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92-601: U.S. Route 12 ( US 12 ) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Aberdeen, Washington , to Detroit , Michigan . In the U.S. state of Indiana , it is part of the state road system. US 12 enters the state concurrent with US 20 and US 41 in Hammond . The 46.258 miles (74.445 km) of US 12 that lie within Indiana serve as

184-425: A banner such as alternate or bypass —are also managed by AASHTO. These are sometimes designated with lettered suffixes, like A for alternate or B for business. The official route log, last published by AASHTO in 1989, has been named United States Numbered Highways since its initial publication in 1926. Within the route log, "U.S. Route" is used in the table of contents, while "United States Highway" appears as

276-521: A distinctively-shaped white shield with large black numerals in the center. Often, the shield is displayed against a black square or rectangular background. Each state manufactures their own signage, and as such subtle variations exist all across the United States. Individual states may use cut-out or rectangular designs, some have black outlines, and California prints the letters "US" above the numerals. One- and two-digit shields generally feature

368-541: A four-lane undivided highway passing through mostly residential areas . The road heads south concurrent with SR 912 , passing through mainly industrial area between East Chicago and Gary. The two routes have an interchange at SR 312 and access to the Indiana Toll Road, via an interchange at Gary Avenue. The road has two bridges with the first passes over the Grand Calumet River and

460-623: A main route. Odd numbers generally increase from east to west; U.S. Route 1 (US 1) follows the Atlantic Coast and US 101 follows the Pacific Coast. (US 101 is one of the many exceptions to the standard numbering grid; its first "digit" is "10", and it is a main route on its own and not a spur of US 1.) Even numbers tend to increase from north to south; US 2 closely follows the Canadian border, and US 98 hugs

552-591: A major conduit. Some of the highway is listed on the National Highway System (NHS). Various sections are rural two-lane highway, urbanized four-lane undivided highway, and one-way streets. The easternmost community along the highway is Michiana Shores at the Michigan state line. US 12 passes through urban areas and wood lands, parallel to the Lake Michigan shoreline. The highway

644-686: A mix of industrial and commercial areas. In downtown Michigan City, the route becomes a four-lane divided highway and passes south of the Old Michigan City Light but just north of the Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets. Before exiting Michigan City, the road narrows to a four-lane undivided highway and intersects SR 212 , an eastern bypass of Michigan City. After SR 212 the route leaves Michigan City and passes through Long Beach . The highway leaves Long Beach, traveling through woodlands with houses and

736-619: A nationwide grid in the contiguous United States . As the designation and numbering of these highways were coordinated among the states, they are sometimes called Federal Highways , but the roadways were built and have always been maintained by state or local governments since their initial designation in 1926. The route numbers and locations are coordinated by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The only federal involvement in AASHTO

828-558: A number of railroad causeways, some of them no longer in use. Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad has an active spur line that runs through the Illinois side of the lake in the Hegewisch community area. Calumet Avenue (U.S. 41) is on its eastern side, with a strip of parkland in between. There are currently several large industrial properties adjacent to the lake and on filled wetlands adjoining the lake, including Cargill and Unilever on

920-460: A part of its maintenance responsibilities using a metric called annual average daily traffic (AADT). This measurement is a calculation of the traffic level along a segment of roadway for any average day of the year. In 2010, INDOT figured that the lowest traffic levels were 3,120 vehicles and 350 commercial vehicles used the highway daily near Ogden Dunes . The peak traffic volumes were 30,510 vehicles and 2,430 commercial vehicles AADT along

1012-466: A part of popular culture. US 101 continues east and then south to end at Olympia, Washington . The western terminus of US 2 is now at Everett, Washington . Wolf Lake (Indiana%E2%80%93Illinois) Wolf Lake is located between Hammond, Indiana and the Hegewisch community area of Chicago , Illinois. It was once connected by an open channel to Lake Michigan on the Indiana side of

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1104-713: A part of the U.S. Numbered System." U.S. Route 3 (US 3) meets this obligation; in New Hampshire , it does not follow tolled portions of the Everett Turnpike . However, US Routes in the system do use parts of five toll roads: U.S. Routes in the contiguous United States follow a grid pattern, in which odd-numbered routes run generally north to south and even-numbered routes run generally east to west, though three-digit spur routes can be either-or. Usually, one- and two-digit routes are major routes, and three-digit routes are numbered as shorter spur routes from

