Editing U.S. Route 8 (section)

== History ==

=== 20th century ===
Starting in 1918, the Wisconsin Highway Commission erected highway numbers along state-maintained roadways.<ref name=press-1919-09-20>{{cite news |title = Michigan May Do Well Following Wisconsin's Road Marking System |work = [[The Grand Rapids Press]] |date = September 20, 1919 |page = 10 |oclc = 9975013 }}</ref> The highway across the state from [[St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin|St. Croix Falls]] to [[Armstrong Creek, Wisconsin|Armstrong Creek]] was numbered [[Wisconsin Highway 14|WIS&nbsp;14]] at that time. The remainder of what is now US&nbsp;8 was unnumbered secondary highways, and WIS&nbsp;14 continued north of Armstrong Creek to [[Florence (CDP), Wisconsin|Florence]].<ref name=WI1918>{{cite WisDOT map |sections= A6–N6 |year= 1918 |link= yes |access-date= November 14, 2010 |v-link = yes }}</ref> When Michigan numbered its highway system the following year,<ref name=press-1919-09-20/> the future US&nbsp;8 was not included in the system.<ref name="MSHD19UP">{{cite MDOT map |date= 1919-07-01U |link= yes }}</ref> In Minnesota, US&nbsp;8 would follow what was Constitutional Route&nbsp;46, which was designated in a state constitutional amendment adopted on November 2, 1920;<ref name="const"/> that roadway originally ran between Forest Lake and [[Chisago City, Minnesota|Chisago City]] through [[Wyoming, Minnesota|Wyoming]].<ref name=MN26>{{cite MnDOT map |year= 1926 |sections= M16–N17 |link= yes |c-link= yes |v-link= yes |name-list-style= amp |access-date= September 28, 2010 }}</ref>

[[File:Rhinelander WI area, 1924.png|thumb|350px|Rhinelander area, 1924, with WIS&nbsp;14 highlighted in red|alt=Map]]
The first changes to the routings of the predecessor highways were made by Wisconsin by 1920. A series of curves were added between Turtle Lake and Barron adding "stair steps" to the routing while similar jogs were removed near Cameron, Weyerhauser, Hawkins and Prentice. WIS&nbsp;14 was rerouted between Rhinelander and [[Pelican Lake, Wisconsin|Pelican Lake]] to run via [[Monico, Wisconsin|Monico]], and [[Wisconsin Highway 38|WIS&nbsp;38]] (the future US&nbsp;141) was extended northward from [[Wausaukee, Wisconsin|Wausaukee]] to terminate at the state line near [[Niagara, Wisconsin|Niagara]].<ref name=WI1919>{{cite WisDOT map |year= 1919 |sections= A7–N8}}</ref><ref name=WI1920>{{cite WisDOT map |year= 1920 |sections= 5–6 |pages= 22–27}}</ref> The realignment between Rhinelander and Pelican Lake was shown as reversed by 1922.<ref name=WI1922>{{cite WisDOT map |year= 1922 |sections= 5–6 |pages= 22–27}}</ref> By 1925, the highway in that area was again rerouted to run directly from Rhinelander to Monico, but instead of turning south to Pelican Lake, it was run directly to Crandon. That same year, WIS&nbsp;14 was extended eastward from Armstrong Creek to Pembine and northward to Niagara. The north–south section, previously numbered WIS&nbsp;38, was also redesignated as part of [[Wisconsin Highway 57|WIS&nbsp;57]].<ref name=WI1925>{{cite WisDOT map |year= 1925}}</ref>

