| Southern Terminus: |
M-55/West Branch Rd, 2.5 miles east of downtown Prudenville |
| Northern Terminus: |
M-18/Short Dr–Roscommon Rd, 2.6 miles northeast of downtown Prudenville |
| Length: |
1.193 miles |
| Maps: |
 Route Maps of M-157 |
| Notes: |
M-157 serves as a short connector highway between M-18 and M-55 and is the fourth-shortest mainline state trunkline highway route. |
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At some point in the 2020–23 timeframe, all existing square (24" x 24") M-157 route markers along the entire route were replaced with new wide/rectangular (24" x 36") route markers. |
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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 MSHD staff recommended absolutely no changes to the route of M-157... which is exactly what happened. |
| History: |
1931 (Aug 10)  – A new 1.0-mile long state trunkline highway route, designated M-157, is established along the Backus/Denton Twp boundary approximately two miles northeast of Prudenville, east of Houghton Lake in central Roscommon Co. The route begins at M-55 approximately 1½ miles east of US-27 (present-day M-18) and runs due northerly to US-27 exactly one mile to the north. An existing poor dirt road and/or two-track exists along the new highway's route, but it appears it is not signed as trunkline route pending improvements. |
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1932 (Oct 29) – The existing 1.0-mile long iteration of M-157 is cancelled as a state trunkline and the roadway is abandoned as a public roadway. Simultaneously, a new iteration of M-157 on a slightly different, angling alignment just to the east of the former route is officially established as a state trunkline highway route. Since the new alignment curves slightly to the east (the former ran due north-south), it is one-half mile longer than the previous iteration. The new highway is given a 21-foot wide, two-course gravel surface, costing $14,900, and opened to traffic.
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1939 (Fall) – The entire 1.468-mile length of M-157 is paved when it is given a 20-foot bituminous surface, completed by the end of the construction season. |
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1945 – A new, more gentle curving alignment for US-27 (present-day M-18) at the northern end of M-157 is completed and opened to traffic with M-157 itself lengthened by approximately 900 feet along the former route of US-27 northerly to the new intersection. (The segment of former US-27 from M-157 southwesterly is abandoned and obliterated.) To date, no State Highway Dept trunkline determination records for this change have been located. |
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1966 – As part of a modernization project along an 11-mile stretch of M-55 from M-18 near Prudenville easterly to M-76, the entire length of M-157 is similarly "modernized," which involves improvements in both horizontal and vertical alignments, increasing sight distances, widening the roadway and shoulders, and possibly reconstructing portions of the highway where needed. As part of this effort, the length of M-157 is shortened by approximately ¼ mile when both termini are modified to utilize "turned-in approaches" so that M-157 now intersects M-55 and M-18 at (nearly) 90° angles instead of simply merging with aforementioned routes. Construction is complete by the end of the season. |
| Controlled Access: |
No portion of M-157 exists as freeway or expressway. |
| NHS: |
No portion of M-157 is on the National Highway System (NHS). |
| Photographs: |
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| Weblinks: |
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