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Western Terminus: | I-75 at Exit 359, fourteen miles north of St Ignace |
Eastern Terminus: | On Drummond Island at "Four Corners," south of the community of Drummond (at cnr of East Channel Rd, South Shore Rd, Townline Rd & Johnswood Rd) |
Length(s): | 49.092 miles* 50.079 miles** *includes only physical highway mileage under direct MDOT jurisdiction **includes non-MDOT-maintained ferry connection between DeTour Village and Drummond Island |
Maps: | Route Map of M-134 |
Notes: | For forty years, M-134 ended in DeTour Village, but was extended onto Drummond Island in 1988, using the Drummond Island Ferry between DeTour Village and the island. Thus, M-134 is one of only three state highways on islands in Michigan, with the others being M-154 on Harsens Island and M-185 on Mackinac Island. |
M-134 as the North Huron Scenic Byway was the first route to be designated under the revamped and redesignated Pure Michigan Byways program. It had been under study since 2006 and a Corridor Management Plan was created in 2010 by the Eastern U.P. Regional Planning & Development Commission using the designation "M-134 North Huron Recreational Heritage Route." However, when the process finally proceeded to the implementation phase, it was officially unveiled on October 16, 2015 as the "North Huron Byway."Since that time, the name of the byway has tansformed into the "North Huron Scenic Byway." | |
The former eastern end of M-134 (from 1949–1988) at DeTour Village was the source of a bit of confusion, in terms of official state trunkline routing. First, M-134's predecessor M-48 originally entered DeTour from the west via South Caribou Lake Rd/DeTour Rd, continuing easterly along Dawson St to a terminus at Huron St at the "Dawson Dock." In 1949, the established route of present-day M-134 along the Lake Huron shore continued into the village from the southwest along Ontario St to the former trunkline route at Dawson St. The former trunkline route via South Caribou Lake Rd/DeTour Rd west of Ontario St was cancelled as a trunkline route—but not the two blocks of Dawson St between Ontario St and Huron St, implying the route of M-134 entered DeTour via Ontario St, then turned easterly for two blocks along Dawson St, terminating at the Dawson Dock as M-48 had done for decades prior. In 1988, the route of M-134 was extended northerly along Ontario St for two blocks from Dawson St to Elizabeth St, then easterly for 2½ blocks along Elizabeth St to the Drummond Island Ferry Dock. However, no mention was made in the official documentation of the two blocks of Dawson between Ontario and Huron, although no trunkline cancellation documentation has been located for that segment to date. Other State Highway Dept official maps and documents imply Dawson St east of Ontario St never was part of the official route of M-134, though, so those two blocks may have either been an oversight of some kind. Second, official MDOT right-of-way maps not only depict M-134 as continuing northerly on Ontario St past Elizabeth St, but all the way to the end of Ontario St at Democrat Rd (North Caribou Lake Rd). Not only that, the right-of-way map for M-134 includes the note: "M-134 has been extended from N Section line of Section 35 [e.g. Democrat Rd] to the Waters' Edge NORTH." This would mean, according to the ROW maps, the officially-established route of M-134 continues north from the end of Ontario St at Democrat St along a non-existant roadway for an additional 525 feet to the Saint Mary's River shoreline. This is not the currently signed route and no other maps or sources show this configuration either. Odd... |
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A note on the naming of the former eastern terminus of M-134 (from 1949–1988): DeTour Village. There seems to be very little agreement, even among official sources, as to what the official name of this incorporated village actually is. Variously, it is listed in official documentation (including the Village's own website) as:
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History: | 1928 (Nov 19) – A new 6-mile long state trunkline is established in Missaukee Co, beginning at M-66 three miles north of downtown McBain and proceeding easterly via Falmouth Rd to Forward Rd near Falmouth, where it terminates. This new route is assigned the designation M-134. |
1930 (Dec 2) – A 0.7-mile extension of M-134 northerly via Forward Rd from Falmouth Rd to Prosper Rd at Falmouth is officially established as a trunkline route. | |
1938 (Dec 6) – The entire 6.7-mile M-134 route in Missaukee Co is cancelled as a state trunkline route and turned back to county control, after being in existence for just over a decade. | |
