U.S. Route 24
Encyclopedia
U.S. Route 24 is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, located within the Detroit metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 59,515. It is the county seat of Oakland County...

, in the east to Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

, in the west. Today, the highway's eastern terminus is west of Clarkston, Michigan
Clarkston, Michigan
Clarkston, known officially by the name City of the Village of Clarkston, is a small city located within Independence Charter Township in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 882 at the 2010 census.-Overview:...

, at an intersection with I-75
Interstate 75
Interstate 75 is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. It travels from State Road 826 and State Road 924 in Hialeah, Florida to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, at the Ontario, Canada, border...

 and its western terminus is near Minturn, Colorado
Minturn, Colorado
Minturn is a Home Rule Municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,068 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Minturn is located at ....

 at an intersection with I-70
Interstate 70
Interstate 70 is an Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a Park and Ride near Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first Interstate Highway project in the United States. I-70 approximately traces the path of U.S. Route 40 east of the Rocky...

. The transition from north–south to east–west signage is in Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

.

Colorado

In Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, US 24 runs from Interstate 70 (and implicitly with, U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6
U.S. Route 6 , also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, a name that honors an American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system, running east-northeast from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts. Until 1964, it continued south from Bishop to...

) from Minturn where it goes through Minturn and continues south to the Continental Divide
Continental Divide
The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...

 at Tennessee Pass
Tennessee Pass (Colorado)
Tennessee Pass elevation is a high mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado in the United States.The pass traverses the continental divide north of Leadville in a gap between the northern end of the Sawatch Range to the west and the northern end of the Mosquito Range to the east...

. It continues south to Johnson Village
Johnson Village, Colorado
Johnson Village is a small unincorporated community located in central Chaffee County, Colorado in the United States. It is located along the west side of the Arkansas River, where the river is bridged by U.S. Highway 24. It is approximately three miles south of the town of Buena Vista. The...

 and then joins with U.S. Route 285
U.S. Route 285
U.S. Route 285 is a north–south United States highway, running 845 miles through the states of Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. The highway's northern terminus is in Denver, Colorado, at exit 201 on Interstate 25. Its southern terminus is in Sanderson, Texas at an intersection with U.S....

 northbound to the Trout Creek Pass
Trout Creek Pass
Trout Creek Pass is a mountain pass located in the Rocky Mountains of south-central Colorado in the United States. The pass sits atop the southern end of the Mosquito Range on the Park-Chaffee county line, between South Park and the headwaters of the Arkansas River to the west...

. After the pass, US 24 separates from US 285 and continues east to Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...

 and then northeast to Limon
Limon, Colorado
Limon is a Statutory Town that is the most populous town in Lincoln County, Colorado, United States immediately east of Elbert County. The population was 2,071 at the 2000 census. Limon has been called the "Hub City" of Eastern Colorado because Interstate 70, U.S. Highways 24, 40, and 287, and...

, where US 24 joins I-70 for most of the rest of its routing to the Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

 state line.

When the United States Highway System was started in 1926, US 24 in Colorado was designated U.S. Route 40S. It began in Grand Junction
Grand Junction, Colorado
The City of Grand Junction is the largest city in western Colorado. It is a city with a council–manager government form that is the county seat and the most populous city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction is situated west-southwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. As...

 and went east along the current Interstate 70 corridor to Minturn, from which it follows the current route to Limon. From Limon east to the Kansas border, the current US 24 was designated U.S. Route 40N. US 40S west of Limon and US 40N east of Limon received the US 24 designation in 1936, when US 24 was extended west from Kansas City, Missouri. The segment between Grand Junction and Minturn was decommissioned in 1975.

Kansas

In Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, US-24 enters from Colorado west of Kanorado
Kanorado, Kansas
Kanorado is a city in Sherman County, Kansas, United States. The name is a portmanteau of Kansas and Colorado. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 153.-Geography:Kanorado is located at...

; it overlaps I-70 for 45 miles (72 km) to Colby
Colby, Kansas
Colby is a city in and the county seat of Thomas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,387.-History:...

. US-24 does not meet I-70 again until Kansas City
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...

. On December 1, 2008, US 24 was rerouted southward on US 73 to I-70 west of Kansas City, continuing east on I-70 on the final 16 miles (25.7 km) in Kansas. US-24 serves the northern sides of Manhattan
Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...