1196-602: A rough grid. Major routes from the earlier map were assigned numbers ending in 0, 1 or 5 (5 was soon relegated to less-major status), and short connections received three-digit numbers based on the main highway from which they spurred. The five-man committee met September 25, and submitted the final report to the Joint Board secretary on October 26. The board sent the report to the Secretary of Agriculture on October 30, and he approved it November 18, 1925. The new system

1288-727: Is a nonvoting seat for the United States Department of Transportation . Generally, most north-to-south highways are odd-numbered, with the lowest numbers in the east and the highest in the west, while east-to-west highways are typically even-numbered, with the lowest numbers in the north, and the highest in the south, though the grid guidelines are not rigidly followed, and many exceptions exist. Major north–south routes generally have numbers ending in "1", while major east–west routes usually have numbers ending in "0". Three-digit numbered highways are generally spur routes of parent highways; for example, U.S. Route 264 (US 264)

1380-637: Is a north–south route, unlike its parent US 22 , which is east–west. As originally assigned, the first digit of the spurs increased from north to south and east to west along the parent; for example, US 60 had spurs, running from east to west, designated as US 160 in Missouri , US 260 in Oklahoma , US 360 in Texas , and US 460 and US 560 in New Mexico . As with

1472-436: Is a spur off US 64 . Some divided routes , such as US 19E and US 19W , exist to provide two alignments for one route. Special routes, which can be labeled as alternate, bypass or business, depending on the intended use, provide a parallel routing to the mainline U.S. Highway. Before the U.S. Routes were designated, auto trails designated by auto trail associations were the main means of marking roads through

1564-772: Is in the process of eliminating all intrastate U.S. Highways less than 300 miles (480 km) in length "as rapidly as the State Highway Department and the Standing Committee on Highways of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials can reach agreement with reference thereto". New additions to the system must serve more than one state and "substantially meet the current AASHTO design standards ". A version of this policy has been in place since 1937. The original major transcontinental routes in 1925, along with

1656-687: Is included in the Lake Michigan Circle Tour and passes through Indiana Dunes National Park . Historical landmarks along the highway include the Miller Town Hall , Beverly Shores station , and the Old Michigan City Light . A memorial highway designations have been applied to the route since 1917, named for the Civil War Union Army unit. US 12 was first designated as a U.S. Highway in 1926, concurrent with US 20 west of Michigan City. A section of

1748-602: Is included in the NHS . That is the segment that is concurrent with US 20 from the Illinois state line to the split with US 20 in East Chicago . The NHS is a network of highways that are identified as being most important for the economy, mobility, and defense of the nation. The highway is maintained by INDOT like all other U.S. Highways in the state. The department tracks the traffic volumes along all state highways as

1840-700: The Calumet Bioblitz , was to document the extraordinary biodiversity of green pockets that have survived within the urban and industrial landscape south of Chicago. The water in Wolf Lake was about 18 inches higher until 1998 when the Illinois Department of Natural Resources removed several beavers and their dams that had been built across Indian Creek. The subsequent drop in water depth encouraged weed growth and changed fishing conditions. Beaver signs indicate that there are beavers on

1932-688: The Gulf Freeway carried US 75 , the Pasadena Freeway carried US 66 , and the Pulaski Skyway carries US 1 and US 9 . The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 appropriated funding for the Interstate Highway System, to construct a vast network of freeways across the country. By 1957, AASHO had decided to assign a new grid to the new routes, to be numbered in the opposite directions as

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2024-618: The New England states got together to establish the six-state New England Interstate Routes . Behind the scenes, the federal aid program had begun with the passage of the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 , providing 50% monetary support from the federal government for improvement of major roads. The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 limited the routes to 7% of each state's roads, while 3 in every 7 roads had to be "interstate in character". Identification of these main roads

2116-537: The Pacific coast . Many local disputes arose related to the committee's choices between designation of two roughly equal parallel routes, which were often competing auto trails. At their January meeting, AASHO approved the first two of many split routes (specifically US 40 between Manhattan, Kansas and Limon, Colorado and US 50 between Baldwin City, Kansas and Garden City, Kansas ). In effect, each of

