 101 concurrency | ||||
| Town of Florence | 245.6 | 395.3 |  US 2 /US 141 /WIS 101 ends –Crystal Falls,Iron Mountain | Eastern end of WIS 101 concurrency, WIS 101 ends at this intersection | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| ||||||||
Media related toWisconsin Highway 70 at Wikimedia Commons
