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100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
Endpoints of
Mileage: in 1989 AASHTO listed a figure of 1033 miles for US 18. That closely matches our own 2020 measurement, which yielded 1034.6 miles. Want historic mileages? Our handy reference book includes the mileages that were published in all 13 of AASHO/AASHTO's historic route logs (spanning the years 1927 to 1989).
1926-1951
East: Milwaukee, WI
West: Mule Creek Jct, WY (old)
1951-1967
East: Milwaukee, WI
West: Mule Creek Jct, WY (new)
1967-present
East: Milwaukee, WI
West: Orin, WY
Mule Creek Jct.
From its 1926 inception until 1967, the west end of US 18 was at its junction with US 85 in Wyoming. There has never been much of a settlement there, but like many highway intersections in Wyoming, this one has a name: Mule Creek Junction. The interesting thing about this junction is that it has moved:
c. 1951, Gousha
South of Newcastle, the original US 85 ran to the east of modern US 85, and the original Mule Creek Jct. was about six miles east of today's junction. This photo was looking east on US 18:
Grier, May 2007
Today's Niobrara County Road 9 was originally US 85 -- the street signs still attest to that fact:
Grier, May 2007
About a quarter-mile south of that intersection is the now-abandoned roadbed that carried traffic on the original US 18. This photo was taken from old US 85, looking east along old US 18:
Grier, May 2007
This photo was taken from the historic Y-junction, looking northwest along old US 85 towards Newcastle. At far right are two semis on modern US 18:
Grier, May 2007
Today's US 85 south of Newcastle was opened to traffic in 1951. Because of this, it was necessary to extend US 18 west a few miles, so presumably that is also when the highway was changed to its current alignment. This photo was from westbound US 18, at the "new" Mule Creek Jct:
Sanderson, Mar. 2004 (essentially the same as of 2020)
US 18 now extends further west via US 85, but that sign is at what was once the west end of US 18.
Here is the historic west beginning as seen from northbound US 85...
Sanderson, Mar. 2004 (essentially the same as of 2020)
...and next is a view from the opposite direction:
Sanderson, Mar. 2004
Orin
In 1967, the designation was extended straight ahead from there along existing US routes down to Lusk, and then over to Orin Junction at I-25. These photos were looking west on US 18-20; just over the hillcrest is I-25's interchange 126:
Sanderson, Aug. 1999
Sanderson, Mar. 2004 (unchanged as of 2015)
Sanderson, Oct. 2021
The actual interchange is visible in the distance; here are some closer views:
Sanderson, Mar. 2004
Sanderson, Oct. 2021
US 18 ends there, but US 20 continues west via I-25. Here is the beginning of US 18 as seen from northbound I-25...
Sanderson, Mar. 2004 (unchanged as of 2015)
...and below is the first eastbound sign assembly:
Sanderson, Mar. 2004
Milwaukee
The east end of US 18 has always been in Milwaukee, but its exact location there has changed at least five times (maps and more info about historic endpoints can be found on the Milwaukee page). The terminus that existed from 1989-2025 was somewhat unusual in that it was not at a junction with another highway. US 18 wound up on Michigan Street in downtown Milwaukee, and the designation ended where it intersected Lincoln Memorial Drive along the shore of Lake Michigan. For a time the last eastbound trailblazer was between Jackson and Van Buren streets, but (perhaps due to ongoing construction projects) it was later removed. As of 2021 the last US 18 sign was on southbound Broadway, directing traffic east on Michigan.
Here are a few shots of the different "End" assemblies that were posted on Michigan at Lincoln. The first two show an assembly on the west side of Lincoln, which existed until sometime between 2011 and 2014. The third shot shows an assembly on the east side of Lincoln that was posted around 2020:
Sanderson, Aug. 2005
Sanderson, Aug. 2005
Sanderson, Jun. 2022
In 2005 there was no signage from either direction on Lincoln; the sign bridge shown here in the distance was installed between then and 2008, but it appears this intersection had still not achieved its permanent configuration:
Sanderson, Jun. 2022
Traffic heading the opposite direction (north on Lincoln) also had an on-again, off-again situation in terms of whether or not there were posted references to the east beginning of US 18:
Sanderson, Jun. 2022
Heading left on Michigan, the first westbound US 18 marker was posted in a couple blocks (just before Cass Street). The sign was removed sometime between 2011 and 2014, but then replaced sometime around 2020:
Mortell, 1997
Sanderson, Jun. 2022
In 2025 AASHTO approved Wisconsin's request to truncate US 18 to the intersection of Michigan and Milwaukee, eliminating the six-block segment between Milwaukee St. and Lincoln Memorial Dr. So now its endpoint makes even less sense than it did before: instead of ending at the lakeshore, US 18 suddenly terminates at a seemingly arbitrary intersection. Presumably this "East US 18" sign (on eastbound Michigan at Milwaukee) will be changed to "End US 18"...
Google Maps Street View, Apr. 2025
...but by instead extending US 18 just one block south it would at least have a junction with I-794, and then this exit could be signed as the east beginning of US 18...
Google Maps Street View, Apr. 2025
...and then arrangement downtown would more closely resemble the way Wisconsin has already been illustrating it on their official highway maps for years (minus the lone US 18 shield near Lincoln):
Wisconsin DOT, 2023
Research and/or image credits: Chris Geelhart; Tom Grier; Jeff Morrison; Robert Mortell; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa
Page originally created 1998;last updated Dec. 17, 2025.
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