2208-551: The William W. Powers State Recreation Area in Illinois. Wolf Lake, along with the other neighboring lakes, was once among the most biologically diverse places in the Midwest . Eighty years ago, the renowned naturalist Donald Culross Peattie described Wolf Lake as one of North America's preeminent natural areas, "…a famous hunting ground for aquatic wildlife...where the plants form one of the most remarkable assemblages of aquatics in

2300-415: The auto trails which they roughly replaced, were as follows: US 10, US 60, and US 90 only ran about two thirds of the way across the country, while US 11 and US 60 ran significantly diagonally. US 60's violation of two of the conventions would prove to be one of the major sticking points; US 60 eventually was designated as US 66 in 1926, and later it became

2392-409: The 1940s and 1950s to adopt the same number as the U.S. Route they connected to – mostly in the western provinces. Examples include British Columbia 's highways 93 , 95 , 97 , and 99 ; Manitoba 's highways 59 , 75 , and 83 ; or Ontario King's Highway 71 . The reverse happened with U.S. Route 57 , originally a Texas state highway numbered to match Mexican Federal Highway 57 . In the 1950s,

2484-487: The 1970s and have since been converted into preservation and recreation areas. On the northwest side of the lake, several hundred acres of wetlands were filled with ferrous slag in order to create the actual site for the missiles. This is currently Eggers Woods, part of the Cook County Forest Preserve system. The southwest side of the lake housed the site's radar station and has been converted into

2576-504: The City of Hammond. Completed in September 2007, the project sought to improve the overall quality of the lake ecosystem for native species. Natural water levels in the lake were restored by clearing channels and creating openings in dikes and causeways. Additional habitat was created by constructing approximately 25 acres (10 ha) of new aquatic and wetland habitat plantings. Also, approximately 5,000 feet (1,500 m) of shoreline

2668-466: The Dunes Highway as SR 43, to be 20 feet (6.1 m) wide. Narrower than anticipated, the new concrete highway was still superior to most Indiana roads, which in the mid-1920s were gravel or dirt with paved sections only between the larger towns. Dunes Highway construction began in 1922 under the guidance of Gary contractor Ingwald Moe and construction engineer Ezra Sensibar. The designation

2760-484: The Gulf Coast. The longest routes connecting major cities are generally numbered to end in a 1 or a 0; however, extensions and truncations have made this distinction largely meaningless. These guidelines are very rough, and exceptions to all of the basic numbering rules exist. The numbering system also extended beyond the borders of the United States in an unofficial manner. Many Canadian highways were renumbered in

2852-601: The Northeast, New York held out for fewer routes designated as US highways. The Pennsylvania representative, who had not attended the local meetings, convinced AASHO to add a dense network of routes, which had the effect of giving six routes termini along the state line. (Only US 220 still ends near the state line, and now it ends at an intersection with future I-86 .) Because US 20 seemed indirect, passing through Yellowstone National Park , Idaho and Oregon requested that US 30 be swapped with US 20 to

U.S. Route 12 in Indiana - Misplaced Pages Continue

2944-425: The U.S. Highway System remains in place to this day and new routes are occasionally added to the system. In general, U.S. Routes do not have a minimum design standard, unlike the later Interstate Highways , and are not usually built to freeway standards. Some stretches of U.S. Routes do meet those standards. Many are designated using the main streets of the cities and towns through which they run. New additions to

3036-752: The U.S. Highway grid. Though the Interstate numbers were to supplement—rather than replace—the U.S. Route numbers, in many cases (especially in the West ) the US highways were rerouted along the new Interstates. Major decommissioning of former routes began with California 's highway renumbering in 1964 . The 1985 removal of US 66 is often seen as the end of an era of US highways. A few major connections not served by Interstate Highways include US 6 from Hartford, Connecticut, to Providence, Rhode Island and US 93 from Phoenix, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada, though

3128-535: The US Highway system, three-digit numbers are assigned to spurs of one or two-digit routes. US 201 , for example, splits from US 1 at Brunswick, Maine , and runs north to Canada. Not all spurs travel in the same direction as their "parents"; some are connected to their parents only by other spurs, or not at all, instead only traveling near their parents, Also, a spur may travel in different cardinal directions than its parent, such as US 522 , which