1939 – In early 1939, almost immediately after being removed from Missaukee Co, the M-134 route designation reappears, this time in the Upper Peninsula. At the time of redesignation, M-134 supplants the M-4 routing from US-2/Mackinac Tr easterly via St Ignace Rd to Three Mile Rd, southerly via Three Mile into Hessel, then easterly via present-day M-134 and State Ave to Blind Line Rd, southerly via Blind Line, easterly again via present-day M-134/North Huron Shore Dr through Cedarville to the first encounter with the Mackinac/Chippewa Co line, 2 miles east of Port Dolomite. From there easterly via the Lake Huron shoreline toward DeTour Village, M-134 (formerly M-4) is in the early stages of construction. | |
1940 (Sept 18)–1942 – Grading and initial surfacing on the easterly extension of M-134 from the first encounter with the Mackinac/Chippewa Co line east of Port Dolomite to a connection with M-48 ten miles west of DeTour Village is completed and opened to traffic on September 18. Final aggregate surfacing, however, would not be laid down until the 1942 construction season. | |
1949 (Nov 7) – A new segment of state trunkline, designated as an easterly extension of M-134, is established running close to the Lake Huron Shore from the point where M-134 turns northerly to meet M-48 west of DeTour Village (at Albany Harbor) easterly for 10.2 miles into DeTour Village to the existing route of M-48 at the cnr of Dawson & Ontario Sts. Simultaneously, the route of M-48 from jct M-134 (present day cnr South Lake Caribou Rd & M-48) easterly via South Lake Caribou Rd & Dawson St into DeTour Village is cancelled as a state trunkline route and turned back to local control. The 2.3-mile segment of what had formerly been M-134 between Albany Harbor and M-48/South Caribou Lake Rd is redesignated as a southerly rerouting of M-48, which now terminates at M-134 near Albany Harbor. | |
1951 – A portion of the segment of M-134 between Hessel and Cedarville is realigned to bypass a set of 90º corners at Blind Line Rd onto its present-day alignment. Blind Line Rd south from State Ave, and State Ave for one mile west of Blind Line are transferred to local control. | |
1958 (Jul 29) – Nearly all of the western third of the highway is realigned onto its present-day shoreline alignment from Hessel westerly back to its previous route approximately two miles east of US-2/Mackinac Tr. The former route via St Ignace Rd easterly to Three Mile Rd, then southerly via Three Mile to Hessel is turned back to local control. | |
1988 (July 19–Sept 22) – The route of M-134 in DeTour Village is officially extended by a total of 5½ blocks (0.303 mile) to a new terminus at the Drummond Island Ferry Docks. From its previous terminus at Ontario St & Dawson St, M-134 now continues northerly for two blocks to Elizabeth St, then turns easterly for 2½ blocks to the ferry docks. Route markers for this extension of M-134 began being posted in the field on July 19, while the official establishment of the extension as a state trunkline route occurs on September 22. Also announced at a July 19 press conference for the unveiling of the M-134 signage in DeTour Village is the impending state takeover of an additional eight miles of roadway on Drummond Island by MDOT to extend the route of M-134 even further. | |
1989 (Mar 3) – East Channel Rd on Drummond Island (referred to as Cove Point Rd in MDOT trunkline establishment documents) from the Drummond Island Ferry Docks easterly to the "Four Corners" area at the corner of Shore Rd (aka Warners Cove Rd, aka Bailey Lake Rd), Johnswood Rd & Town Line Rd (the blinker light at Sune's—for local reference) is established as a state trunkline route and transferred from county control. MDOT documents state the length of the establishment on the Island is 8.12 miles, while present-day official data measures the route of M-134 between the ferry docks and Four Corners at 7.909 miles. With this extension, M-134 becomes just the third state trunkline route on an island in the state, the others being M-154 on Harsen's Island and M-185 on Mackinac Island. | |
2015 (Oct 16) – The North Huron Byway is the first route to be designated under the revamped and redesignated Pure Michigan Byways program. Under study since 2006 and with a Corridor Management Plan created in 2010, what had been originally developed as the "M-134 North Huron Recreational Heritage Route" is was officially unveiled as the "North Huron Byway" at an announcement at the Clark Township Community Center in Cedarville. | |
Controlled Access: | No portion of M-134 is freeway or expressway. |
NHS: | No portion of M-134 is on the National Highway System (NHS). |
Circle Tour: | Lake Huron Circle Tour: From western terminus at I-75 to M-48 west of DeTour Village. |
Lake Huron Circle Tour LOOP: From M-48 west of DeTour Village into DeTour Village. | |
Pure Michigan Byway: | North Huron Scenic Byway – The entire length of M-134 was dedicated as the North Huron Byway on October 16, 2015. |
Memorial Highway: | At present, no portion of M-134 has been designated as part of a Memorial Highway. |
Photographs: | |
Weblinks: |
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