It is a major east–west corridor connecting the Twin Cities and the Chippewa Valley with Wausau and Green Bay.

A multi-year project to convert the corridor to a four-lane freeway or expressway from Elk Mound to Green Bay was completed in 2005.

The highway turns northward onto Main Street and passes west and north of the University of Wisconsin–Stout campus.

[9] South of Wausau, WIS 29 turns off US 51 to the east at the northern terminus of I-39 and continues as freeway, passing through the villages of Rothschild and Weston.

US 45 joins with the highway north of Wittenberg and the two routes run concurrently to where US 45 splits to the south at about two miles (3.2 km) east of the village.

WIS 29 very briefly passes through the northeast corner of Outagamie County and enters the village of Howard.

WIS 29 splits to the east from US 141 at about one mile (1.6 km) north of US 's southern terminus at I-43 in Bellevue.

[11] In Kewaunee County, WIS 29 passes due east through Pilsen and north of Krok as a two-lane road.

[14] WIS 29 has long been known as "Bloody 29" because of the prevalence of grisly fatal traffic crashes along significant portions of the highway.

[16] Most of the expansion was completed with only minor additions to the already-existing easements, and as a result, the expanded roadway almost exactly matches the highway's original course.

The portion of WIS 29 between Chippewa Falls and Abbotsford roughly follows what used to be the Yellowstone Trail.

[17][18] Long range plans call for WIS 29 to be converted to a full freeway between I-94 in Elk Mound and I-41 in Green Bay, however, there is no timetable for the entire corridor to be completed.