3220-477: The US highway, which did not end in zero, but was still seen as a satisfyingly round number. Route 66 came to have a prominent place in popular culture, being featured in song and films. With 32 states already marking their routes, the plan was approved by AASHO on November 11, 1926. This plan included a number of directionally split routes, several discontinuous routes (including US 6 , US 19 and US 50 ), and some termini at state lines. By

3312-579: The United States. These were private organizations, and the system of road marking at the time was haphazard and not uniform. In 1925, the Joint Board on Interstate Highways , recommended by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), worked to form a national numbering system to rationalize the roads. After several meetings, a final report was approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in November 1925. After getting feedback from

3404-480: The approval of the states along the former US 60. But Missouri and Oklahoma did object—Missouri had already printed maps, and Oklahoma had prepared signs. A compromise was proposed, in which US 60 would split at Springfield, Missouri , into US 60E and US 60N, but both sides objected. The final solution resulted in the assignment of US 66 to the Chicago-Los Angeles portion of

3496-405: The auto trail associations were not able to formally address the meetings. However, as a compromise, they talked with the Joint Board members. The associations finally settled on a general agreement with the numbering plans, as named trails would still be included. The tentative system added up to 81,000 miles (130,000 km), 2.8% of the public road mileage at the time. The second full meeting

3588-476: The body of Bobby Franks was found in a culvert just northwest of the lake. Franks was the victim of the so-called "thrill killers," Leopold and Loeb – the subjects of what was termed the "Trial of the Century." It's well known that Chicagoland gangsters used to dispose of bodies in this lake system as well. From 1933 to 1936, Wolf Lake Speedway was located within the lake, in Hammond, Indiana . The track

3680-422: The country...no body of water of equal size can boast such a list." It is still an extremely unusual and diverse area. On August 23, 2002, more than 150 experts in botany, zoology and related ecological fields assembled at Wolf Lake and in the surrounding forest, prairie and marshland to identify and record as many living organisms as possible within a single 24-hour period. The purpose of this undertaking, known as

3772-471: The first documented person to drive an automobile from San Francisco to New York using only a connection of dirt roads, cow paths, and railroad beds. His journey, covered by the press, became a national sensation and called for a system of long-distance roads. In the early 1910s, auto trail organizations—most prominently the Lincoln Highway —began to spring up, marking and promoting routes for

U.S. Route 12 in Indiana - Misplaced Pages Continue

3864-517: The heading for each route. All reports of the Special Committee on Route Numbering since 1989 use "U.S. Route", and federal laws relating to highways use "United States Route" or "U.S. Route" more often than the "Highway" variants. The use of U.S. Route or U.S. Highway on a local level depends on the state, with some states such as Delaware using "route" and others such as Colorado using "highway". In 1903, Horatio Nelson Jackson became

3956-418: The highway narrows to a two-lane highway again. The highway is near, but not on or within sight of, the shoreline of Lake Michigan . The route reenters Indiana Dunes National Park at a traffic light for the eastern entrance of Mittal Steel Company . After the traffic light the road passes south of Dune Acres and enters Indiana Dunes State Park . The road has an intersection with SR 49 , with access to

4048-520: The highway originally served as part of the Dunes Highway , a connection between Gary and Michigan . US 12 replaced the original State Road 43 (SR 43) designation of the highway which dated back to the formation of the Indiana state road system. SR 43 ran from the Illinois state line through Gary to Michigan City and ended at the Michigan state line. In the early 1920s, it

4140-471: The historical Miller Town Hall , in the community of Miller Beach . After the community of Miller Beach, the highway enters Indiana Dunes National Park. The road passes through woodland and parallel to the South Shore tracks, before leaving the national park west of Ogden Dunes . In Ogden Dunes, the highway becomes a four-lane divided highway, passing through woodland with some houses. After Ogden Dunes,

4232-536: The lake consists of three, interconnected impoundments that are also separated by dikes. The longest dike, running roughly parallel to State Line Road and traversing the entire length of the lake, contains railroad tracks belonging to the Indiana Harbor Belt. The Indiana Toll Road ( Interstate 90 ) runs through the middle of the lake just inside the Indiana state line. The lake is also transected by

