| Western Terminus: |
M-19 at Brockway at cnr Metcalf Rd & Emmet Rd |
| Eastern Terminus: |
M-25 in the Fort Gratiot area north of Port Huron at cnr Pine Grove Ave & 24th Ave |
| Length(s): |
17.954 miles |
| Maps: |
 Route Map of M-136 |
| Notes: |
 Today, M-136 is somewhat of a secondary state highway route connecting the Port Huron area with M-19 in north-central St Clair Co, historically, however, portions of the route were on the mainline highway heading north from Port Huron into the Thumb prior to the construction of the Lake Huron shoreline highway (today's M-25) and a direct connection for M-19 from Brockway through Memphis and Richmond to Gratiot Ave in northeast Macomb Co. Interestingly, the first route designation along the entire route of what is today's M-136 was actually M-13, which had previously been the designation of a major route in West Michigan but had been replaced by the new US-131 and M-131 designations in 1927. When the Port Huron-Brockway route was established, it was given the M-13 designation which had been in use for a few months along a route heading northerly from Battle Creek, but was changed to M-14 when superstitious motorists and area residents protested over the "unlucky" nature of the route number. M-13 was then moved to the St Clair Co route, but within four years, the third iteration of M-13 was again replaced, this time by M-136. (M-13 would later go on to grace a Lennon-to-Saginaw highway which was later extended through Bay City and Pinconning to Standish.)
A relatively short highway, M-136 has undergone little change in its existence, only being extended easterly in the early-1960s. |
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As noted above, M-136 was originally designated as M-13 for four years before being assigned the M-136 designation in 1931. Although one may conjecturize the current route designation is based on its previous one, but with the addition of a "6," no evidence of any kind to that end has been discovered to date. In fact, the route designations for M-132 through M-144 were all assigned in roughly the same 1932-1931 timeframe, so logic would dictact that the State Highway Dept simply used one of the next numbers is sequence when assigning M-136 it's designation. |
| History: |
1931 (Feb 18) – Capt S.J. Stewart, resident maintenance engineer for the State Highway Dept, announces that the entirety of M-13 in Saint Clair Co running from M-19 at Brockway easterly via Avoca to M-51 south of the hamlet of North Street is redesignated as M-136. The new M-136 designation also joins M-51 between North Street and Port Huron, as some sources indicate M-13 had done formerly, as well. This signals the end of the second iteration of M-13, which lasted just shy of four years, and marks the debut of the M-136 route designation to the state trunkline highway system. |
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1939–40 – While M-136 had been concurrently designated (and signed) with M-51 along Keewahdin Rd (from North Rd to Pine Grove Ave) and Pine Grove Ave (from Keewahdin Rd into Port Huron) since 1931, that concurrent designation is removed in 1939 or 1940. This is likely related to the designation of US-25A along 24th Ave from US-25 at Lakeshore Rd in Fort Gratiot Twp southerly to Pine Grove Ave, then southeasterly with M-51 along Pine Grove Ave back to US-25 in Port Huron. Moving the eastern terminus for M-136 back to its jct with M-51 at Beard Rd & North Rd removes the need to sign a triple-concurrency (US-25A/M-51/M-136) along Pine Grove Ave from 24th Ave into Port Huron. |
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1940 (Oct) – The route of M-136 is completely hard-surfaced throughout when the final 7½-mile gravel-surfaced segment from Beard Rd two miles southeast of Brockway easterly to the Beard's Hill Bridge over the Black River near Ruby is given a 20-foot wide oil aggregate surfacing for $40,700. The highway itself was upgraded and prepard for paving in 1938. |
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1962 (June 30) – Purportedly due to "the low volume of traffic on M-51 [that] failed to quality it as a state trunkline," the portion of M-51 from M-136/Beard Rd northwest of Port Huron northerly through Croswell and Applegate to Carsonvlle in Sanilac Co is cancelled as a state trunkline highway and turned back to count control. (The segment of M-51 from M-46 west of Carsonville northerly to M-142 in Huron Co remains as a state highway—for now.) The 4½ mile section of what had been M-51 from the M-136 jct southerly along North Rd, easterly via Keewahdin Rd and southeasterly on Pine Grove Ave to US-25A (present-day M-25) at 24th Ave becomes an easterly extension of M-136. Interestingly, M-136 had been co-signed with M-51 along this segment through the 1930s. |
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2006–07 – A sharp curve along M-136 in Sec.7 of Clyde Twp northwest of Port Huron, approximately 3½ miles east of Avoca, is replaced by much gentler version and the former route is obliterated as a public roadway. In the same timeframe, a sweeping cut-off curve at the corner of Beard Rd & North Rd is removed, turning the intersection into a standard ⊤-intersection, with eastbound M-136 traffic needing to come to a complete stop before turning right onto North Rd to continue, while westbound M-136 traffic is required to make a 90° left turn from North Rd into Beard Rd to continue westerly. |
| Controlled Access: |
No portion of M-136 is freeway or expressway. |
| NHS: |
No portion of M-136 is on the National Highway System (NHS). |
| Memorial Highway: |
At present, no portion of M-136 has been designated as part of a Memorial Highway. |
| Photographs: |
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| Weblinks: |
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