Montana Highway 59

Montana Highway 59
Route information
Maintained by MDT
Length:	194 mi (312 km)
Major junctions
South end:	WYO 59 at Wyoming state line
	US 212 at Broadus I-94 at Miles City
North end:	MT 200 at Jordan
Location
Counties:	Powder River, Custer, Rosebud, Garfield
Highway system
Montana Highways ← MT 56 MT 64 →

Highway 59 in the U.S. State of Montana is a route running northerly from the Wyoming state line to an intersection with Montana Highway 200 near the south end of the town of Jordan, a distance of approximately 194 miles (312 km). At the Wyoming state line, the road becomes Wyoming Highway 59, which continues south 57 miles (92 km) to the city of Gillette. The landscape traversed by Highway 59 is mostly hilly and arid, largely used for open-range grazing; the only major commercial areas are the towns of Broadus and Miles City.

For approximately four miles in and near Broadus, Highway 59 is concurrent with U.S. Route 212.

History

The current Highway 59 is an amalgam of three roadway segments that were each formerly numbered separately. The highway south of Broadus was originally designated as Montana Secondary Highway 319. From Broadus to Miles City, the highway was U.S. Route 312 until 1981, and Highway 59 north of Miles City was originally Montana Highway 22. Although US 312 continued west from Miles City to Billings, this was an overlap with US 10, and only the part between Miles City and Broadus was independent. However, from 1959 to 1962, US 312 extended west to Yellowstone National Park, and its east end was at US 12 in Forsyth. In 1962, US 212, which had ended in Miles City, was rerouted to absorb former US 312 southwest of Billings, and US 312 was extended southeast to Broadus over former US 212.

References

• Montana Department of Transportation. Official 2007-2008 Montana Highway Travel Map (Map). http://www.mdt.mt.gov/travinfo/docs/2007_2008_mt_highway_map.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-08.