4324-497: The lake currently. Wolf Lake is home to the endangered Lake sturgeon ( Acipenser fulvescens ) and the threatened Banded killifish ( Fundulus diaphanus ). The lake and neighboring wetlands provide nesting sites for the endangered black-crowned night heron , little blue heron , yellow-crowned night heron and yellow-headed blackbird . Native Trumpeter ( Cygnus buccinator ) and Tundra swans ( Cygnus columbianus ) and non-native Mute swans ( Cygnus olor ) may all be found on

4416-443: The lake front. After the intersection, the road passes under the access road to the lake front. The highway leaves the dunes and enters Beverly Shores . In Beverly Shores at the intersection of US 12 and Broadway is Beverly Shores station . After leaving Beverly Shores, the route enters Town of Pines and has an all-way stop at the northern terminus of SR 520 . SR 520 is the final connecting route to US 20 before

4508-507: The lake in winter. Tundra swans are absent in summer as they migrate to the arctic and subarctic to nest, however, the non-native, Eurasian Mute swans, which stay in the area year round, compete for habitat with the non-migrating Trumpeter swan population and is an impediment to restoration of the native trumpeters around the Great Lakes . The endangered false golden sedge ( Carex garberi ), little green sedge ( Carex viridula ) and

4600-488: The lake, but this channel was cut off for development on its northern side. Indianapolis Boulevard ( U.S. 41 ) and various railroad and industrial facilities are located in former wetlands on the northeastern side of the lake where it once connected to Lake Michigan. There are currently proposals to reopen a channel between Wolf Lake and Lake Michigan. The Illinois portion of the lake consists of five, interconnected impoundments separated by dikes. The dikes were constructed in

4692-629: The late 1950s so that separate portions of the lake could be drained for the purpose of dredging for fill to use in the construction of the Chicago Skyway. The western impoundments are now part of the William W. Powers State Recreation Area and are drained by Indian Creek to the Calumet River . The Wolf Lake water level determines the drainage to Lake Michigan because the connecting Calumet River flows southward during elevated levels and northward during lowered levels. The Indiana portion of

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4784-403: The latter is planned to be upgraded to Interstate 11 . Three state capitals in the contiguous U.S. are served only by U.S. Routes: Dover, Delaware ; Jefferson City, Missouri ; and Pierre, South Dakota . In 1995, the National Highway System was defined to include both the Interstate Highway System and other roads designated as important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility. AASHTO

4876-483: The more colorful names and historic value of the auto trail systems. The New York Times wrote, "The traveler may shed tears as he drives the Lincoln Highway or dream dreams as he speeds over the Jefferson Highway , but how can he get a 'kick' out of 46, 55 or 33 or 21?" (A popular song later promised, " Get your kicks on Route 66! ") The writer Ernest McGaffey was quoted as saying, "Logarithms will take

4968-516: The new recreation of long-distance automobile travel. The Yellowstone Trail was another of the earliest examples. While many of these organizations worked with towns and states along the route to improve the roadways, others simply chose a route based on towns that were willing to pay dues, put up signs, and did little else. Wisconsin was the first state in the U.S. to number its highways , erecting signs in May 1918. Other states soon followed. In 1922,

5060-426: The next 20 miles (32 km), sometimes coming within 0.2 miles (0.32 km). US 20 follows a slightly more southerly route to Michigan City (via Portage and Porter ), while US 12 passes through Indiana Dunes National Park and retains the name "Dunes Highway". After splitting from US 20, US 12 becomes a mostly rural two-lane highway, passing through the woodland. The road passes just south of

5152-540: The north side. Other property near the edge of the lake is being used for housing. A significant portion of the property around the lake is now parkland or nature preserve, including the Eggers Woods parcel of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County . Other neighboring lakes include Lake George , Lake Calumet , Powderhorn Lake and Lake Michigan . There was also another lake that lay to

5244-458: The numbering grid for the new Interstate Highway System was established as intentionally opposite from the US grid insofar as the direction the route numbers increase. Interstate Highway numbers increase from west-to-east and south-to-north, to keep identically numbered routes geographically apart in order to keep them from being confused with one another, and it omits 50 and 60 which would potentially conflict with US 50 and US 60 . In

