U.S. Route 10 or U.S. Highway 10 is an east–west United States highway located in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the United States. Unlike most U.S. routes with "0" as the last digit of its route number, US 10 is not a cross-country highway. US 10 was one of the original long-haul highways, running from Detroit, Michigan, to Seattle, Washington, but then losing much of its length when new Interstate Highways were built on top of its right-of-way. In 2010, its length was. US 10 used to be broken into two segments by Lake Michigan. In 2015, the ferry SS Badger between Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, was officially designated as part of the highway. The ferry operates only between May and October. The eastern terminus of US 10 is in Bay City, Michigan, at its interchange with Interstate 75 . The western terminus of US 10 is in the city ofWest Fargo, North Dakota, at its interchange with I-94.
In the state of North Dakota, US 10 runs for about, from I-94/US 52 at Exit 343 to the Red River of the North. It is one of the primary east–west streets in West Fargo and Fargo, and is called Main Avenue for its entire length in North Dakota. At the Red River, US 10 crosses over a bridge to Moorhead, Minnesota.
US 10 is a major divided highway for almost all of its length in Minnesota. The road enters Minnesota in Moorhead and travels through Detroit Lakes, Wadena, Staples, Little Falls, St. Cloud, Elk River. It becomes a freeway in Anoka and passes through the northern suburbs of Minneapolis and St. Paul, It enters St. Paul paired with I-35E and exits St. Paul paired with US 61. It leaves US 61 just north of Hastings, shortly before entering into Wisconsin.
Wisconsin
US 10 enters Wisconsin at Prescott and travels southeastward passing Neillsville, Marshfield, Stevens Point, and Appleton before reaching its eastern terminus near the Lake Michigan shore in Manitowoc. Ferry service between the western and eastern portions of US 10 is provided between May and October by the ferry S.S. Badger. US 10 is now a 4 lane divided highway from State Trunk Highway 80 south of Marshfield to I-39. This allows travelers to bypass Auburndale, Blenker, Milladore, Junction City, and downtown Stevens Point. This completes the plan to upgrade US 10 to a freeway or expressway status from Marshfield to Menasha. US 10 is an expressway between Stevens Point and Waupaca. It has been upgraded to a freeway in the Waupaca area and is also a freeway between Fremont and Appleton.
Michigan
The western terminus of US 10 in Michigan is Ludington. US 10 runs concurrently with US 31 from the east side of Ludington to Scottville before US 31 turns northward. The road then heads easterly through Baldwin and Reed City before it becomes a freeway west of US 127 near the junction with highway M-115. US 127 and US 10 overlap for a short distance near Clare. US 10 bypasses Midland and terminates at I-75 in Bay City.
Related routes
US 10 has had alternate routes designated in the past, but none are active as of 2017. Between 1926 and 1934, there was a pair of suffixed routes between St. Cloud, Minnesota, and Moorhead, Minnesota. US 10N, the northern half of the pairing, connected St. Cloud, Little Falls, Motley, and Detroit Lakes before reaching Moorhead. US 10S ran from St. Cloud through Alexandria and Fergus Falls before rejoining US 10N at Moorhead. In the mid-1930s, US 52 was extended into Minnesota, and US 10S was renamed to US 52. US 10N was renamed to US 10.
History
Originally, US 10 also passed through Montana, the Idaho Panhandle, and Washington, terminating in Seattle. The completion of I-90 and I-94 replaced US 10 along this route, although some sections of the old US 10 road still exist in such cities as Bismarck, Missoula, Spokane, and between Cle Elum and Ellensburg as State Route 10. The last section of Interstate 90 to be completed was between Coeur d'Alene and Wallace in the early 1990s. Much of this route was co-numbered as both I-90 and US 10 until the final completion of I-90 through Idaho. Some decommissioned sections of US 10 are designated Interstate 90 Business or Interstate 94 Business routes. At least two US 10 Alternate routes were used, including one from Spokane to Missoula from 1941 to 1967 via Sandpoint, Idaho, and the Pintler Scenic Route through Philipsburg, Montana, and Anaconda, Montana, renamed Montana Highway 1 when Montana's US 10 was decommissioned in 1986. At the eastern end, US 10 originally went south from Midland to Saginaw, Michigan, on what is now highway M-47. It then joined up with US 23 in Saginaw, and continued south until it split from US 23 near Flint. It then continued southeast as the Dixie Highway to Pontiac, where it followed Woodward Avenue, now designated M-1. From there, US 10 continued on an almost straight line to downtown Detroit, where it intersected US 16, US 25, and US 12. It then took a two-block jog, then ended at the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel to Canada. In the 1970s, US 10 was rerouted off Woodward Avenue in the Detroit area and onto the John C. Lodge Freeway and Telegraph Road. US 10 was truncated to Bay City, Michigan, in 1986 at which point the Lodge Freeway was changed to M-10. In 1925, US 10 was originally proposed to run from Detroit through Chicago, and northwesterly into Wisconsin on what later became US 12. In 2015, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials officially designated the SS Badger car ferry as part of the highway's official route, joining US 9 as the only two routes with a ferry connection.
