Two highways in Kenosha County have been renamed after a jurisdictional transfer agreement between the county, Racine County, and the State of Wisconsin. The section of county Highway KR from Interstate 94 to Highway 32 along the Kenosha-Racine county line is now designated as state Highway 195. The segment west of I-94 retains the Highway KR name.
State Highway 75 has been renamed county Highway BD, covering its entire route from Highway 50 in Kenosha County to Highway 20 in Racine County. The new designation “BD” reflects the towns it passes through: Brighton in Kenosha County and Dover in Racine County.
Kenosha County Executive Samantha Kerkman explained that the changes followed recent upgrades to Highway KR to support current and future development. “Highway KR, now Highway 195, in its current form is a major thoroughfare that really has the profile of a state highway,” Kerkman said. “At the same time, old Highway 75, now Highway BD, is a two-lane rural road with characteristics more like the rest of our county trunk highway system. As such, this change is beneficial to the taxpayers of both counties.”
The agreement transferred about 7.09 miles of old Highway 75 to Kenosha County and around 5.01 miles to Racine County. The state received approximately 7.1 miles of old Highway KR.
With this transfer, maintenance responsibilities have shifted: The state will cover all costs for maintaining Highway 195—previously shared by Kenosha and Racine counties when it was known as Highway KR—while each county will be responsible for maintenance on their respective portions of Highway BD.
Kenosha County Highway Director Greg Boldt noted that while Kenosha County’s total roadway length increases under this deal, there are expected savings on maintenance costs. “Highway 195 is an urban cross-section with four lanes of traffic, concrete pavement, curb and gutter, storm sewers, six bridges, and landscaped medians with plantings and trees,” Boldt said. “These types of roadways typically take longer to maintain during snowplowing operations, and the long-term maintenance costs of maintaining this infrastructure is more costly than that of our more typical county trunk highways.”
Both counties’ boards approved the agreement earlier this fall; it takes effect November 15 with signage updates completed over subsequent weeks.
In related demographic information about Kenosha County schools for the 2023-24 year: Indian Trail High School and Academy had the highest enrollment at 2,001 students; Tremper High School enrolled 1,458 students; Bradford High School had 1,448 students (https://dpi.wi.gov/). White students made up just over half (55.6%) of local school enrollment at about 14,124 out of a total student body population of roughly 25,402 (https://dpi.wi.gov/). Hispanic students were the second largest group at nearly one-quarter (25.7%), while Black students represented just over one-tenth (10.4%) (https://dpi.wi.gov/). American Indian students comprised only about two-tenths percent (0.2%) of all enrolled students in Kenosha County schools during this period (https://dpi.wi.gov/).
