WIS 16 enters from Minnesota via a connection with
Trunk Highway 16 on the
Mississippi River,
running concurrently with
US Highway 14 (US 14) and
US 61. After the two US Highways turn south to follow 3rd Street in downtown La Crosse, WIS 16 passes through La Crosse via Cass Street, 7th Street and La Crosse Street, crossing
WIS 35 at La Crosse Street and Lang Drive. WIS 16 passes the northern edge of the
University of Wisconsin–La Crosse campus, then turns north at Losey Boulevard. The route then turns northeastward and junctions with
I-90 northeast of the city. WIS 16 becomes a parallel route to I-90 and passes through
West Salem where it connects with
WIS 108.
Wisconsin Highway 162 junctions just north of
Bangor. WIS 16 crosses into
Monroe County in
Rockland. WIS 16 enters
Sparta and junctions with
WIS 21,
WIS 27, and
WIS 71. WIS 16 provides access to the
Elroy-Sparta State Bike Trail. The route then follows I-90 very closely as a
frontage road to
Tomah where it junctions with
WIS 131 and joins
US 12. The highways continue paralleling I-90 and
I-94 southeast and pass through
Oakdale and into
Juneau County. WIS 16 and US 12 pass through
Camp Douglas and cross
WIS 80 in
New Lisbon. The highways then junction with
WIS 58 and
WIS 82 in
Mauston as they continue southeast. The routes slowly trek eastward and pass through
Lyndon Station where
Rocky Arbor State Park is located. The highways turn southeast again and crossing the Interstates and into
Sauk County and
Wisconsin Dells. WIS 16 turns east off of US 12 onto
WIS 13 north and passes through downtown Wisconsin Dells and into
Columbia County.
WIS 23 East also joins the highways at the same point. WIS 16 turns off from WIS 13 and WIS 23 on the east side of Wisconsin Dells and junctions with
WIS 127 southeast of town. WIS 16 follows the
Wisconsin River into Portage, meeting the other terminus of WIS 127 at the interchange with
I-39. The highway then passes through
Portage, crossing
WIS 33 and joining
US 51 south for . WIS 16 turns east off the US route and crosses
WIS 22 in Wyocena and passes through
Rio,
Doylestown and
Fall River.
WIS 60 joins WIS 16 and together, they cross
US 151,
WIS 73 and junction with
WIS 89 in
Columbus as they enter
Dodge County. WIS 16 and WIS 60 turn east and pass through the unincorporated town of Astico and
Lowell. WIS 16 leaves WIS 60 and joins WIS 26 at the junction of the two highways in
Clyman. WIS 16 leaves WIS 26 and bypasses Watertown to the north and east and into
Jefferson County.
WIS 19 terminates on WIS 16 east of Watertown. WIS 16 passes around
Ixonia, becomes an expressway, and enters
Waukesha County along a bypass of Oconomowoc.
WIS 67 joins the expressway north of Oconomowoc. WIS 16 turns east onto the freeway segment and passes into
Hartland, crossing
WIS 83 there.
WIS 190, also known as Capitol Drive, terminates at WIS 16 as the freeway turns south in
Pewaukee. WIS 16 ends at a flyover
interchange and its traffic merges onto I-94 east near Waukesha. ==History==