Highway 61

U.S. Route 61

U.S. Route 61 is the official designation for a United States highway that runs 1,400 miles (2,300 km) from New Orleans, Louisiana, to the city of Wyoming, Minnesota, generally following the course of the Mississippi River. As of 2004, the highway's northern terminus in Wyoming, Minnesota, is at an intersection with Interstate 35. Prior to 1991, the highway extended north through Duluth, Minnesota to the United States-Canada border near Grand Portage, Minnesota. Its southern terminus in New Orleans is at an intersection with U.S. Highway 90 (Tulane Avenue at South Broad Street), in front of the Orleans Parish Criminal Court.
The route was an important north-south connection in the days before the interstate highway system. Many southerners traveled north along Highway 61 to go to St. Louis, Missouri and St. Paul, Minnesota. The highway was also used in the title of Minnesota-native Bob Dylan's song (and album) "Highway 61 Revisited."
[edit] Louisiana
See also: Airline Highway
U.S. 61 in Louisiana is four-laned from its southern terminus in New Orleans to the Parish (county) Line north of Baton Rouge at Thompson's Creek; the portion of two-lane roadway between Thompson's Creek and St. Francisville is currently (late 2007) being upgraded to four lanes. Northward from St. Francisville, U.S. 61 is four-laned to the Mississippi state line, where the highway continues into Natchez, Mississippi as a four-lane highway.
The section of U.S. 61 from New Orleans to Baton Rouge is known as the Airline Highway. Although the road fronts the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and passes near Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, the name originally referred to the highway's straight route which contrasted to that of the winding Jefferson Highway, which often paralleled the Mississippi River. Legend has it former Louisiana Gov. Huey P. Long advocated the building of the "airline" highway to provide a quick means from the capitol building in Baton Rouge to the bars and establishments in New Orleans so he could quickly travel between the two. On Airline Highway in Jefferson Parish in 1987, Baton Rouge televangelist Jimmy Swaggart was confronted by rival preacher Marvin Gorman as Swaggart exited a motel with a prostitute. This incident increased the area's reputation as a locale of 'seedy motels'. Partly because of that reputation, the section in Jefferson Parish was later renamed Airline Drive.

[edit] Mississippi
U.S. 61 is divided from the Tennessee state line to U.S. Highway 82 in Leland. The highway south of Vicksburg to Natchez is mostly divided and four-lane; only short sections through Port Gibson need to be upgraded. From Natchez to the Louisiana state line, Highway 61 is now divided and four lanes. The Mississippi Department of Transportation is now upgrading the highway between Vicksburg and Leland to four lanes, beginning with replacement of the dangerously narrow Yazoo River bridge at Redwood in Warren County.
The road is also known as the Blues Highway because it runs through the Mississippi Delta country, which was an important source of blues music. U.S. 61 has been referenced in music by various artists with roots in the region.
The junction of Highway 61 and Highway 49 in Clarksdale is designated as the famous crossroads where, according to legend, Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for mastery of the blues. However, there is no proof it is the site. Several miles north is another junction where the two highways diverge again; between the junctions the two highways share the route. It has never been confirmed as the place Johnson meant. If the crossroads in the song was ever anything other than a metaphor, it could have been any intersection in that part of Mississippi, or the world.
Like Route 66 in the Western U.S., the iconic Highway 61 sign is so strongly identified with the Clarksdale area that it is used to market different products and services. U.S. Highway 61 is defined in Mississippi Code Annotated § 65-3-3.

[edit] Tennessee
Highway 61 enters Memphis from Walls, Mississippi as South 3rd St in the southern Memphis area, and then joins I-55 as they cross the Mississippi River to Arkansas.

This section requires expansion.