5336-492: The optional routes into another route. In 1934, AASHO tried to eliminate many of the split routes by removing them from the log, and designating one of each pair as a three-digit or alternate route, or in one case US 37 . AASHO described its renumbering concept in the October 1934 issue of American Highways : "Wherever an alternate route is not suitable for its own unique two-digit designation, standard procedure assigns

5428-730: The other passing over the Indiana Toll Road and the South Shore Line . After passing the rail line, the road has an interchange with US 20, this interchange is the southern end of the SR ;912 concurrency. US 12 follows US 20 east toward Downtown Gary , as a four-lane divided highway. The two highways pass through residential areas and crosses the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway owned by Norfolk Southern Railway , before Downtown Gary. At Bridge Street in Gary,

5520-404: The other states. Many states agreed in general with the scope of the system, but believed the Midwest to have added too many routes to the system. The group adopted the shield, with few modifications from the original sketch, at that meeting, as well as the decision to number rather than name the routes. A preliminary numbering system, with eight major east–west and ten major north–south routes,

5612-412: The place of legends, and 'hokum' for history." When the U.S. numbered system was started in 1925, a few optional routings were established which were designated with a suffixed letter after the number indicating "north", "south", "east", or "west". While a few roads in the system are still numbered in this manner, AASHO believes that they should be eliminated wherever possible, by the absorption of one of

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5704-456: The road becomes a six-lane divided highway, known as Dunes Highway. The Dunes Highway passes between the South Shore commuter rail line and residential houses. East of Gary the route has a signalized intersection with the northern terminus of I-65 . After I-65, the road has a trumpet interchange with I-90 . In the far eastern portion of Gary, US 12 and US 20 split for the final time, although US 20 closely parallels US 12 for

5796-556: The road becomes one-way streets, with westbound on Fourth Avenue and eastbound on Fifth Avenue. In Downtown Gary it has an intersection with SR 53 , locally known as Broadway. The streets also pass by the historical Knights of Columbus Building and the old Ralph Waldo Emerson School building. East of Downtown Gary, the road passes by U.S. Steel Yard , the home of the Gary SouthShore RailCats , an independent professional baseball team. The one-way streets end and

5888-418: The road has a folded diamond interchange with the north terminus of SR 249 and George Nalson Drive, which heads into the industrial complex at Burns Harbor . The industrial complex at Burns Harbor includes a NIPSCO powerplant and a steel mill. After SR 249, the route has an intersection with SR 149 and a folded diamond interchange at an access road into Burns Harbor. After this interchange,

5980-594: The route and the nominal direction of travel. Second, they are displayed at intersections with other major roads, so that intersecting traffic can follow their chosen course. Third, they can be displayed on large green guide signs that indicate upcoming interchanges on freeways and expressways. Since 1926, some divided routes were designated to serve related areas, and designate roughly-equivalent splits of routes. For instance, US 11 splits into US 11E (east) and US 11W (west) in Bristol, Virginia , and

6072-646: The routes rejoin in Knoxville, Tennessee . Occasionally only one of the two routes is suffixed; US 6N in Pennsylvania does not rejoin US ;6 at its west end. AASHTO has been trying to eliminate these since 1934; its current policy is to deny approval of new split routes and to eliminate existing ones "as rapidly as the State Highway Department and the Standing Committee on Highways can reach agreement with reference thereto". Special routes —those with

6164-500: The same large, bold numerals on a square-dimension shield, while 3-digit routes may either use the same shield with a narrower font, or a wider rectangular-dimension shield. Special routes may be indicated with a banner above the route number, or with a letter suffixed to the route number. Signs are generally displayed in several different locations. First, they are shown along the side of the route at regular intervals or after major intersections (called reassurance markers ), which shows

6256-932: The section of US 12 at the Illinois state line, concurrent with US 20 and US 41. The highway has been designated as the Iron Brigade Memorial Highway to honor the Civil War Union Army unit; it has the same designation in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. US 12 enters Indiana concurrent with US 20 and US 41 , at which point it passes under the Indiana Toll Road. The road passes both commercial and industrial areas between Wolf Lake and Horseshoe Hammond . US 12, US 20, and US 41 are concurrent until US 41 turns south on Calumet Avenue. Both US 12 and US 20 head southeast toward East Chicago , where US 12 turns east while US 20 continues south. The route heads east through East Chicago as