US&nbsp;8 was created with the beginnings of the [[United States Numbered Highway System]] on November 26, 1926.<ref name="USH">{{cite web |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/numbers.cfm |title = From Names to Numbers: The Origins of the U.S. Numbered Highway System |work = Highway History |last = Weingroff |first = Richard F. |publisher = [[Federal Highway Administration]] |access-date = April 21, 2009 |date = January 9, 2009 }}</ref> The highway was originally shown on maps running between [[Forest Lake, Minnesota]] and [[Powers, Michigan]].<ref name="USHM">{{cite map |author1 = [[Bureau of Public Roads]] |author2 = [[American Association of State Highway Officials]] |date = November 11, 1926 |title = United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials |url = https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_System_of_Highways_Adopted_for_Uniform_Marking_by_the_American_Association_of_State_Highway_Officials.jpg |scale = 1:7,000,000 |location = Washington, DC |publisher = [[United States Geological Survey]] |oclc = 32889555 |access-date = November 7, 2013 |via = [[Wikimedia Commons]] |name-list-style = amp }}</ref> At the time, its planned routing was not previously designated as part of the [[Michigan State Trunkline Highway System|State Trunkline Highway System]] in Michigan. The trunkline connection from [[Quinnesec, Michigan|Quinnesec]] south into Wisconsin was part of [[M-57 (Michigan highway)|M-57]], which met WIS&nbsp;57 at the state line. US&nbsp;8 ended at WIS&nbsp;57 in Pembine at the time, with no connection into Michigan shown on official maps.<ref name="MSHD27-12">{{cite MDOT map |date=1927-12-01 }}</ref> A map by the [[American Automobile Association]] does show the highway continuing east through [[Faithorn, Michigan|Faithorn]] and [[Hermansville, Michigan|Hermansville]] in Michigan to end at US&nbsp;2.<ref name="AAA27">{{cite map |title = Official Highway Map of Michigan |year = 1927 |author1 = Detroit Automobile Club |author2 = [[American Automobile Association]] |name-list-style = amp |sections = I6–J6 |location = Detroit |publisher = Detroit Automobile Club |scale = [1:800,000] |oclc = 64393035 }}</ref> The Wisconsin Highway Commission previously indicated an unnumbered state highway on their 1925 state map that connected Pembine with the Menominee River near Hermansville.<ref name=WI1925/> A later extension in 1927 moved US&nbsp;8 to run along [[U.S. Route 141|US&nbsp;141]], which had replaced WIS&nbsp;57 and M-57, ending in Quinnesec at US&nbsp;2.<ref name=WI1927>{{cite WisDOT map |year= 1927}}</ref><ref name=WI1928>{{cite WisDOT map |year= 1928}}</ref> By the next year, the highway was shifted to end in Norway, utilizing a separate crossing of the Menominee River to enter Michigan.<ref name="MSHD29-05">{{cite MDOT map |date=1929-05-01 }}</ref>

In 1931, US&nbsp;8 was extended south from Forest Lake into downtown [[Minneapolis]].<ref name=MN31>{{cite MnDOT map |year= 1931 |sections= M16–N17 |name-list-style= amp |v-link= yes |access-date= September 28, 2010}}</ref><ref name=MN32>{{cite MnDOT map |year= 1932 |sections= M16–N17 |name-list-style= amp |access-date= September 28, 2010}}</ref> West of the Rhinelander area, US&nbsp;8 and US&nbsp;51 overlapped for about {{convert|8|mi|km|spell=in}} as US&nbsp;8 jogged northward along US&nbsp;51. This concurrency was altered in 1934,<ref name=WI1934>{{cite WisDOT map |year= 1934 }}</ref><ref name=WI1935>{{cite WisDOT map |year= 1935 |link= yes |section= F4}}</ref> and two years later the short east–west section of US&nbsp;8/US&nbsp;51 was removed when changes to US&nbsp;51's routing were finished in the area.<ref name=WI1936>{{cite WisDOT map |year= 1936 |section= F4}}</ref><ref name=WI1937>{{cite WisDOT map |year= 1937 |sections= F4, H4}}</ref> A jog in the routing near [[Almena, Wisconsin|Almena]] was removed in 1937 when Wisconsin rerouted the highway to a more direct alignment in the area.<ref name=WI1937/><ref name=WI1938/>

The last segment of US&nbsp;8 in Wisconsin was paved in 1937 between Cavour and Armstrong Creek;<ref name=WI1937/><ref name=WI1938>{{cite WisDOT map |year= 1938 |section= H4 }}</ref> the highway in Minnesota was paved in its entirety by 1940.<ref name=MN1940>{{cite MnDOT map |year= 1940A |sections= M16–N17 |link= yes |access-date= September 28, 2010 }}</ref> Near Hawkins, a pair of sharp curves near the Rusk–Price county line were removed as the State Highway Commission realigned the highway to follow a straighter course.<ref name=WI1947>{{cite WisDOT map |year= 1947 |sections= D4–E4}}</ref><ref name=WI1948>{{cite WisDOT map |year=  1948 |sections= D4–F4}}</ref> The US&nbsp;8/US&nbsp;51 concurrency was altered the next year to a shorter overlap running southward near [[Heafford Junction, Wisconsin|Heafford Junction]]. The former routing of US&nbsp;8 was redesignated County Trunk Highway K (CTH-K) after it was transferred back to county control.<ref name=WI1948/><ref name=WI1949>{{cite WisDOT map |year= 1949 |section= F4}}</ref>

Starting around the year 1955, US&nbsp;8 was moved to a more direct routing between Forest Lake and Chisago City; US&nbsp;8 replaced [[Minnesota State Highway 98|MN&nbsp;98]] along Legislative Route&nbsp;98.<ref name=MN1954>{{cite MnDOT map |year= 1954 |sections= M16–N17 |name-list-style= amp |access-date= November 14, 2010 |c-link= yes }}</ref><ref name=MN1956>{{cite MnDOT map |year= 1956 |sections= M16–N17 |name-list-style= amp |access-date= November 14, 2010 }}</ref> The former routing between Wyoming and Chisago City along Constitutional Route&nbsp;46 was then redesignated MN&nbsp;98 until it was [[decommissioned highway|decommissioned]] in the late 1990s.<ref name=MN1995-96>{{cite MnDOT map |year= 1995 |sections= J15–K16 |access-date= November 14, 2010 }}</ref><ref name=MN1997-98>{{cite MnDOT map |year= 1997 |sections= J15–K16 |access-date= November 14, 2010 }}</ref>

