U.S. Route 24

U.S. Highway 24

U.S. Highway 24, a dual north-south/east-west route, is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan in the east to Kansas City, Missouri in the west; today, it runs from Clarkston, Michigan to Minturn, Colorado. The transition from North-south to east-west signage is in Toledo, Ohio.

Termini

As of 2004, the highway's eastern terminus is west of Clarkston, Michigan at an intersection with I-75. Its western terminus is near Minturn, Colorado at an intersection with I-70.

Historic names

Between Dixie Highway in Pontiac, Michigan and Laskey Road in Toledo, Ohio, the highway is known as Telegraph Road (Main article), its name before the highway system existed. Mark Knopfler of the pop group Dire Straits wrote the song Telegraph Road 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. The highway has 8 lanes and is often busy, particularly during rush hour.

States traversed

The highway passes through the following states:

• Michigan
• Ohio
• Indiana
• Illinois
• Missouri
• Kansas
• Colorado

Related US routes

• U.S. Highway 124 (decommissioned)
• U.S. Highway 224 meets US 24 in Huntington, Indiana, its western terminus and has its eastern terminus in New Castle, Pennsylvania.

U.S. Alternate 24 was an early designation of the Seaway Freeway between Detroit and Toledo; it has almost all been incorporated into Interstate 75 and has been decommissioned since at least 1960.

Notes

• US 24 (Telegraph Road) west of Detroit, Michigan served as a testing ground for the Michigan Left. Several other channelization techniques are also used; for instance the M-153 (Ford Road) intersection includes a southbound jughandle and a cutoff for northbound left-turning traffic. (aerial photo)
• US 24 west of Manhattan, Kansas follows the old route of US 40N.
• The cable-stayed Bayview Bridge brings U.S. 24 over the Mississippi River.
• Major upgrades have taken place throughout much of Indiana where US 24 is designated as a High Priority Corridor and has been recently upgraded from a two-lane highway to a four-lane at-grade expressway from Logansport to Fort Wayne. Further upgrades are planned from Fort Wayne to Toledo, Ohio to upgrade US 24 to similar standards. The grass roots effort to improve the section from New Haven, Indiana (Fort Wayne) to Toledo started from a meeting organized by Indiana State Representative Mitch Harper in 1989 at Woodburn, Indiana. It was at the meeting that the project name 'Fort to Port' was born. There are no plans to upgrade it to Interstate standards, however.

External links

• Fort to Port: First Person
• Maumee Valley Heritage Corridor
• Mile by Mile: U.S. Highway 24 Travel Guide - Colorado Springs to Vale (Junction of I-70)

Sources

• Endpoints of US highways