6348-493: The southwest to Oklahoma City , from where it ran west to Los Angeles . Kentucky strongly objected to this designated route, as it had been left off any of the major east–west routes, instead receiving the US ;62 designation. In January 1926, the committee designated this, along with the part of US 52 east of Ashland, Kentucky , as US 60 . They assigned US 62 to the Chicago-Los Angeles route, contingent on

6440-538: The splits in US 11 , US 19 , US 25 , US 31 , US 45 , US 49 , US 73 , and US 99 . For the most part, the U.S. Routes were the primary means of inter-city vehicle travel; the main exceptions were toll roads such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike and parkway routes such as the Merritt Parkway . Many of the first high-speed roads were U.S. Highways:

6532-502: The state of Indiana rerouted US 12 onto SR 912 from Columbus Drive to US 20. The route was changed to make room for the Gary/Chicago International Airport runway expansion project. United States Numbered Highway System The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways ) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within

6624-559: The states, they made several modifications; the U.S. Highway System was approved on November 11, 1926. Expansion of the U.S. Highway System continued until 1956, when the Interstate Highway System was laid out and began construction under the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower . After the national implementation of the Interstate Highway System, many U.S. Routes that had been bypassed or overlaid with Interstate Highways were decommissioned and removed from

6716-545: The system, however, must "substantially meet the current AASHTO design standards ". As of 1989, the United States Numbered Highways system had a total length of 157,724 miles (253,832 km). Except for toll bridges and tunnels , very few U.S. Routes are toll roads . AASHTO policy says that a toll road may only be included as a special route , and that "a toll-free routing between the same termini shall continue to be retained and marked as

6808-497: The system. In some places, the U.S. Routes remain alongside the Interstates and serve as a means for interstate travelers to access local services and as secondary feeder roads or as important major arteries in their own right. In other places, where there are no nearby Interstate Highways, the U.S. Routes often remain as the most well-developed roads for long-distance travel. While the system's growth has slowed in recent decades,

6900-480: The threatened marsh speedwell ( Veronica scutellata ) are plants that grow in the neighboring wetlands. Perhaps the most amazing biological aspect of the lake is its array of rare aquatic plants. A $ 7.25 million ecosystem restoration project for Wolf Lake was carried out by the Chicago District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , with the support of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and

6992-550: The time the first route log was published in April 1927, major numbering changes had been made in Pennsylvania in order to align the routes to the existing auto trails. In addition, U.S. Route 15 had been extended across Virginia . Much of the early criticism of the U.S. Highway System focused on the choice of numbers to designate the highways, rather than names. Some thought a numbered highway system to be cold compared to

7084-405: The town of Michiana Shores , before entering Michigan. The Old Chicago Road was an important road from 1900 to 1910; it was later renamed the Dunes Highway. The Dunes Highway Association engineers envisioned the Dunes Highway a "state of the art" 40-foot-wide (12 m) concrete highway with a 100-foot (30 m) right-of-way. In August 1919, commission director H.L. Wright tentatively designated

7176-492: The two routes received the same number, with a directional suffix indicating its relation to the other. These splits were initially shown in the log as—for instance—US 40 North and US 40 South, but were always posted as simply US 40N and US 40S. The most heated argument, however, was the issue of US 60. The Joint Board had assigned that number to the Chicago-Los Angeles route, which ran more north–south than west–east in Illinois, and then angled sharply to

7268-592: The two separate regionally. After Town of Pines, the road curves due north back into the dunes and crossing the South Shore Line tracks. The route curves northeast and becomes a four-lane undivided highway, before leaving the dunes. After the dunes the route crosses the Michigan Line , owned by Amtrak . The Michigan Line is used by Amtrak's Wolverine train. The route makes a few more curves before entering downtown Michigan City and passing through

7360-468: The two-digit routes, three-digit routes have been added, removed, extended and shortened; the "parent-child" relationship is not always present. AASHTO guidelines specifically prohibit Interstate Highways and U.S. Routes from sharing a number within the same state. As with other guidelines, exceptions exist across the U.S. Some two-digit numbers have never been applied to any U.S. Route, including 37, 39, 47, 86, and 88. Route numbers are displayed on

