| Back to Previous Route: M-83 |
 |
On to Next Route: M-85 |
| Southern Terminus: | M-58/State-Davenport Sts in Saginaw (cnr Bay St & State St) |
| Northern Terminus: | BS I-75/M-25/McKinley-Seventh Sts in downtown Bay City (cnr Washington Ave & Seventh St) |
| Length: | 13.631 miles |
| Maps: | Route Map of M-84 |
| Notes: | The portion of M-84 between I-75/US-23 Exit 160 southwest of Bay City and M-25 in downtown Bay City was formerly part of BL I-75. Later, BL I-75 was scaled back to become BS I-75 and M-84 extended along the former route. |
| There is one small bit of evidence the State Highway Dept may have considered redesignating all of the former route of M-47 from M-58 (formerly US-10) in Saginaw northerly through Bay City to Bay City State Park as M-247 once the M-47 designation was redirected northwesterly from Saginaw toward Midland along the former route of US-10. In the end, only the portion of M-47 leading to the state park from M-13 (formerly US-23) is designated as M-247. | |
| In "State Trunkline Needs, 1960–1980," a set of maps prepared by the State Highway Dept's Office of Planning, Programming Division in 1960 showing possible additions, upgrades and improvements to the state trunkline system over the ensuing twenty years, MSHD staff recommended just one thing for the route of M-84 during that timeframe: a complete "decommissioning" by transferring the route from M-58 (formerly US-10) in Saginaw to the I-75/US-23 freeway southwest of Bay City to local control. It may have been the planners' opinion that once the proposed I-675 loop through Saginaw was complete, the need for a state highway along the Bay Rd/Westside Saginaw Rd corridor between Saginaw and Bay City would be alleviated. In any event, this proposal never came to fruition and M-84 is a state trunkline route to this date. | |
| History: | 1920 (Feb 20) – While it had been earmarked as a state highway on official MSHD maps dating back to mid-1919, a 12.3 mile route beginning at M-12 (later US-2, then US-2, then M-48, now H-40) near Garnet in Mackinac Co then running northerly via Borgstrom Rd into Luce Co and then continuing northerly via Co Rd 393 to M-25 (present-day M-28) at McLeod's Corner, 10 miles southeast of Newberry, is officially established as a state trunkline highway route, and designated as M-84. |
| 1925 (Sept 9) – A decision is made to consolidate the routes of both M-82 running from M-25 (later M-28) in downtown Newberry northerly for four miles and M-84 running from M-25 (present-day M-28) at McLeod's Corner southerly to M-12 at Garnet with that of M-48 running from M-12 at Caffey easterly through Trout Lake, Rudyard, and Pickford toward DeTour Village, creating one unified route using the M-48 designation. To do this, M-48 is now signed concurrently with M-12 betwen Caffey and Garnet in Mackinac Co, where it then supplants M-84 northerly into Luce Co. M-48 is then routed concurrently with M-25 from McLeod's Corner westerly into Newberry where it then replaces the M-82 designation northerly to its terminus at Four Mile Corner north of Newberry. Thus ends the first iteration of M-84. | |
| 1927 (May 15) – A second iteration for M-84 debuts, this time in the Lower Peninsula. The route of M-31—which ran from Saginaw through Reese, Gilford, Fairgrove, Akron, Unionville, Sebewaing to Bay Port then easterly across the width of Huron Co through Pigeon, Elkton, Bad Axe and Verona to M-27 (present-day M-25) at Harbor Beach, then southerly along the "Huron Shore Route" (present-day M-25) to Port Huron—is given over to various other route designations. The portion of M-31 from Saginaw easterly into Tuscola Co through Reese to the cnr of W Caro Rd & Bradleyville Rd becomes a westerly extension of M-81. (From Bay City southeasterly via Tuscola Rd to Munger Rd, the former route of M-81 is assumed into the route of M-24, while Munger Rd easterly through Munger and via Fairgrove Rd in Tuscola Co to Bradleyville Rd it becomes an unsigned trunkline highway.) The M-84 designation is applied to the former segment of M-31/M-81 along Bradleyville Rd in western Tuscola Co from M-81/W Caro Rd northerly through Gilford to Fairgrove Rd where M-84 now turns easterly to replace the portion of M-31 through Fairgrove and Akron to Unionville where it terminates at another route that replaces part of M-31. A new state trunkline route from Bay City to Unionville is earmarked to become part of an extended M-29 (present-day M-25), but will not be completed for several more years. From the Unionville terminus of M-84, the former M-31 is replaced by M-29 and a third iteration of the M-83 designation. | |
