Large image of 1930 plat map

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The blue arrow on the map points to the original 1851 track and the orange to the 1864 Airline. The earlier rail enters Elm Grove from the east and follows the Underwood Creek to the north while the Airline enters from the south and takes a more direct route to the northwest. See below for an enlargement of the signs at the bottom right of the frame that are associated with Blue Mound Road. Until recently, the Airline track actually crossed the arterial not far from the UPS depot. Today the last remnant of the track is visible between the north side of Blue Mound Road and the Elm Grove Recycling Center.

To learn what the numbers on the symbols near modern Blue Mound Road mean, I contacted Emlynn Grisar, Wisconsin Department of Transportation southeast regional communications manager. She posed the question to Tom Heydel, WisDOT traffic operations engineer, and he sent a link to a website (http://www.wisconsinhighways.org/listings/WiscHwys 10-19.html#US-018) that includes the following: "Soon after its creation, US-18 was rerouted between downtown Waukesha and downtown Milwaukee generally via its present-day route including Bluemound Rd and Wisconsin Ave. At this point, the route between Goerke's Corners and downtown Milwaukee was signed as US-16/US-18/STH-19/STH-30! By 1931, though, US-16 had been relocated to Capitol Dr, leaving just US-18/STH-19/STH-30. Meanwhile in 1932, US-18 was relocated onto its present-day route between US-12 at Cambridge and Jefferson in Jefferson Co."

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