As late as 1959, the [[Michigan State Highway Department]] still had plans to build the section of US&nbsp;8 west of Hermansville to the [[Menominee River]]. The control section atlas published on January 1, 1959, showed this segment of highway on the [[Menominee County, Michigan|Menominee County]] map, complete with a control section number. The section of highway is shown as "proposed" or "under construction".<ref name="CSA59">{{cite map |title = Control Section Atlas |date = January 1, 1959 |publisher = Michigan State Highway Department |map = Menominee County |scale = Scale not given |author = Michigan State Highway Department |location = Lansing }}</ref> However, a new bridge was built over the Menominee River to carry the highway across the Michigan–Wisconsin state line near Norway in 1966.<ref name="NBI-MR">{{NBI |structurenumber= 2190 |datakey= 284353 |linkwork= yes |linkpub= no |access-date= May 11, 2012}}</ref> WisDOT still shows the section of highway needed in their state to extend US&nbsp;8 to the original eastern terminus in Michigan on internal maps. The December 31, 2004, edition of their ''Official State Trunk Highway System Maps'' shows this section as a "mapped corridor".<ref name="sthm04">{{cite map |title = Official State Trunk Highway System Maps |map = Marinette County |date = December 31, 2004 |scale = Scale not given |publisher = Wisconsin Department of Transportation |location = Madison |author = Wisconsin Department of Transportation }}</ref>

In the late 1970s, with ongoing construction and completion of the [[Interstate 35W (Minnesota)|I-35W]] freeway in Minnesota, US&nbsp;8 was routed along I-35W;<ref name=MN1977-78SPM>{{cite MnDOT map |year= 1977 |inset= Metropolitan St. Paul–Minneapolis |access-date= November 14, 2010 }}</ref> US&nbsp;8 was truncated again by 1981 to its current terminus in Forest Lake.<ref name=MN1979-80>{{cite MnDOT map |year=1979 |sections= K14–J165 |access-date= November 14, 2010 }}</ref><ref name=MN1981-82>{{cite MnDOT map |year= 1981 |sections= K14–J165 |access-date= November 14, 2010 }}</ref> The section in [[New Brighton, Minnesota|New Brighton]] is currently known as Old Highway 8.<ref name=googleNBMN>{{cite map |author = ((Google)) |date = September 28, 2010 |url= https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=new+brighton,+mn&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=64.409204,65.654297&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=New+Brighton,+Ramsey,+Minnesota&z=14 |title= New Brighton, Minnesota |website = Google Maps |publisher = Google |access-date= September 28, 2010 }}</ref>

WisDOT built a bypass of the city of Rhinelander during the early 1990s; the new highway was constructed south of town as a new two-lane highway that opened to traffic by 1993.<ref name=WI1991>{{cite WisDOT map |year= 1991 |section= F4}}</ref><ref name=WI1993>{{cite WisDOT map |year= 1993 |section= F4}}</ref> The former route through downtown Rhinelander and near Clear and George lakes was redesignated as [[#Business route|Business US&nbsp;8]] (Bus. US&nbsp;8).<ref name=OnCo02>{{cite map |author = Wisconsin Department of Transportation |location = Madison |publisher = Wisconsin Department of Transportation |title = Oneida County |date = January  2002 |scale = 1:100,000 }}</ref>

=== 21st century ===
[[File:US8 Junction US51 Looking East.jpg|thumb|left|Junction with US&nbsp;51, September 2011|alt=Photograph of]]
In 2002, US&nbsp;8 was widened from two lanes to four lanes with a grass median between North Rifle Road and [[Wisconsin Highway 47|WIS&nbsp;47]] near Rhinelander, Wisconsin. At the time, officials with WisDOT had plans to extend the four-lane divided highway as far west as [[U.S. Route 51 in Wisconsin|US&nbsp;51]] near [[Tomahawk, Wisconsin|Tomahawk]].<ref name=youngstrum2002-04-27>{{cite news |first = Daryl |last = Youngstrum |title = Highway&nbsp;8, Highway&nbsp;47 Targeted for Improvements this Summer |work = [[Rhinelander Daily News|The Daily News]] |location = Rhinelander, Wisconsin |date = April 28, 2002 |pages = 1, 3 |issn = 0746-5866 |oclc = 52062411 }}</ref> Problems related to wetlands in the construction area and bad weather pushed completion of the project back almost a year. Contractors had to install metal sheeting to stabilize the marshy ground. Originally scheduled to end in late 2002, the project did not finish until August 2003. The delays and additional work increased the price tag of the project from the original $4.5&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|4500000|2003|r=-5}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|name-list-style=amp}}) to $6.0&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|6000000|2003|r=-5}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|name-list-style=amp}}).<ref name=acheson2003-08-02 >{{cite news |first = Dean S. |last = Acheson |title = Highway&nbsp;8 Project Basically Complete |work = The Daily News |location = Rhinelander, Wisconsin |date = August 3, 2003 |page = 1 |issn = 0746-5866 |oclc = 52062411 }}</ref> A section of the project was only designed for {{convert|45|mph|adj=on}} speeds for safety reasons. The design also allowed planners to limit the amount of land needed for the expansion.<ref name=dn-2003-08-21>{{cite news |title = Reduced Speed Limit Based on Traffic Safety |work = The Daily News |location = Rhinelander, Wisconsin |date = August 21, 2003 |page = 1 |issn = 0746-5866 |oclc = 52062411 }}</ref>