| 1928 (June 28) – The second iteration of M-84 comes to an end as it is redesignated as part of a greatly expanded M-83 route in its entirety. This comes to pass when a brand-new 15.7 mile long state trunkline route is officially established beginning at US-10/US-23 near Clio in Genesee Co then northerly into Saginaw Co, through Frankenmuth, to M-24 (present-day M-15) near Arthur and given the M-83 designation. To connect this new segment of M-83 with the existing route in Huron Co—45 miles distant!—the M-83 designation is co-signed with M-24 northwesterly through Arthur to M-81, then easterly with M-81 through Reese into Tuscola Co to Bradleyville Rd. From there, M-83 supplants the M-84 route designation northerly through Gilford, easterly to Fairgrove, northerly then easterly thorugh Akron and northerly again to M-84's terminus at Unionville. From Unionville, M-83 is now concurrently designated with M-29 (present-day M-25) through Sebewaing to the previous western terminus of M-83 near Bay Port. The second iteration of M-84 only lasts less than four years and it would be more than three decades before the M-84 designation would appear in Michigan again. |
|
| 1960 (Early Dec), 1961 (Jan 3) – A 14.93-mile long state trunkline route for the I-75/US-10/US-23 freeway is officially established as a state trunkline route on Jan 3, 1961 beginning at jct US-23 & M-81 northeast of Saginaw then northwesterly over the Saginaw River via the new four-lane bascule Zilwaukee Bridge, then curving northerly past Bay City, ending at existing US-23 at Kawkawlin, northwest of Bay City. The US-10 designation is rerouted from Bridgeport to run northerly concurrently with US-23 along the 1949–54 "bypass" route to M-81, then continues concurrently with I-75/US-23 across the Zilwaukee Bridge to an interchange with the M-20 freeway west of Bay City, where US-10 turns westerly to replace M-20 from there toward Midland. As such, the M-47 designation is removed from its routing through Saginaw and northerly to Bay City, transferred to instead travel over the former route of US-10 from west of Saginaw northwesterly toward Midland. The former US-10/M-47 route from west of Saginaw easterly into downtown becomes a westerly extension of M-81 (present-day M-58), while the former M-47 from Saginaw northerly via Bay Rd into Bay Co and along Westside Saginaw Rd to a northern terminus at the just-completed I-75/US-10/US-23 freeway (at present-day Exit 159). From that point, the newly-commissioned BL I-75 continues northerly into Bay City via the former route of M-47. While the 14.93-mile segment of the I-75/US-10/US-23 past Saginaw to Bay City is officially assumed into the trunkline system on January 3, 1961, sources indicate it was actually open to traffic in Early December 1960. This would then likely mean the third iteration of M-84 debuts at the time the freeway opens to traffic, rather than when it was officially established as a trunkline route. |
|
| 1971 – BL I-75 in Bay City is sliced in half, with the northern half becoming BS I-75. The southern half, beginning at the jct of I-75/US-10/US-23 & M-84 and running via Westside Saginaw Rd, Salzburg Ave, Lafayette Ave, Garfield Ave and Washington St ending at M-25 in downtown Bay City, is redesignated as an extension of M-84. | |
| 1972 (Nov)–1973 (Aug 24) – In a project started while it was still part of the route of BL I-75, the 0.209-mile segment of M-84 in Bay City along Garfield Ave from approx 125 feet south of 14th St northerly to Columbus Ave, then easterly along Columbus to the beginning of Washington Ave is cancelled as a state trunkline route and the portions not obliterated are transferred to city control on August 24, 1973. This removes two near-90° turns in the route. Simultaneously, a new more gradual reverse curve routing for M-84 is officially established as a state trunkline route directly connecitng Garfield Ave with Washington Ave. The project costs $190,000 to complete and is actually completed and opened to traffic by November 1972. | |
| 2004–05 – M-84 is widened from a two-lane road into a four-lane boulevard from north of Pierce Rd to Delta Rd in Kochville Township in Saginaw Co and in Frankenlust Township in Bay Co. While most of the improvements take place along the existing alignment of the route, the new boulevard "cuts the corner" softening an existing curve along Westside Saginaw Rd between Kloha and Amelith Rds north of the Saginaw Valley State Univ campus. Where the new highway diverges from the old, the old pavement is obliterated, however old M-84 remains in service between Kloha and Amelith as a connecting local roadway retained as an unsigned/old state trunkline route as OLD M-84. | |
| Controlled Access: | No portion of M-84 is freeway or expressway. |
| NHS: | The entire length of M-84 is on the National Highway System (NHS). (The portion of M-84 from Tittabawassee Rd north of Saginaw northerly to I-75/US-23 at Exit 159 southwest of Bay City was added to the NHS in 2012 with the passage of the MAP-21 funding and authorization bill.) |
| Memorial Highway: | At present, no portion of M-84 has been designated as part of a Memorial Highway. |
| Photographs: | |
| Weblinks: |
|
| Back to M-83 | Route Listings Home | On to M-85 |