U.S. Route 52 (US 52) is a major United States highway in the central United States that extends from the northern to southeastern region of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S. Highways, US 52 primarily follows a northwest–southeast route, and is signed north–south or east–west depending on the local orientation of the route. The highway's northwestern terminus is at Portal, North Dakota, on the Canadian border, where it continues as Saskatchewan Highway 39. Its southeastern terminus is in Charleston, South Carolina, at Number 2 Meeting Street and White Point Gardens along the Charleston Harbor.
Route Description[]
North Dakota[]
See Also: Interstate 94 in South Dakota
In North Dakota, US 52 continues from Highway 39 from the Canada–United States border at North Portal, Saskatchewan and Portal, North Dakota to the Red River in Fargo, a distance of 361 miles (581 km). US 52 is co-signed with US 2 near Minot, where it also intersects with US 83. US 52 is also co-signed with US 281 for 44 miles (71 km) between Jamestown and Carrington. US 52 is concurrent with Interstate 94 between Jamestown and the Minnesota state line, co-signed between Jamestown and Fargo; however, all of the interchanges for the Fargo/West Fargo portion of the route are unsigned.
Minnesota[]
See Also: Interstate 94 in Minnesota
In the state of Minnesota, US 52 enters the state with Interstate 94 at Moorhead and follows Interstate 94 southeast all the way to the Twin Cities. The portion of the highway which overlaps Interstate 94 is unsigned. From downtown St. Paul, US 52 continues on its own southeast over the Lafeyette Bridge in St. Paul, continuing as a four lane road to Rochester and the Iowa state line. MnDOT has a long-term goal of making US 52 a freeway with limited-access interchanges between St. Paul and Interstate 90 south of Rochester. South from Interstate 94 in St. Paul there is a freeway segment to just south of Concord Blvd in Inver Grove Heights. The portion of the highway between Inver Grove Heights and Pine Island is built to expressway standards. Another freeway segment begins from Pine Island, through Rochester reaching its largest single capacity in Minnesota through Rochester as a 6-8 lane freeway, toward I-90 where it converts to a rural two-lane highway. The highway then proceeds to the Iowa state line.
Iowa[]
US 52 enters Iowa north of the unincorporated community of Burr Oak. It passes by Luther College on the west side of Decorah. At Calmar the road turns to a southwest–northeast orientation. It joins with US 18 just to the west of Postville. The two highways overlap until a point east of the unincorporated community of Froelich. US 52 roughly parallels the Mississippi River for the rest of its path through Iowa. At Luxemburg it joins with Iowa Highway 3 and turns east. The two highways run together to downtown Dubuque, where it intersects US 61 and US 151.
South of Dubuque, US 52, US 61, and US 151 share a freeway routing until US 52 departs in Key West to remain close to the Mississippi River. Just west of Sabula the highway turns to an east–west orientation at the junction of Iowa Highway 64 and the northern terminus of US 67. In Sabula, the highway becomes a wrong-way road; northbound traffic travels south, and vice versa, from Sabula to the new Dale Gardner Veterans Memorial Bridge, where US 52 crosses over the Mississippi River into Illinois.
North of Dubuque, Iowa, US 52 is routed on to a narrow and often winding road. While scenic, the road has been the scene of numerous accidents over the years owing to this nature. Between 1964 and 1967, this segment of the route was called Alternate US 52 and US 52 was rerouted south from Luxemburg to Dyersville along Iowa Highway 136, and east from Dyersville to Dubuque along US 20. After the completion of the Southwest Arterial in 2019, a similar alignment change will take place as US 52 will no longer follow the winding Iowa Highway 3 route, and instead share Iowa Highway 136 and US 20 to the intersection of the new four-lane Southwest Arterial and finally head southwest to US 61/US 151, where it would then be linked to the existing highway US 52, continuing on to Bellevue and Sabula.
Illinois[]
In Illinois, US 52 runs southeast from the Dale Gardner Veterans Memorial Bridge at the terminus of Iowa Highway 64 and Illinois Route 64 in Savanna, passing through the cities of Dixon, Amboy and Mendota. US 52 then turns due south and then east, crossing Interstate 39 near Troy Grove. It continues east, passing through Shorewood and then through the southern portion of Joliet, where it is a major thoroughfare in the city of Joliet (Jefferson Street), avoiding the city of Chicago proper. It joins with U.S. Route 45 through Kankakee, and then runs concurrently with U.S. Route 24, east of Watseka to the Indiana state line.
Indiana[]
In Indiana, US 52 runs in a northwest-southeast direction. It passes through Lafayette and Indianapolis. Northwest of Indianapolis, US 52 runs along the same general area as, and is considered an alternative route to, Interstate 65. In the Indianapolis area, it is overlapped with Interstate 865 and Interstate 465. East of Indianapolis, it is considered an alternative to Interstate 74 before joining it near the Ohio border.