, Topeka
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...

 and Lawrence
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...

.

The original designation for the current US-24 route in Kansas was U.S. Route 40N. It went from the Colorado border to Manhattan. In 1936, U.S. Route 24 received its current designation after an extension west from Kansas City.

In Kansas, US-24 is merged with US-59 from Williamstown
Williamstown, Kansas
Williamstown is an unincorporated community in southeastern Jefferson County, Kansas, United States, off U.S. Route 24....

 to a place in North Lawrence
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...

 called Teepee Junction. From there it is merged with US-40 until Kansas City.

Missouri

In Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, US 24 serves Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

, Independence
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...

, Lexington
Lexington, Missouri
Lexington is a city in Lafayette County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,453 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lafayette County. Located in western Missouri, Lexington lies about 40 miles east of Kansas City and is part of the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area...

, Waverly
Waverly, Missouri
Waverly is a city in Lafayette County, Missouri, United States. The population was 806 at the 2000 census.It is the location of Baltimore Bend Winery, one of the many excellent small wineries established in the state since the 1960s...

, Carrollton
Carrollton, Missouri
Carrollton is a city in Carroll County, Missouri, United States. Carrollton won the 2005 All-America City Award given out annually by the National Civic League. The population was 4,122 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Carroll County. It has several restaurants including JB's...

, Moberly
Moberly, Missouri
Moberly is a city in Randolph County, Missouri, United States. According to the 2008 census bureau estimate, the population was 14,227. The city was incorporated 1868. The Moberly Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of Randolph County....

, Madison, Missouri
Madison, Missouri
Madison is a city in Monroe County, Missouri, United States. The population was 586 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Madison is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....

 Monroe City
Monroe City, Missouri
Monroe City is a city in Marion, Monroe, and Ralls counties in the US state of Missouri. The population was 2,588 at the 2000 census.The Marion and Ralls County portions of Monroe City are part of the Hannibal Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

 and West Quincy
West Quincy, Missouri
West Quincy is a small commercial area in northeastern Marion County, Missouri, United States, on U.S. Route 24. It has no permanent residents.-History:...

. It is concurrent with U.S. Route 65 between Waverly and Carrollton, passing over the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...

 via the Waverly Bridge
Waverly Bridge (Missouri)
The Waverly Bridge is a bridge at Waverly, Missouri, carrying U.S. Route 24 and U.S. Route 65 over the Missouri River between Carroll County and Lafayette County....

 when concurrent. It is also concurrent with U.S. Route 36 east of Monroe City and with U.S. Route 61 from south of Palmyra
Palmyra, Missouri
Palmyra is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,467 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Hannibal Micropolitan Statistical Area.- Geography :Palmyra is located at...

 to West Quincy. The segment shared with US 61 is part of the Avenue of the Saints
Avenue of the Saints
The Avenue of the Saints is a highway in the Midwestern United States that connects St. Paul, Minnesota, and St. Louis, Missouri.-Missouri:Within Missouri, the Avenue of the Saints is Interstate 64, U.S...

.

Along the route within Independence is the Harry S Truman Presidential Library and Museum.

Illinois

In Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, U.S. Route 24 runs west across the Quincy Bayview Bridge
Bayview Bridge
The Bayview Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge bringing westbound U.S. Highway 24 over the Mississippi River. It connects the cities of West Quincy, Missouri and Quincy, Illinois. Eastbound U.S. 24 is served by the older Quincy Memorial Bridge....

 and east across the Quincy Memorial Bridge
Quincy Memorial Bridge
The Quincy Memorial Bridge is a truss bridge over the Mississippi River in Quincy, Illinois. It brings eastbound U.S. Highway 24 into the city of Quincy from Missouri...

 over the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 in Quincy
Quincy, Illinois
Quincy, known as Illinois' "Gem City," is a river city along the Mississippi River and the county seat of Adams County. As of the 2010 census the city held a population of 40,633. The city anchors its own micropolitan area and is the economic and regional hub of West-central Illinois, catering a...

