Functional classification

Functional classification groups highways and streets according to the character of service they are intended to provide, ranging from a high degree of travel mobility to land access functions.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) uses functional classification:

For general transportation planning
When referencing highway and street construction standards
To determine eligibility for the rural or urban surface transportation program

Available below are PDFs of approved functional classification maps for rural, urban, and urbanized areas, as well as other incorporated cities and villages meeting standards for small community criteria.

Rural Maps
Urban Area Maps
Metropolitan Planning Area Maps
Supplemental Documentation

Routes are classified using the Functional Classification Criteria and Procedures updated by WisDOT in 2022.

Functional classification must be updated every 10 years to coincide with the U.S. Census analysis of urban and urbanized areas but can be updated at any time. WisDOT works in cooperation with appropriate local or MPO officials in development of a functional classification system. After WisDOT and local officials agree, FHWA approves the functional classification system.

Requests to amend the functional classification of highways and streets often occur when new routes are planned or when existing routes indicate changes in travel patterns.

Contact

John Nordbo
john.nordbo@dot.wi.gov
(608) 267-7751

Rural Maps
Adams Ashland Barron Bayfield Brown Buffalo Burnett Calumet Chippewa Clark Columbia Crawford Dane Dodge Door Douglas Dunn Eau Claire Florence Fond du Lac Forest Grant Green Green Lake	Iowa Iron Jackson Jefferson Juneau Kenosha Kewaunee La Crosse Lafayette Langlade Lincoln Manitowoc Marathon Marinette Marquette Menominee Milwaukee Monroe Oconto Oneida Outagamie Ozaukee Pepin Pierce	Polk Portage Price Racine Richland Rock Rusk Sauk Sawyer Shawano Sheboygan St. Croix Taylor Trempealeau Vernon Vilas Walworth Washburn Washington Waukesha Waupaca Waushara Winnebago Wood

Urban Area Maps
Antigo Appleton Ashland Baldwin-Hammond Baraboo-West Baraboo Beaver Dam Beloit Black River Falls Burlington-Rochester-Waterford Columbus-Fall River Delavan-Darien Eau Claire-Chippewa Falls Edgerton Elkhorn Evansville Fond du Lac Fort Atkinson Green Bay Houlton Hudson-North Hudson Hurley-Montreal Janesville Kenosha Kiel-New Holstein	La Crosse Lake Delton-Wisconsin Dells Lake Geneva-Bloomfield-Williams Bay Lake Mills Madison Manitowoc-Two Rivers Marinette Marshfield-Hewitt Mayville Menomonie Merrill Milwaukee Monroe Mt. Horeb Mukwonago-East Troy New London New Richmond Niagara Oregon-Brooklyn-Fitchburg Oshkosh Platteville Plymouth Portage Prairie du Chien Prairie du Sac-Sauk City	Racine Reedsburg Rhinelander Rice Lake Richland Center Ripon River Falls Round Lake Beach Shawano-Cecil Sheboygan Sparta Stevens Point-Park Ridge-Plover-Whiting Sturgeon Bay Superior Tomah Union Grove Watertown Waupaca Waupun Wausau West Bend Whitewater Wisconsin Rapids-Biron-Nekoosa-Port Edwards

Metropolitan Planning Area (MPA) Maps

Supplemental Documentation