Bill and Jerri Osberg sued the state and seven other parties in April 2003 over runoff from the construction, claiming that it killed hundreds of trees and polluted ponds on their property.<ref name=schaefer2007-08-25>{{cite news |first = Heather |last = Schaefer |title = Contamination Lawsuit Trudges Forward |work = The Daily News |location = Rhinelander, Wisconsin |date = August 25, 2007 |pages = 1A, 3A |issn = 0746-5866 |oclc = 52062411 }}</ref> Later investigation uncovered damage to wildlife habitat in the [[Wisconsin River]].<ref name=schaefer2004-07-29>{{cite news |first = Heather |last = Schaefer |url = http://www.rhinelanderdailynews.com/articles/2004/07/29/news/local_news/news1.txt |title = Judge Wants Parties to Negotiate Alleged Contamination Case |work = The Daily News |location = Rhinelander, Wisconsin |date = July 29, 2004 |access-date = November 15, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040804094527/http://rhinelanderdailynews.com/articles/2004/07/29/news/local_news/news1.txt |archive-date = August 4, 2004 |pages = 1, 3 |issn = 0746-5866 |oclc = 52062411 }}</ref> Included in the original lawsuit were six individual WisDOT employees, the primary contractor and a local pet supply company. The court of appeals partially upheld a ruling by the district court dismissing the employees and the contractor from the lawsuit in March 2006. The pet supply company was reinstated in the case by the appeals court.<ref name=schaefer2006-08-19>{{cite news |first = Heather |last = Schaefer |title = Land Dispute Goes to Trial Next Year |work = The Daily News |location = Rhinelander, Wisconsin |date = August 20, 2006 |pages = 1A, 7A |issn = 0746-5866 |oclc = 52062411 }}</ref> The couple settled their claims, and the state pursued the matter against Pagel Construction in a related lawsuit. WisDOT alleged that the contractor did not follow proper erosion controls and failed to remediate the erosion damage to the Osbergs' property. The state wanted the construction company to forfeit their $70,000 retainer (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|70000|2003|r=-3}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|name-list-style=amp}}) and pay damages of $150,000 (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|150000|2007|r=-3}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}){{inflation-fn|US-GDP|name-list-style=amp}}.<ref name=DN2007-09-29>{{cite news |title = Jury Rules State Breached Agreement with Contractor on Highway&nbsp;8 Project |work = The Daily News |location = Rhinelander, Wisconsin |date = September 29, 2007 |pages = 1A, 3A |issn = 0746-5866 |oclc = 52062411 }}</ref> Pagel Construction faulted WisDOT's erosion control plan and said that the state's engineers controlled the project and was seeking the return of its retainer. In September 2007, a jury ruled in favor of Pagel Construction and awarded them $70,898.13 in damages (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|70898.13|2007|r=2}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|name-list-style=amp}}).<ref name=DN2007-09-29/><!--

Imitating the [[127 Corridor Sale|Highway 127 Corridor Sale]], a [[Northern Highland|Northern Wisconsin]] woman started the "The Great Eight Sale" in 2010. Her goal is to promote the area with a [[rummage sale]] that runs from the Minnesota state line to Norway, Michigan. Towns along the length of the highway participated in the first event on Labor Day weekend. Some groups planned to use the opportunity to raise money, while the original event planner was not charging participants for booths.<ref>{{cite news |first = Vern |last = Hollister |url = http://www.rhinelanderdailynews.com/articles/2010/08/18/forest_republican/news/doc4c6beced12442652199193.txt |title = Woman Hopes to Create Rummage Sale the Length of Hwy.&nbsp;8 |work = The Daily News |location = Rhinelander, Wisconsin |date = August 18, 2010 |access-date = November 15, 2010 }}{{dead link|date=March 2012}}</ref>-->