[edit] Arkansas

This section requires expansion.
Highway 61 runs on the far east border of Arkansas and changes into city streets as it passes through them. In Blytheville, being an example, Highway 61 turns into "North 6th Street". It's the most commonly used and accessible path to Missouri.
[edit] Missouri
See also: Avenue of the Saints
U.S. Route 61 enters Missouri south of Steele. The alignment of the highway is closely followed by Interstate 55 between there and the St. Louis area, with portions of the two highways overlapping. Between Howardville and Sikeston, U.S. 61 overlaps with U.S. Route 62. At Sikeston, U.S. 61 also meets U.S. Route 60. The junction of Highway 61 and Old Route 66 (now Route 100), located in Kirkwood, is referred to locally as "the rock 'n roll crossroads of America". After passing through Cape Girardeau, the highway turns northwest and meets U.S. Route 67. The two highways overlap until separating in the St. Louis area at Ladue, where U.S. 61 meets Interstate 64 and U.S. Route 40 and overlaps with them. While in the St. Louis area, U.S. 61 is on Lindbergh Boulevard.
After meeting I-64 and U.S. 40, the U.S. 61 turns west with them and its overlap with the Avenue of the Saints begins. At Route K, the overlap with I-64 currently ends and at Wentzville, the overlap with U.S. 40 ends when it meets Interstate 70. This intersection will also be the future end of I-64. It continues in a general northwesterly route, meeting U.S. Route 54 at Bowling Green and U.S. Route 36 and Interstate 72 at Hannibal, Missouri, an intersection which is I-72's western terminus. Northwest of Hannibal, US 61 meets U.S. Route 24 and the two overlap until they separate at Taylor. U.S. 61 continues north until near Wayland, where the highway turns east at Route 27 and the overlap with the Avenue of the Saints ends. Shortly before leaving Missouri, U.S. 61 meets U.S. Route 136 and the two overlap until entering Iowa.

[edit] Iowa

The Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge over the Mississippi River.
U.S. Route 61 enters Iowa overlapped with U.S. Route 136 near Keokuk. They separate in Keokuk and U.S. 61 turns north there and meets U.S. Route 218 in northwestern Keokuk. They overlap for 6 miles (9.7 km), then U.S. 218 turns northwest. U.S. 61 goes north until meeting Iowa Highway 2, then turns east with Iowa 2 to Fort Madison. U.S. 61 then turns northeast and meets U.S. Route 34 in Burlington. The highway goes north and overlaps Iowa Highway 92 from Grandview to Muscatine. At Muscatine, the highway turns east to go towards the Quad Cities. At Davenport, U.S. 61 turns north after meeting U.S. Route 67.
While in Davenport, U.S. Route 61 meets U.S. Route 6 and Interstate 80. After I-80, the highway continues north as a freeway until De Witt, which is where it meets U.S. Route 30. It continues north from there to Dubuque as an expressway except for a freeway section in the Maquoketa area. The highway joins with U.S. Highway 151 about six miles (10 km) south of Dubuque. U.S. 61 and U.S. 151 are joined in Dubuque by U.S. Route 52, which separates in downtown Dubuque. Also in Dubuque, a short connecting highway links U.S. 61, U.S. 151, and U.S. 52 with U.S. Route 20. Together, U.S. 61 and U.S. 151 continue through Dubuque, where they cross the Mississippi River and enter Wisconsin via the Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge.
The 61 Drive In, one of the few drive-in theaters left in the nation, is located along Highway 61. The theater is located about five miles (8 km) south of Maquoketa, near exit 153 (the Delmar/Lost Nation exit).

[edit] Wisconsin
On the opposite bank of the Mississippi, U.S. 61 and U.S. 151 enter Grant County, Wisconsin. U.S. 151 separates from U.S. 61 at Dickeyville.
In 2004, a new 2-lane Mississippi River Bridge opened in La Crosse, creating a 4-lane highway from downtown La Crosse to the Minnesota state line. The new bridge brings traffic into La Crosse, and is located just south of the old Cass Street Bridge which continues to be used by traffic heading towards Minnesota.

This section requires expansion.

[edit] Minnesota
Main article: U.S. Route 61 in Minnesota
The four-lane highway continues north to La Crescent. U.S. 61 follows the Mississippi River through Southeast Minnesota through the cities of Winona, Red Wing. It crosses the river at Hastings using the Hastings High Bridge and joins U.S. Route 10 before entering St. Paul. Within the city, the route follows I-94 for a short distance, and then follows Mounds Boulevard, East 7th Street, and Arcade Street through the East Side of St. Paul.
120 miles (190 km) of U.S. 61 from La Crescent to Cottage Grove is officially designated the Disabled American Veterans Highway.
The portion of Highway 61 north of Wyoming, Minnesota is now part of the Minnesota State Highway system, bearing the designation Minnesota State Highway 61 since 1991.

[edit] History

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources (ideally, using inline citations). Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007)
U.S. 61 once ran 1,714 miles (2,758 km) from New Orleans through Duluth, Minnesota all the way to the Canadian border. The road has been shortened to 1,400 miles (2,300 km) ending now in the city of Wyoming, Minnesota at an intersection with I-35.
The northern section of U.S. 61 in Minnesota was separated when I-35 was constructed, and decommissioned in 1991.

[edit] Mississippi
The section of U.S. Highway 61 in northwestern Mississippi, between the state line and Clarksdale, has received considerable upgrades since 1990, when casinos were legalized by the state. The resulting boom in casino development in Tunica County, coupled with dramatic population and development growth in DeSoto County, has led to relocating portions of the highway and expanding it to a divided four-lane highway.

[edit] Missouri
When it was designated in 1926, U.S. 61 replaced most of Route 9, which had been established in 1922 between Arkansas and Iowa. The only part that did not become part of U.S. 61 was north of Wayland, where U.S. 61 turned east on Route 4, and Route 9 became Route 4B (now Route 81) to the state line. Since then, U.S. 61 has been moved to a shorter route between Jackson and Festus, replacing much of Route 25; the old alignment is now Route 72 and U.S. 67.

[edit] Iowa
Starting in the early 1980s, U.S. Highway 61 between Davenport and Dubuque was rebuilt as a four-lane highway. The first link, a 19-mile (31 km) stretch between Davenport and De Witt, was finished in 1982; a bypass around De Witt, which overlapped U.S. Highway 30, was in use starting in November 1975. Subsequent links were completed to Maquoketa (in 1996) and finally to Dubuque in 1999. When the final link was completed, Dubuque finally had a direct four-lane connection to Interstate 80.
In 1983, two multi-lane one-way routes were designated through Davenport starting at the northern city limits. Southbound traffic used the newly constructed Welcome Way until it merges with Harrison Street just north of 35th Street; northbound traffic use Brady Street (which had been a two-way, four-lane street). Other two-way stretches of the highway through Davenport have four (or more) lanes. Because of a bridge with a low clearance in downtown Davenport, commercial truck drivers are encouraged to take Interstates 80, 74, or 280 to bypass the Quad Cities.
A 7.5-mile (12.1 km) bypass around Muscatine, Iowa was opened in 1984, but other upgrades on the stretch south of Davenport would not happen for another decade. The changes came as follows:
1996 – The completion of a 4-mile (6.4 km), four-lane stretch between Blue Grass and Interstate 280 in Davenport.
November 2000 — A 14-mile (23 km) stretch between Blue Grass and the Muscatine bypass was opened.
May 2001 — A 3-mile (4.8 km) bypass around Blue Grass.
July 2002 — A 7 1/2-mile stretch, from the Muscatine bypass to the southern tip of Muscatine County, just north of Letts.
The final stretch completed a continuous multi-laned link between Dickeyville, Wisconsin south to Letts, Iowa.

[edit] Minnesota
North from the city of Wyoming, Old Highway 61 continues as "Forest Boulevard" in Chisago County, and then either as "County 61" or as Highway 361 through Pine and Carlton counties before ending at Highway 210. The original U.S. 61 had continued east along Highway 210 to Carlton and north on present-day Highway 45 to Scanlon before turning northeast on what is now "County 61 / Old Highway 61" through Esko.
I-35 has replaced the original U.S. 61 descending Thompson Hill into West Duluth, from which most of the city of Duluth, Bob Dylan's home town, can be seen entering town, including the Aerial Lift Bridge and the waterfront. The original U.S. 61 in the city of Duluth had previously followed Cody Street, Grand Avenue, Superior Street, Second Street, Third Street, and London Road.
The original U.S. 61 between Duluth and the Canadian border was designated as Minnesota State Highway 61 in 1991. Minnesota 61, part of the Lake Superior Circle Tour route, follows the North Shore of Lake Superior, where it becomes Ontario Highway 61 upon entering Canada. Highway 61 continues to the city of Thunder Bay, where it ends at an intersection with the Trans-Canada Highway.