. The cable-stayed Bayview Bridge
Bayview Bridge
The Bayview Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge bringing westbound U.S. Highway 24 over the Mississippi River. It connects the cities of West Quincy, Missouri and Quincy, Illinois. Eastbound U.S. 24 is served by the older Quincy Memorial Bridge....

 brings westbound US 24 over the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

. Eastbound traffic is served by the older Quincy Memorial Bridge
Quincy Memorial Bridge
The Quincy Memorial Bridge is a truss bridge over the Mississippi River in Quincy, Illinois. It brings eastbound U.S. Highway 24 into the city of Quincy from Missouri...

.

, it is the main arterial highway from Quincy northeast to Peoria
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...

.

From Quincy to Peoria, the route follows the old Peoria to Quincy stage coach route. John Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor , born Johann Jakob Astor, was a German-American business magnate and investor who was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States...

 was the original owner of the tract upon which Astoria
Astoria, Illinois
Astoria is an incorporated town in Fulton County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,193 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Astoria is located at ....

 was platted in 1836 and served as an important way station on the stage coach route.

From Peoria, US 24 runs directly east (parallel to Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway
Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway
The Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway is a short-line railroad that operates of track from Mapleton, Illinois, through Peoria across Illinois to Logansport, Indiana, and includes a branch line between Logansport to Winamac, Indiana...

) through a number of small towns en route to Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

 and Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...

, the next major metropolitan center. US 24 crosses into Indiana at the state line east of Sheldon
Sheldon, Illinois
Sheldon is a village in Sheldon Township, Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,232 at the 2000 census, and 1,130 in 2009.-Geography:Sheldon is located at ....

.

Indiana

In Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

, U.S. Route 24 runs east from the Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 state line to Huntington
Huntington, Indiana
Huntington, known as the "Lime City", is a small city in and the county seat of Huntington County, Indiana, United States. It is in Huntington Township and Union Township...

. At Huntington, U.S. 24 turns northeast and runs to Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...

; it then overlaps Interstate 69
Interstate 69
Interstate 69 is an Interstate Highway in the United States. It exists in two parts: a completed highway from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, and a mostly proposed extension southwest to the Mexican border in Texas...

 and Interstate 469
Interstate 469
Interstate 469 is an Interstate Highway in the northeastern portion of the mid-western U.S. state of Indiana. It is an auxiliary route of parent Interstate 69 that also carries portions of US 24, US 30 and US 33 around the urban parts of Fort Wayne, Indiana...

 to bypass the city before entering Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

 at the state line east of Fort Wayne. The segment of U.S. 24 between Logansport
Logansport, Indiana
Logansport is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, Indiana, United States. The population was 18,396 at the 2010 census. Logansport is located in northern Indiana, at the junction of the Wabash and Eel rivers, northeast of Lafayette.-History:...

 and Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

 is part of the Hoosier Heartland Industrial Corridor project of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act
The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 is a United States federal law that posed a major change to transportation planning and policy, as the first U.S. federal legislation on the subject in the post-Interstate Highway System era...

.

Ohio

In Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

 the roadway enters the state east of Woodburn, Indiana
Woodburn, Indiana
Woodburn is a city in Maumee Township, Allen County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,520 at the 2010 census, making it the smallest incorporated city in the state.-Geography:Woodburn is located at ....

 near Antwerp
Antwerp, Ohio
Antwerp is a village in Paulding County, Ohio, United States, along the Maumee River. The population was 1,740 at the 2000 census.Antwerp is the nearest village to the Six Mile Reservoir, the site of the Reservoir War in 1887. Antwerp is the birthplace of Asa Long, the English draughts player...

. Between the Indiana state line and Toledo, this portion of the roadway is known as the Fort to Port segment of the Hoosier Heartland Industrial Corridor. At Toledo, US 24 turns north until it crosses the Michigan state line. At the municipal level, US 24 is known as "Detroit Avenue" on most of its path through Toledo, at the point where it turns north it becomes known as "Telegraph Road." It is known as Telegraph Road from this point on, through the rest of the path north through Michigan until its northern terminus.

In Toledo, US 24 follows the course of old US 25, old US 25 being farther away from the course of Interstate 75 and supplanting much of what had been US 24 in greater Toledo. Partially truncated as a state route, what had been US 24 was renumbered as Ohio State Route 25 where it remained a state highway, and US 25 in greater Toledo became US 24.

