U.S. Route 136

U.S. Route 136 is an east–west U.S. highway that is a spur route of U.S. Route 36. It runs from Edison, Nebraska, at US 6 and US 34 to the I-74/I-465 interchange in Speedway, Indiana. This is a distance of . Due to the removal of almost every numbered route in Indianapolis, US 136 never meets its parent, US 36; however, it does come within two miles of it at its interchange with I-465/I-74 at its eastern terminus.

Route description

Nebraska

U.S. 136 closely parallels Nebraska's southern border from its western terminus near Edison to the Missouri River. It passes through Beatrice and exits the state at Brownville via the Brownville Bridge. It is designated the Heritage Highway throughout Nebraska.

Missouri

US 136 enters Missouri on the west just east of Brownville, Nebraska, over the Missouri River. It leaves the state at Alexandria on the east, running concurrently with US 61. During its journey, it enters every county seat in the nine counties it traverses. The distance across Missouri is approximately . US 136 is two lanes over its entire course through Missouri.

Iowa

US 136 in Iowa consists of a route which travels across the south-easternmost tip of Lee County. It crosses the Des Moines River from Missouri with US 61, overlapping for just over . East of the US 61 split, US 136 is overlapped by US 61 Bus. through Keokuk. US 136 enters Keokuk along 7th Street, which takes a turn to the northeast towards downtown. At the intersection with Main Street, which is the southern end of US 218, it turns to the southeast towards the Mississippi River. US 136 travels another before crossing the Mississippi into Hamilton, Illinois via the Keokuk–Hamilton Bridge.

Illinois

US 136 spends within the state of Illinois. It crosses the Mississippi River into Illinois from Iowa just past Keokuk. It passes through historic Carthage; site of the death of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement and home of the Kibbe biological museum, then Macomb, where Western Illinois University is located. It continues as an east–west route intersecting with I-155 and I-55 south of Bloomington-Normal and north of Lincoln in Central Illinois. It later intersects with I-74, and then I-57 just outside Rantoul, approximately north of Champaign-Urbana. US 136 then travels concurrently with Illinois Route 1 in far east central Illinois before entering Danville. At Danville, it turns east as it passes into Indiana.

Indiana

Through most of its duration in Indiana, US 136 is parallel to the newer I-74. Within Indianapolis, the highway is also called Crawfordsville Road, and US 136 ends in the town of Speedway, at the I-74/I-465 interchange, where Crawfordsville Road continues without numbered designation. As part of Indiana's Accelerate 465 project, the I-74/I-465 interchange was reworked to eliminate tight spiral ramps and to add a full interchange for US 136 with I-465. It was completed in December 2012.

In Missouri, most of US 136 was designated as Route 4 in 1922. This highway began at St. Joseph and followed present US 169 to Stanberry, turning east there to the Iowa state line along US 136. The rest of US 136 was initially Route 1A (Nebraska to Rock Port), part of Route 1, and Route 18 (Tarkio to Stanberry). The east end was truncated to Wayland in 1926, when US 61 was designated over the part east to Iowa, and in 1927 Route 4 absorbed the former Route 52 from St. Joseph southwest to Atchison, Kansas. In 1932, Route 4 was rerouted west of Stanberry, absorbing Route 18 and Route 102 (the latter a ca. 1930 renumbering of Route 1A); the portion from Stanberry to St. Joseph was deleted in favor of US 169 and the portion from St. Joseph to Kansas became Route 18 (which became part of US 59 in 1934). US 136 replaced Route 4 east of Stanberry in 1951 and the rest in 1960.

In Nebraska, US 136 was previously "Route 3." US 136 replaced Route 3 in 1960.

US 136 was originally proposed to use I-465 in Indiana to the US 36 interchange so US 136 could meet its parent, US 36.

Major intersections

;Nebraska

: north-northwest of Edison

: north-northwest of Alma. The highways travel concurrently to Alma.

: in Red Cloud

: south-southeast of Hebron

: in Beatrice

: in Auburn

;Missouri

: in Rock Port

: northwest of Rock Port

: south-southwest of Tarkio. The highways travel concurrently to Tarkio.

: east-southeast of Burlington Junction. The highways travel concurrently to Maryville.

: in Stanberry. The highways travel concurrently to north-northwest of Darlington.

: southwest of Bethany. The highways travel concurrently to Bethany.

: in Bethany

: in Princeton. The highways travel concurrently through Princeton.

: south-southeast of Glenwood. The highways travel concurrently to Lancaster.

: west-northwest of Alexandria. The highways travel concurrently to Keokuk, Iowa.

;Iowa

: in Keokuk

;Illinois

: in Macomb. The highways travel concurrently to east of Macomb.

: in Duncan Mills. The highways travel concurrently to south of Duncan Mills.

: east-northeast of Emden

: in McLean

: in Heyworth

: south-southeast of Le Roy

: southeast of Le Roy

: in Rantoul

: in Danville

;Indiana

: in Veedersburg. The highways travel concurrently through Veedersburg.

: in Crawfordsville

: on the Indianapolis–Speedway line.