Multi State Highway 92 is an east-west combination of four connected State Roads numbered 92, extending 886 miles (1,426 km) from Torrington, Wyoming to La Moille, Illinois, consisting of Wyoming Highway 92, Nebraska Highway 92, Iowa Highway 92, and Illinois Route 92.

Unlike other multi-state state routes such as those that originated in the New England road marking system, Route 92 appears not to have been planned, but likely arose when state highway officials saw Route 92 in a neighboring state ending at their state line, and gave the number 92 to their own connecting route as a matter of convenience.[1] Consequently, it has been said that it "doesn't go anywhere important, and takes its time getting there..."[2] Route 92 passes through the Omaha and Quad Cities metropolitan areas, though it is not the main route connecting them. Most of Route 92 is roughly paralleled by Interstate 80. Very few travel it from end to end, except for determined Road Geeks.

A second, much shorter, Multi State Highway 92 exists, consisting of Kansas Highway 92 and Missouri Route 92, connecting in Leavenworth, Kansas on the Leavenworth Centennial Bridge over the Missouri River. That road is not covered in this article.

Route description edit

Lengths
  mi km
WY 17 27
NE 489 787
IA 274 441
IL 106 171
Total 886 1426

Wyoming edit

 
Sign marking the western end of Route 92, in Torrington WY.

Wyoming Highway 92 begins in downtown Torrington at U.S. 26/U.S. 85[3] and heads south overlapped with US 85 for a short distance, then diverges and zig-zags southeasterly towards Nebraska.

Nebraska edit

 
Chimney Rock, a landmark on the Oregon Trail and Nebraska Highway 92

Nebraska Highway 92 begins at the Wyoming State Line and heads eastward, passing just north of Scotts Bluff National Monument before entering the city of Scottsbluff. Leaving the Scottsbluff area eastward on the route of the historic Oregon Trail, it is either parallel to or concurrent with US 26, as the two highways and the North Platte River form a 91 miles (146 km) long braid, crisscrossing one another several times. At Lewellen it diverges from both US 26 and the river, and heads east on its own, serving the resort communities on the north shore of Lake McConaughy. It then joins Nebraska Highway 61 and heads due north into the Nebraska Sandhills to Arthur. There it splits from Route 61 and heads east on its own, as the sparsely-settled cattle ranches of the Sandhills gradually give way to fertile farmland, all the way to Omaha. Within Omaha it is concurrent with U.S. Route 275 as a major suburban arterial street. N-92 is Nebraska's only state highway to extend from its western border to its eastern border; along the way it crosses the Platte River or its tributary North Platte River a total of five times.

Iowa edit

 
Mississippi River at Riverside Park in Muscatine, Iowa. The flooded river in this June 2013 photo has closed the park, and caused Business US 61 and Iowa Highway 92 to be detoured to higher ground.

Iowa Highway 92 begins on the South Omaha Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Missouri River and travels east on its own as a rural road through Iowa farmland across the whole state. It passes through numerous towns, all of them fairly small, before meeting US Route 61 and entering Muscatine. It ends in Downtown Muscatine where it crosses the Mississippi River into Illinois.

Illinois edit

 
Sign marking the eastern end of IL-92, and of the 4-state Route 92, at US 34 in La Moille IL.

Illinois Route 92 begins on the Norbert F. Beckey Bridge over the Mississippi River, and heads northeastward along the east bank of the river, before entering Rock Island as the Centennial Expressway. Its alternate, Illinois Route 192 is sometimes used as a detour when low-lying stretches of Route 92 are flooded by the Mississippi River. After traversing Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline on surface streets near the Mississippi River, it leaves the Quad Cities concurrent with Illinois Route 2, Interstate 88, and Illinois Route 110 (also known as the Chicago–Kansas City Expressway). At I-88 exit 6, it separates and heads east on its own across the rich Illinois farmland to the route's eastern terminus at US Route 34 in La Moille.

References edit

  1. ^ "Highway Across Southern Iowa Renumbered 92". Des Moines Tribune. January 23, 1939. p. 7. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  2. ^ Carlson, Rich. Illinois Highways Page: Routes 81 thru 100. Last updated March 15, 2005. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
  3. ^ Wyoming @ AARoads.com - Wyoming Routes 000-099

External links edit