Michigan

In Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, U.S. Route 24 enters from Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

 and serves the city of Monroe
Monroe, Michigan
Monroe is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 20,733 at the 2010 census. It is the largest city and county seat of Monroe County. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but both are politically independent. The city is located approximately 14 miles ...

 and the Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

 Metro Area, known as Telegraph Road. It continues north through the western edge of Detroit. It passes through Michigan's "mixing bowl" (which is where the freeways I-696 (Walter P. Reuther Freeway), M-10 (John C. Lodge Freeway/Northwestern Highway), and Lahser Road intersect). US-24 continues north as Telegraph Road into Pontiac, Michigan where it turns toward a more northwesterly direction in Waterford, Michigan at an intersection with Dixie Highway and terminates at I-75 in Clarkston, Michigan.

History

Between Dixie Highway
Dixie Highway
The Dixie Highway was a United States automobile highway, first planned in 1914 to connect the US Midwest with the Southern United States. It was part of the National Auto Trail system, and grew out of an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final result is better understood as a small network of...

 in Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, located within the Detroit metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 59,515. It is the county seat of Oakland County...

 and Laskey Road in Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

, the highway is known as Telegraph Road (see U.S. Route 24 in Michigan), named before the highway system existed after the telegraph wires it once ran parallel to. Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...

 of the pop group Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...

 wrote the song "Telegraph Road
Telegraph Road (song)
"Telegraph Road" is a song by British rock band Dire Straits and written by Mark Knopfler. It appeared on their 1982 album Love over Gold. Clocking in at 14:18 minutes long, it is rarely played by radio stations, yet has remained highly regarded over the years.It was first played live at the...

", about the development and decay of the road, which he spotted en route to a concert. It is a major surface route through western areas of Metro Detroit
Metro Detroit
The Detroit metropolitan area, often referred to as Metro Detroit, is the metropolitan area located in Southeast Michigan centered on the city of Detroit which shares an international border with Windsor, Ontario. The Detroit metropolitan area is the second largest U.S. metropolitan area...

. The highway has 8 lanes and is often busy, particularly during rush hour
Rush hour
A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening, the times during when the most people commute...

.

US 24 (Telegraph Road) west of Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

 served as a testing ground for the Michigan left
Michigan left
A Michigan left is an at-grade intersection design which replaces each left turn with a permutation of a U-turn and a right turn. The design was given the name due to its frequent use along Michigan roads and highways since the late 1960s. In other contexts, the intersection is called a median...

 automobile maneuver. Several other channelization
Channelization (roads)
Channelization is an engineering concept which employs the use of secondary roads to separate certain flows of traffic from the main traffic lanes. This method came into favor in the United States in the 1950s.-References:...

 techniques are also used; for instance the M-153
M-153 (Michigan highway)
M-153 is a state trunkline highway in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also known as Ford Road for nearly its entire length, except for its westernmost portion where it splits from Ford Road and junctions with the M-14 freeway...

 (Ford Road) intersection includes a southbound jughandle
Jughandle
A jughandle is a type of ramp or slip road that changes the way traffic turns left at at-grade intersections. Instead of a standard left turn being made from the left lane, left-turning traffic uses a ramp on the right side of the road...

 and a cutoff for northbound left-turning traffic.

US 24 from Minturn, Colorado to Limon, Colorado
Limon, Colorado
Limon is a Statutory Town that is the most populous town in Lincoln County, Colorado, United States immediately east of Elbert County. The population was 2,071 at the 2000 census. Limon has been called the "Hub City" of Eastern Colorado because Interstate 70, U.S. Highways 24, 40, and 287, and...

 is a former route of U.S. Route 40S. Between Limon and Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...

, US 24 follows the old route of US 40N
U.S. Route 40
U.S. Route 40 is an east–west United States highway. As with most routes whose numbers end in a zero, U.S. 40 once traversed the entire United States. It is one of the original 1920s U.S. Highways, and its first termini were San Francisco, California, and Atlantic City, New Jersey...

.

Prior to December 1, 2008, US-24 followed State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas. That day, it was rerouted onto K-7
K-7 (Kansas highway)
K-7 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Kansas. It is mostly a small country highway winding its way through the Osage Questas and Glaciated Regions of eastern Kansas, although a portion of the highway passes through the Kansas City metropolitan area. Significant portions of the highway overlap...

 and Interstate 70.

As Michigan enacted alcohol prohibition earlier than Ohio, for a time this road was notorious for its use by bootleggers, bringing booze from Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

 and Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

 into Detroit.