7452-477: The unqualified number to the older or shorter route, while the other route uses the same number marked by a standard strip above its shield carrying the word 'Alternate'." Most states adhere to this approach. However, some maintain legacy routes that violate the rules in various ways. Examples can be found in California , Mississippi , Nebraska , Oregon , and Tennessee . In 1952, AASHO permanently recognized

7544-441: The west between Wolf Lake and the river. It was called Hyde Lake and was filled in by Republic Steel. A swampy area near 130th Street and the railroad tracks is the only remnant of that lake. Wolf Lake in Illinois has a storied history that somehow has lost track of the origins of the name that goes back over 150 years. Part of this history includes visits by Abraham Lincoln in which Mary Todd Lincoln nearly drowned. In 1924,

7636-661: Was also chosen, based on the shield found on the Great Seal of the United States . The auto trail associations rejected the elimination of the highway names. Six regional meetings were held to hammer out the details—May 15 for the West , May 27 for the Mississippi Valley , June 3 for the Great Lakes , June 8 for the South , June 15 for the North Atlantic , and June 15 for New England . Representatives of

7728-510: Was both praised and criticized by local newspapers, often depending on whether that city was connected to a major route. While the Lincoln Highway Association understood and supported the plan, partly because they were assured of getting the US 30 designation as much as possible, most other trail associations lamented their obsolescence. At their January 14–15, 1926 meeting, AASHO was flooded with complaints. In

7820-447: Was changed to US 12 and US 20 in 1926 when the U.S. Numbered Highway System was created. The two routes were concurrent from Illinois to Michigan City, with the rest in Indiana as only being US 12. In 1930, US 20 was moved to a new alignment south of US 12. This left US 12 on its current alignment without US 20. The route did not change between 1931 and 2002, with only work being maintenance. Then in 2003,

7912-524: Was completed in 1923. The American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), formed in 1914 to help establish roadway standards, began to plan a system of marked and numbered "interstate highways" at its 1924 meeting. AASHO recommended that the Secretary of Agriculture work with the states to designate these routes. Secretary Howard M. Gore appointed the Joint Board on Interstate Highways , as recommended by AASHO, on March 2, 1925. The Board

8004-473: Was completely surrounded by the water of Wolf Lake, and a portion of the lake was drained to allow for its construction. During the Cold War , two areas around the lake were used to create Nike missile site C-44, part of an air defense system for Chicago and its heavy industries. It was one of many such sites that formed a ring of defense running from Indiana to Wisconsin. Both areas were decommissioned in

8096-418: Was composed of 21 state highway officials and three federal Bureau of Public Roads officials. At the first meeting, on April 20 and 21, the group chose the name "U.S. Highway" as the designation for the routes. They decided that the system would not be limited to the federal-aid network; if the best route did not receive federal funds, it would still be included. The tentative design for the U.S. Route shield

8188-518: Was deferred to a numbering committee "without instructions". After working with states to get their approval, the committee expanded the highway system to 75,800 miles (122,000 km), or 2.6% of total mileage, over 50% more than the plan approved August 4. The skeleton of the numbering plan was suggested on August 27 by Edwin Warley James of the BPR, who matched parity to direction, and laid out

8280-424: Was held August 3 and 4, 1925. At that meeting, discussion was held over the appropriate density of routes. William F. Williams of Massachusetts and Frederick S. Greene of New York favored a system of only major transcontinental highways, while many states recommended a large number of roads of only regional importance. Greene in particular intended New York's system to have four major through routes as an example to

8372-468: Was restored, deep holes were created to locally diversify the lake bottom, and herbicidal and biological controls were implemented to control aquatic and shoreline exotic and undesirable plant species. While for many years it was commonplace for park visitors to feed the ducks and other birds that lived at the lake, this produced an unnaturally and unsustainably large population, as well as many non-native birds such as domesticated breeds of ducks and geese. It

8464-485: Was the most important route between Chicago and Detroit and in 1922 the first sections started being paved. The Indiana State Highway Commission, later renamed Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), removed US 20 from the section east of Gary in the early 1930s. Most of the route has since been supplanted by Interstate 94 (I-94) and the Indiana Toll Road . Only one segment of US 12

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