U.S. Route 8

U.S. Route 8

U.S. Highway 8 (US 8) is a United States Highway that runs primarily east–west for 280.00 miles (450.62 km), mostly within the state of Wisconsin. It runs from Interstate 35 (I-35) in Forest Lake, Minnesota to US 2 at Norway in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan near the border with Wisconsin. Except for the short freeway segment near Forest Lake, and a section near the St. Croix River bridge, it is all undivided surface road. As a state highway in the three states, US 8 is maintained by the Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan departments of transportation (Mn/DOT, WisDOT, MDOT, respectively).

The highway was originally commissioned on November 11, 1926 with the rest of the original US Highway System. Several changes have been made to the routing of the highway. The western end has been extended south to Minneapolis before being returned to Forest Lake. Other changes on the east end have moved that terminus from an original end location at Powers, Michigan to the current location in Norway. Plans have surfaced at various times in internal Wisconsin and Michigan DOT map files that show the route of the missing highway segment to Powers.

A bypass built by WisDOT around the city of Rhinelander in the 1990s created the opportunity for a business loop through the town. The loop was a locally maintained route through the central business district in Rhinelander. Currently the signage for the loop has been removed.