Future

In Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, with the passage of Proposition 36B, the portion of US 24 that overlaps US 36, from the Rocket Junction 7 miles (11 km) west of Hannibal, Missouri
Hannibal, Missouri
Hannibal is a city in Marion and Ralls counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. Hannibal is located at the intersection of Interstate 72 and U.S. Routes 24, 36 and 61, approximately northwest of St. Louis. According to the 2010 U.S. Census the population was 17,606...

 to Monroe City, Missouri
Monroe City, Missouri
Monroe City is a city in Marion, Monroe, and Ralls counties in the US state of Missouri. The population was 2,588 at the 2000 census.The Marion and Ralls County portions of Monroe City are part of the Hannibal Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

, will be upgraded to a 4-lane expressway highway by December 31, 2010. This section of the way is now 4 lane and as been for better part of 2010.

Indiana

Major upgrades have taken place throughout much of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

 where US 24 comprises most of a High Priority Corridor and has been recently upgraded from a two-lane highway to a four-lane at-grade expressway
Limited-access road
A limited-access road known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway and expressway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which has many or most characteristics of a controlled-access highway , including limited or no access to adjacent...

 from Logansport
Logansport, Indiana
Logansport is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, Indiana, United States. The population was 18,396 at the 2010 census. Logansport is located in northern Indiana, at the junction of the Wabash and Eel rivers, northeast of Lafayette.-History:...

 to Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...

. Further upgrades are planned for this corridor: US 24 from Fort Wayne to Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

 and Indiana 25 from Logansport, Indiana
Logansport, Indiana
Logansport is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, Indiana, United States. The population was 18,396 at the 2010 census. Logansport is located in northern Indiana, at the junction of the Wabash and Eel rivers, northeast of Lafayette.-History:...

 to Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...

 will be upgraded to similar standards. The grass roots effort to improve the section from New Haven, Indiana
New Haven, Indiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 12,406 people, 4,900 households, and 3,415 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,522.0 people per square mile . There were 5,141 housing units at an average density of 630.7 per square mile...

 (Fort Wayne) to Toledo started from a meeting organized by Indiana State Representative Mitch Harper
Mitch Harper
Mitchell V. "Mitch" Harper is an American politician from Fort Wayne, Indiana.He was elected as a Fort Wayne Common Council member from the 4th District on November 6, 2007. He was elected to a second term on November 8, 2011. He currently serves as President of the Common Council.Harper served as...

 in 1989 at Woodburn, Indiana
Woodburn, Indiana
Woodburn is a city in Maumee Township, Allen County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,520 at the 2010 census, making it the smallest incorporated city in the state.-Geography:Woodburn is located at ....

. It was at this meeting that the project name 'Fort to Port' was born. There are no plans to upgrade the entire corridor to Interstate standards at this time, but maps from the 2005 Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) show that Indiana will build its portion as a freeway with no at-grade intersections. The most complex and expensive portion of the Indiana segment is reconstructing the interchange with Interstate 469
Interstate 469
Interstate 469 is an Interstate Highway in the northeastern portion of the mid-western U.S. state of Indiana. It is an auxiliary route of parent Interstate 69 that also carries portions of US 24, US 30 and US 33 around the urban parts of Fort Wayne, Indiana...

 east of Fort Wayne. The existing parclo interchange
Parclo interchange
A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The parclo interchange was developed by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation as a replacement for the cloverleaf on 400-Series Highways, removing the dangerous weaving patterns and allowing for more...

 will be reconfigured with flyover ramps to allow high-speed movement of traffic through the interchange.

In November 2007, Indiana announced they would change their segment as an expressway with at-grade intersections at Bruick Road, Webster Road, and SR 101, instead of a freeway section with interchanges and overpasses. The only overpasses would be two narrow (12' wide) overpasses for non-motorized traffic (Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...

 buggies) to cross US 24. Also, the interchange of I-469 and US 24 would remain as-is with traffic signals at the US 24 ramp terminals. The cost savings without interchanges would be approximately $75–$80 million. Right of way would be purchased for future interchanges. This change has been unpopular due to safety concerns with the heavy truck traffic on the corridor. INDOT claims that the current traffic on US 24 does not justify interchanges, even though the 2005 Final EIS states that it does.