When U.S. 52 went through Downtown Indianapolis, it went onto Brookville Road, then turned right onto English Avenue. It then joined U.S. 421 when it turns right onto Southeastern Avenue. US 52/421 joined U.S. 40 when it turned left onto Washington Street. It then splits into Washington Street (westbound) and Maryland Street (eastbound). US 52 then turned right onto West Street (from West Street, it turned left onto Maryland Street). U.S. 52 turned left on either Indiana Avenue or 16th Street (US 136). Eventually, U.S. 52 would overlap U.S. 136 on 16th Street. It then turned right onto Lafayette Road, which became Indianapolis Road when reaching Zionsville. When I-65 was completed through Downtown Indianapolis, U.S. 52 got on I-65 from the Lafayette Road interchange, and traveled on I-65 the rest of the way. In 1970, the route was re-routed onto the south belt of I-465 from Brookville Road to I-65. It was re-routed again on its current route around Indianapolis in either 2000 or 2001.
Ohio[]
US 52 enters Ohio concurrently with Interstate 74 in northwestern Hamilton County. US 52 then merges with Interstate 75 from Interstate 74's terminus and exits onto Hopple Street in Cincinnati. It runs along Central Parkway and Central Avenue through downtown and then skirts the Cincinnati riverfront along Mehring Way past Paul Brown Stadium, Great American Ball Park, and Heritage Bank Center (formerly U.S. Bank Arena), onto Pete Rose Way and Riverside Drive. From Cincinnati eastward, US 52 generally follows the Ohio River. There is a brief concurrency with Interstate 275 near California, a neighborhood on the far eastern edge of the city of Cincinnati. Towns along its path include New Richmond, Aberdeen, Ripley and Manchester. The section between Interstate 275 and New Richmond was modernized in the 1960s. Parts of the old route run parallel to the newer highway. Around Portsmouth and Ironton US 52 has several freeway or expressway sections. In Portsmouth, US 52 intersects with US 23. At Chesapeake, US 52 crosses the Ohio River into Huntington, West Virginia.
The sections of US 52 that follow the Ohio River are known as the Ohio River Scenic Byway, which is part of the National Scenic Byway Project. The section between SR 125 and SR 73 (near Portsmouth) is also designated as Scenic Scioto Heritage Trail. This portion of US 52, along the Ohio between Cincinnati and Huntington, is the only part where it falls in geographical sequence, south of US 50 and north of US 60.
West Virginia and Kentucky[]
US 52 serves western and southern portions of West Virginia, running from Huntington to Bluefield. The highway is undergoing a major expansion project which began in 2007 and at current funding levels is likely to take many years to finish.
During its run through West Virginia, US 52 twice enters Kentucky briefly, along the Williamson, West Virginia bypass, in order to prevent the blasting of several hillsides in West Virginia. These stretches were completed in 1996 as part of the Corridor G (U.S. Route 119) project. The speed limit in West Virginia is 65 mph (105 km/h), but drops to 55 mph (89 km/h) along the Kentucky portions, as Kentucky law states that any non-freeway (as is US 52) must not have a speed limit higher than 55 mph (89 km/h). In each instance, however, US 52 re-enters West Virginia.
Virginia[]
US 52 enters Virginia from West Virginia, and in Virginia closely follows Interstate 77. It enters southwestern Virginia near Bluefield and passes through Wytheville and Hillsville before leaving the state south of Cana.
North Carolina[]
US 52 enters North Carolina just north west of Mount Airy. It goes by Pilot Mountain, one of the most distinctive natural features in North Carolina. Through the Piedmont Triad region, US 52 is mostly a limited-access freeway. The route joins Interstate 85 Business into Lexington, North Carolina and shares Interstate 85 around Salisbury, North Carolina. The segment of US 52 from Interstate 40 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to Lexington is currently being upgraded to Interstate highway standards for the future Interstate 285 corridor. The segment from northern Winston-Salem to just south of Mount Airy is expected to form part of the Interstate 74 corridor through North Carolina.
South of the Triad area, after splitting from Interstate 85 in Salisbury, US 52 is typically a two-lane route linking some of the state's smaller cities and towns. Albemarle is the largest municipality along this segment of US 52 to the South Carolina state line.
South Carolina[]
US 52 enters South Carolina northeast of Cheraw. From Darlington southward it is a multilane highway and freeway, passing through Florence, Lake City, Kingstree, Moncks Corner and North Charleston before US 52's terminus at number Line Street in Charleston.
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| Primary routes • Auxiliary routes • Divided routes • Special routes • Intrastate routes • Former routes • Intrastate • Hypothetical (Auxiliary • Special) |
| Major U.S Routes are written in bold. Former U.S. Routes that are no longer part of the system are written in italic. |
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