Responding to widespread public outcry over the scaled-back design, Governor Mitch Daniels
Mitch Daniels
Mitchell Elias "Mitch" Daniels, Jr. is the 49th and current Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana. A Republican, he began his first four-year term as governor on January 10, 2005, and was elected to his second term by an 18-point margin on November 4, 2008. Previously, he was the Director of the...

 announced on December 12, 2007, that US-24 would have been built as a freeway initially from Bruick Road to the Ohio state line, with interchanges at SR-101 and Webster Road. The entire 13.5 miles (21.7 km) segment is slated for completion in 2012. The intersection with Bruick Road was to have initially been an at-grade crossing, but INDOT announced in August 2009 that a grade-separated interchange will be built here as well. As a result, Indiana's portion of US-24 will be built as an Interstate-quality freeway, except for the at-grade interchange with I-469. INDOT plans to eventually upgrade the I-469/US-24 interchange by adding flyover ramps to allow high-speed movements between the two highways, as was originally intended in the Fort-to-Port Final Environmental Impact Statement published in 2005. Depending on funding, this work may begin in 2013.

Upon completion, ownership of the existing US-24 will be transferred to Allen County
Allen County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 331,849 people, 128,745 households, and 86,259 families residing in the county. The population density was 505 people per square mile . There were 138,905 housing units at an average density of 211 per square mile...

, and become a frontage road
Frontage road
A frontage road is a non-limited access road running parallel to a higher-speed road, usually a freeway, and feeding it at appropriate points of access...

 east of Bruick Road, providing access to the B.F. Goodrich
BFGoodrich
BFGoodrich is an American brand of tires. Separated from the Goodrich company and now owned by Michelin.Some Michelin competition tyres are now branded BFGoodrich to increase brand awareness....

 tire plant and adjacent homes and farmland. Indiana is financing construction through the Major Moves
Major Moves
Major Moves is a studio album by American country music artist Hank Williams, Jr. It was released by Warner Bros. Records in May 1984. "Attitude Adjustment," "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" and the title track were released as singles...

 program, and will be reimbursed when federal highway funds become available. Sections of the two-lane road that have been bypassed by the freeway are now locally signed as "Old US-24."

Governor Daniels and INDOT held the groundbreaking ceremony for the Indiana section on April 30, 2008. By December 2008, crews had completed construction on two miles (3 km) of the freeway from the Ohio state line to just east of the Indiana SR-101 interchange. On October 29, 2009, Governor Daniels and Ohio Governor Ted Strickland
Ted Strickland
Theodore "Ted" Strickland was the 68th Governor of Ohio, serving from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ....

 held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Indiana/Ohio state line opening the new US-24 highway from SR-101 near Woodburn, Indiana
Woodburn, Indiana
Woodburn is a city in Maumee Township, Allen County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,520 at the 2010 census, making it the smallest incorporated city in the state.-Geography:Woodburn is located at ....

 to Route 424 near Defiance, Ohio
Defiance, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,465 people, 6,572 households, and 4,422 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,562.4 people per square mile . There were 7,061 housing units at an average density of 670.0 per square mile...

.

Ohio

Originally Ohio planned to upgrade US-24 between the Indiana state line and Toledo as a 4-lane highway with some at-grade crossings. In 2005, it was announced that the 22 miles (35.4 km) segment between Napoleon
Napoleon, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 9,318 people, 3,813 households, and 2,470 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,668.1 people per square mile . There were 4,066 housing units at an average density of 727.9 per square mile...

 and Interstate 475
Interstate 475
Interstate 475 may refer to:* Interstate 475 , a bypass of Macon, Georgia* Interstate 475 , a bypass of Flint, Michigan* Interstate 475 , a bypass of Toledo, Ohio...

 near Waterville
Waterville, Ohio
Waterville is a village in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, along the Maumee River. The population was 4,828 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Waterville is located at ....

 will be built as a freeway. The remaining Ohio segments from Napoleon to Indiana will follow the original plan, containing both at-grade and grade-separated intersections. Every intersection with a state or US highway on US 24 from the Indiana State Line to I-475 at Toledo will be an interchange.

Bannered and suffixed routes

  • U.S. Route 24 Business - Goodland, Kansas
    Goodland, Kansas
    Goodland is a city in and the county seat of Sherman County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,489.-History:...

  • U.S. Route 24 Alternate from Toledo to Detroit
    Detroit, Michigan
    Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK