|
Business Connections 96 through 496 | |||||||||||||
  Portland |
Fmr. West Terminus: | Downtown Portland at cnr of Grand River Ave & Kent St | ||||||||||||
| Fmr. East Terminus: | I-96 at Exit 77 southeast of downtown Portland | |||||||||||||
| Former Length: |  1.289 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of Former BS I-96 (Portland) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | Portland's BS I-96 ran via Grand River Ave for its entire length, and was also a portion of the former US-16 which was supplanted by I-96. | |||||||||||||
| [Editorializing] It seemed rather odd to only include Grand River Ave from I-96 southeast of town into downtown Portland in the state highway system as a Business Spur, when the route could have been easily be extended west along Grand River for approximately two additional miles back to I-96 west of town, making the route a Business Loop. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1978 (Sept 18) - After having been transferred to local control, along with the rest of Grand River Ave in Ionia Co, on March 7, 1960, approximately one-quarter mile of Grand River from I-96 at Exit 77 to the Portland city limit is transferred back to state control. It can be assumed no BS I-96 route markers appear at this time. | |||||||||||||
| 1982 - The remainder of BS I-96 at Portland from the east city limit into downtown, where it terminates, begins appearing on official state highway maps, so it can be assumed the rest of the route has been transferred back to state control this year. The route is now signed as BS I-96. | ||||||||||||||
| 2007 (Oct 31) - The entire route of BS I-96 at Portland is turned back to city controland is no longer a state trunkline highway. | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2017 - As of December 2012, the BS I-96 route markers on the Exit 77 signage along I-96 are still present and some of the admittedly sparse BS I-96 signage along Grand River Ave in Portland still exists more than five years after its transfer to local control. While it can be assumed the freeway signage changes are awaiting this area's conversion to the newer Clearview typeface in the future, it is interesting to note how long some of the route markers have hung on along this route so long after it was decommissioned. The BL I-96 ENDS assembly on ebd Grand River Ave at the I-96 interchange remains posted as of mid-2017! |
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| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of the former BS I-96 (Portland) was freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | • BS I-96 (Portland) @ Michigan Highway Ends - photos of the termini of Former BS I-96 (Portland) at Dan Garnell's excellent Michigan Highway Ends website. | |||||||||||||
 Lansing |
Western Terminus: | I-96 at Exit 90 northwest of Lansing | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Terminus: | I-96 at Exit 104 on the southside of Lansing | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 13.595 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BL I-96 (Lansing) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | Lansing's BL I-96 runs along former portions of three highways: | |||||||||||||
| Lansing's BL I-96 is the third-longest Business Connection in the state, running nearly a mile shorter than Lansing's other Interstate Business Connection, BL I-69, and approximately 1/10th mile shorter than Battle Creek's BL I-94. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1962 (Dec 14) - The middle portion of the I-96 freeway in mid-Michigan, from northwest of Lansing to Brighton, is completed and opened to traffic, signaling and end for the US-16 route designation in Michigan. At Lansing, a new BL I-96 routing debuts, beginning at I-96 at Exit 90 and continuing southeasterly via the former route of US-16 along Grand River Ave and North St to US-27/Larch St, where it turns southerly concurrently with US-27 along the one-way pair of Cedar St (sbd) and Larch St (nbd). At Main St, where US-27 turns westerly with M-78, the new BL I-96 continues southerly with US-127 via Cedar St to the south end of the city and a terminus at the new I-96 at Exit 104. | |||||||||||||
| 1963 (Dec 20) - After only a year along the US-127/Cedar St routing from the center of Lansing southerly, the route of BL I-96 is transferred onto the first portion of the I-496 freeway to be constructed southeast of the city. Instead of continuing southerly with US-27/BUS M-78 via Cedar–Larch Sts, BL I-96 now turns easterly to run concurrently with M-43/BUS M-78 along Saginaw St (ebd) and Oakland St–Grand River Ave (wbd) to another one-way pair on the eastern edge of the city: Homer St and Howard St. Homer & Howard run one block apart either side of a proposed north-south freeway and will one day serve as service streets for it. BL I-96 continues southerly via Homer–Howard Sts to just south of Kalamazoo St where they merge together as they cross the Red Cedar River to form the I-496/M-78/BL I-96 freeway running southerly from there to a terminus at I-96 at Exit 106. The former route of US-27/BUS M-78/BL I-96/Cedar-Larch Sts and US-127/BL I-96/Cedar St retains those other designations. | ||||||||||||||
| 1966 (Nov 18) - Nearly three years pass before BL I-96 at Lansing is again rerouted, this time back to its original 1962–63 alignment from downtown Lansing southerly via Cedar St to I-96 at Exit 104. This is the result of the completion of the US-127 freeway between Mason and I-96 southeast of Lansing and the transfer of US-127 off Cedar St and onto the I-496/M-78 freeway from I-96 northerly to Saginaw St–Grand River Ave. US-27/BUS M-78 and BL I-96 are again concurrently signed along Cedar–Larch Sts between Saginaw-Oakland Sts and Main St in downtown Lansing as well. | ||||||||||||||
| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of BL I-96 (Lansing) is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | The entirety of BL I-96 (Lansing) is on the National Highway System (NHS). (The portion of the route from I-496 downtown to the eastern terminus at I-96 was added to the NHS in 2012 with the passage of the MAP-21 funding and authorization bill.) |
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| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | ||||||||||||||
Howell |
Western Terminus: | I-96 at Exit 133 (M-59 interchange) west of Howell | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Terminus: | I-96 at Exit 141 southeast of Howell | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 8.144 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BL I-96 (Howell) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | Except for the portion concurrent with M-59, BL I-96 follows Grand River Ave through Howell. | |||||||||||||
| History: | 1962 (Dec 14) - With the completion and official assumption of the new I-96 freeway from northwest of Lansing to Brighton into the state trunkline system, the US-16 designation in Michigan is officially"decommissioned." While some portions of the former US-16 in Livingston Co are turned back to local control, such as Grand River Ave east of the Lake Chemung area and west of M-59/Highland Rd, the portion through Howell is retained and assigned the designation BL I-96. A new limited-access connector roadway is built west of the city to provide both M-59 and BL I-96 access to the new I-96 freeway between Grand River Ave and Burkhart Rd. From there, BL I-96 continues easterly through Howell via Grand River Ave to the Lake Chemung area, where it terminates at a new partial interchange with I-96. | |||||||||||||
| Freeway: | No portion of BL I-96 (Howell) is freeway. | |||||||||||||
| Expressway: | From western terminus at I-96 easterly with M-59 to Grand River Ave, BL I-96/M-59 is a four-lane expressway on limited-access alignment. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | The entirety of BL I-96 (Howell) is on the National Highway System (NHS). (The portion of the route from M-59 to the eastern terminus at I-96 was added to the NHS in 2012 with the passage of the MAP-21 funding and authorization bill.) |
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| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | ||||||||||||||
 Jackson |
Southern Terminus: | Jct US-127 & M-50 (Exit 34) southeast of Jackson | ||||||||||||
| Northern Terminus: | Jct I-94 & US-127/M-50 north of Jackson (at US-127 Exits 43A-B) | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 6.537 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BUS US-127 (Jackson) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | Although well-signed through
the city, until 2008 BUS US-127 did not show up on any freeway exit signage
at either end of the route. On sbd US-127/M-50 approaching I-94 north of Jackson, a single sign which formerly read "M-50 – Jackson" was changed to read "BUSINESS US-127 / M-50 – Jackson" as part of a sign replacement project in 2008. BUS US-127 is still omitted from all signs along I-94 at Exit 138, which read "US-127 NORTH – Lansing / M-50 – Jackson", likely due to an attempt to limit clutter on the signs along I-94. At the southern end of BUS US-127, however, the route remains unidentified on signage along nbd US-127 at Exit 34, which still reads "M-50 – Jackson/Monroe". As M-50 is concurrently designated with BUS US-127 for its entire length, however, this purposeful omission likely does not hinder the motoring public. |
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 In October 1982, the Reflective Systems Unit of MDOT began reviewing the state trunkline sytem and "discovered a substantial number of dual and some triple routing on both the free access and limited access system." The result of which was forwarded to
"the Trunkline Numbering Committee in an attempt to reduce as much of this unnecessary routing as possible in an attempt to avoid driver confusion and save funds." In March 1983, the MDOT Traffic & Safety Division proposed to eliminate Jackson's BUS US-127 routing to eliminate the triple-concurrency of BL I-94/BUS US-127/M-50 through the downtown area of the city. However, no further action toward decommissioning Jackson's BUS US-127 routing was ever taken and it remains on the route it followed in 1983 to this day. |
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| Until 2002, Jackson's BUS US-127 was the only Business Connection for US-127 in Michigan. Once US-127 took over the mainline routing of US-27 from Lansing northerly to Grayling, however, eight additional Business Connections were added to the list of BUS US-127 routings in the state. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1959 (Nov 21) - A new eastern freeway bypass of the city of Jackson is completed and opened to traffic as part of a relocated US-127, which now continues continues via the new freeway from the southern jct with M-50 northerly to the I-94/US-12 freeway, then westerly concurrently with I-94/US-12 back to the existing route of US-127 (completed in 1957) northwest of downtown. The former route of US-127/M-50 through the city is redesignated as BUS US-127/M-50. It begins at jct US-127 & M-50 southeast of the city and proceeds northwesterly via M-50/Brooklyn Rd into the city limits, turns westerly via Prospect St, northerly on Fourth St, westerly via High St, northerly again via West Ave to Clinton Rd, then northwesterly to jct I-94/US-12, US-127 & M-50 northwest of the city. | |||||||||||||
| c.1964 - The City of Jackson, in a desperate effort to stem the tide of businesses leaving the central business district, has the State Highway Dept reroute the Business Connections through the downtown area. This is possibly a trial period, as no actual jurisdictional transfers will take place for another four years. For now, ebd BL I-94 traffic turns southerly from Michigan Ave via Blackstone St for two blocks to Washington Ave, then travel easterly via Washington for three blocks to Francis St, northerly via Francis for two blocks back to Michigan Ave. Wbd BL I-94 traffic continues westerly via Michigan Ave at Francis St for an additional block to Mechanic St before turning northerly one block via Mechanic to W Pearl St then westerly via W Pearl for two blocks to Blackstone St, southerly on Blackstone for a block back to Michigan Ave. While BUS US-127 does not yet travel through downtown, it will within a few years and these changes will have a direct impact on the route. | ||||||||||||||
| 1966 (Nov 7) - A short section of the four-lane, one-way road carrying BL
I-94/BUS
US-127/M-50 through downtown Jackson is completed and opened to traffic as part of the overall trunkline reconfiguration in the city's central business district. |
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1967 (Nov 30) - Two major changes come to the route of
BUS US-127 through Jackson:
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| 1968 (Nov 1) - The portion of Michigan Ave in downtown Jackson bypassed by the reroutings of November 30, 1967—from Blackstone St to Louis Glick Hwy—is turned back to local control. | ||||||||||||||
| 1969 (Nov 3) - An additional realignment of the downtown Jackson Business Connections occurs when a new set of "direct connections" between Michigan Ave & Washington Ave and Michigan Ave & Louis Glick Hwy are built and assumed into the state trunkline system. For ebd BL I-94/sbd BUS US-127/M-50, the new connection diverges from Michigan Ave just east of Third St curving southerly and back easterly, merging with Washington Ave east of First St and on to Blackstone St. For wbd BL I-94/nbd BUS US-127/M-50 traffic, Louis Glick Hwy is extended westerly from Blackstone St, curving southerly and back westerly, merging into Michigan Ave near Third St west of downtown. Even though the new trunkline routings are complete, the former routes of BL I-94/BUS US-127/M-50 via Blackstone St and Michigan Ave (from Third St to Blackstone St) remain as unsigned state trunklines for another year-and-a-half. | ||||||||||||||
| 1971 (June 30) - Several former state trunklines in the City of Jackson are turned back to local control on this date. Downtown, the portions of Michigan Ave (from Second St to Blackstone St) and Blackstone St (Washington Ave to Louis Glick Hwy) superceded by the new alignments from 1969 are officially transferred to local control. The Prospect-Fourth-High-West route formerly used by BUS US-127/M-50 is also transferred to local control. The routes of BL I-94/BUS US-127/M-50 remain unchanged. | ||||||||||||||
| 1982 (Oct)—1983 (Mar) – In October 1982, some MDOT staffers internally propose eliminating BUS US-127 at Jackson in its entirety, to eliminate th triple-concurrency of BL I-94/BUS US-127/M-50. By March 1983, others within the department concurred with the proposal, however no further action on eliminating Jackson's BUS US-127 routing is ever taken. (See Notes section above for details.) |
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| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of BUS US-127 (Jackson) is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | The entirety of BUS US-127 (Jackson) is on the National Highway System (NHS). | |||||||||||||
| Memorial Highways: | The following Memorial Highway designation has been officially assigned to a part of BUS US-127 by the Michigan Legislature:
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| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | ||||||||||||||
 Lansing  |
Former Southern Terminus: |
Jct BL I-96 at cnr Cedar St & North St on the north side of Lansing | ||||||||||||
| Former Northern Terminus: |
I-69 (at Exit 87) southeast of DeWitt | |||||||||||||
| Former Length: | 4.874 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of Former BUS US-127 (Lansing) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | Lansing's
BUS US-127 routing was unique among state trunkline highway routes in Michigan. Not
only was it an unsigned state trunkline, of which there are many others, but
Former BUS US-127 did not even come in contact with its "parent" route, US-127.
Former BUS US-127 at Lansing was the last remnant of the former BUS US-27
routing dating from the mid-1980s. That route had been shortened in 1991 to
become only a signed spur route from the north side. Then, in 2002 when all
of US-27 from
Lansing northerly was re-signed as an extension of US-127,
the various BUS US-27 routings were all converted to BUS US-127 routings. This
was easy in places like St Johns, Alma, Mount Pleasant and Clare, where both
ends of the BUS US-27-turned-BUS US-127 routes touched their parent route.
However, in Lansing BUS US-27 did not touch US-127 and MDOT simply
chose to leave it separated and, as such, unsigned. This seemingly stayed the case for a few years until the middle of the 2000s decade when internal MDOT documents and maps began referring to the unsigned BUS US-127 at Lansing as part of the OLD US-27 route running from I-69 at Exit 87 near DeWitt northerly toward St Johns. |
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| Unsigned BUS US-127 at Lansing followed a portion of the former route of US-27 through Lansing in its entirety. | ||||||||||||||
| Prior to completion
of the last section of the I-69/US-27 freeway
southwest of Lansing in 1992, BUS US-27 continued southerly from Michigan
Ave to I-496, then westerly via
I-496 to Lansing Rd, and southwesterly
via Lansing Rd back to US-27. Although
not signed as such, MDOT continued
to refer to Lansing Rd from I-69 at
Exit 70 to I-496 in Lansing as "BUS
US-27" for
some time. One MDOT source noted there had been some interest during the early 2000s in re-signing
the Lansing Rd portion of this route in the field, possibly as M-442, an
obvious reference to Lansing's proud Oldsmobile heritage. To date, however, the former BUS US-27 along Lansing Rd from I-69 at Exit 70 to I-496/R E Olds Frwy at Exit 4 remains an unsigned state trunkline route. |
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| The history of this route, below, also includes the complete history of BUS US-27 at Lansing, the direct predecessor of the current route. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1985 (July 18) - A northern freeway bypass of the Lansing area opens to traffic and is designated
as part of US-27 (present-day I-69) between I-96 at Exits 89-91 and existing
US-27 southeast of DeWitt at present-day Exit 87. From the southwest corner
of Metro Lansing, US-27 is rerouted to run northerly from Lansing Rd at Exit
97 via I-96 to the western end of the new freeway at Exits 89-91, then easterly
via the new highway to the existing route of US-27 near DeWitt. The former
route of US-27 through the City of Lansing, including concurrently-signed
portions with I-496 and BL
I-96, is redesignated as BUS US-27 in its entirety. |
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| 1991 (July 24) - MDOT announces that the portion of BUS US-27 at Lansing from the route's southern terminus at I-96 Exit 89 northeasterly via Lansing Rd, then easterly along I-496/R E Olds Frwy and then north on BL I-96/Cedar St-Larch St to Capitol
Loop/E Michigan Ave in downtown Lansing will no longer be signed as part of the BUS US-27 route. Lansing's BUS US-27 will now be a spur route beginning at E Michigan Ave and continuing northerly via Cedar-Larch Sts and East St to its existing northern terminus at I-69/US-27 (at Exit 87) southeast of DeWitt. MDOT officials say the change is "to help reduce confusion in highway numbering" and that they expect the portion of Lansing Rd between I-96 and I-496 to be turned back to county control in the future. For the time being, that segment of Lansing Rd technically remains designated as BUS US-27, but as an unsigned state trunkline route. |
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| 1999 - MDOT gains approval from AASHTO to completely remove the US-27 designation from the state, meaning some kind of change is coming for BUS US-27. | ||||||||||||||
| 2002 (May) - The "big changeover" takes place, converting all of US-27 from De Witt northerly to US-127, while all US-27 route markers along the concurrent portion with I-69 from De Witt southerly have been removed for nearly a year. At this point, Lansing's BUS US-27 is technically not connected to its new supposed "parent route" (US-127), but rather runs parallel to it, about 1½ miles to the west. Although it is assumed MDOT will either attempt to hand BUS US-27 north of the BL I-96/North St intersection back to local control or simply maintain it as an unsigned state trunkline highway, several MDOT documents reference this route as BUS US-127, confirming the existence of a Business Connection which does not connect with its parent route! | ||||||||||||||
| c.2004–05 – At some point during this timeframe, MDOT begins referring to unsigned BUS US-127 as part of OLD US-27. |
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| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of Former BUS US-127 (Lansing) was freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | The entirety of Former BUS US-127 (Lansing) was on the National Highway System (NHS). (The entire route was added to the NHS in 2012 with the passage of the MAP-21 funding and authorization bill.) |
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| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | ||||||||||||||
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St Johns |
Southern Terminus: | US-127 at the Price Rd interchange (Exit 91) south of St Johns | ||||||||||||
| Northern Terminus: | US-127 at the Old 27 interchange (Exit 99) north of St Johns | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 8.807 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BUS US-127 (St Johns) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | BUS US-127 at St Johns is one of eight former BUS US-27 routings which required the new route designation BUS US-127 when the "parent" route, US-27, was "decommissioned" in favor of an extension of US-127 from Lansing northerly to Grayling in 2002. Prior to 2002, BUS US-127 at St Johns was designated as BUS US-27 in its entirety. | |||||||||||||
| Newly designated as BUS US-27 with the completion of the first two segments of the so-called "St Johns Bypass" in December 1996. It took MDOT more than a year to add the "BUSINESS" signs to the US-27 markers along the route of BUS US-27. | ||||||||||||||
| The history of this route, below, also includes the complete history of BUS US-27 at St Johns, the direct predecessor of the current route. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1996 (June 4) – In preparation for the completion and opening of the full "St Johns Bypass" by the end of the year, Price Rd from the existing US-27 easterly to the interchange with the relocated US-27 freeway interchange is officially transferred to state control as part of the anticipated BUS US-27 route. For its first two years, however, this segment of Price Rd would actually be signed as and used for the mainline route of US-27 until the segment of freeway from Price Rd southerly to the I-69 & US-127 jct is completed. | |||||||||||||
| 1996 (Dec 15) - The US-27 "St Johns Bypass" freeway opens to through traffic, bypassing one of the more notorious traffic bottlenecks in the state. The US-27 mainline is routed easterly of its existing route south of St Johns via Price Rd (which was transferred to state control seven months prior) to the southern end of the new freeway, then northerly via the new highway back to its existing route 2 miles north of downtown. The former route of US-27 through St Johns from Price Rd on the south to the new US-27 freeway interchange at Avery Rd is redesignated as BUS US-27. | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–98 - The "BUSINESS" signs are finally added to the existing US-27 route markers along St John's BUS US-27 routing in late-1997 or early-1998. | ||||||||||||||
| 1998 (Aug 31) - The last segment of the so-called US-27 "St Johns Bypass" freeway opens to traffic between I-69 & US-127 at DeWitt and Price Rd south of St Johns. With the mainline route of US-27 removed from Price Rd between the freeway and Old 27, the BUS US-27 designation is extended easterly from Old 27 via Price Rd to the freeway, adding approximately 1¼ mile to its route. | ||||||||||||||
| 2002 (May) - The "big changeover" takes place, converting all of US-27 from De Witt northerly to US-127, while all US-27 route markers along the concurrent portion with I-69 from De Witt southerly have been removed for nearly a year. Along with changing out all US-27 markers with new US-127 signs on the mainline, all US-27 markers along BUS US-127 at St Johns are replaced with US-127 signs signaling the redesignation of BUS US-27 to BUS US-127. | ||||||||||||||
| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of BUS US-127 (St Johns) is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | The entirety of BUS US-127 (St Johns) is on the National Highway System (NHS). (The entire route was added to the NHS in 2012 with the passage of the MAP-21 funding and authorization bill.) |
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| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | ||||||||||||||
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Ithaca |
Southern Terminus: | US-127 at the Washington Rd interchange (Exit 117) east of Ithaca | ||||||||||||
| Northern Terminus: | US-127 at the Polk Rd interchange (Exit 119) north of Ithaca | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 3.745 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BUS US-127 (Ithaca) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | BUS US-127 at Ithaca is one of eight former BUS US-27 routings which required the new route designation BUS US-127 when the "parent" route, US-27, was "decommissioned" in favor of an extension of US-127 from Lansing northerly to Grayling in 2002. Prior to 2002, BUS US-127 at Ithaca was designated as BUS US-27 in its entirety. | |||||||||||||
| With the exception of the short Polk Rd segment, Ithaca's BUS US-127 follows the former route of US-27 through the city. | ||||||||||||||
| The history of this route, below, also includes the complete history of BUS US-27 at Ithaca, the direct predecessor of the current route. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1961
(Aug 17) - The new US-27 expressway—it would not become a fully controlled-access freeway for another few years—is officially assumed into the state
trunkline system and opens to traffic from existing US-27 at Washington Rd east of downtown Ithaca
northerly to M-46 west of St Louis. The portion of the former
US-27 route through Ithaca—from the Washington Rd interchange east of
the city westerly via Center St into downtown, then northerly via Pine River
St and State Rd to Polk Rd—is redesignated as BUS US-27. Polk Rd from
State Rd easterly to the new highway is transferred to state control to complete
the BUS US-27 loop route. |
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| 1973 (Apr 6) - BUS US-27 is rerouted in downtown Ithaca, removing the trunkline routing from travelling through the main business district. The state transfers Center St from Main St westerly to Pine River St and Pine River from Center to Emerson St to local control while the City transfers the other "sides" of this block—Main from Center to Emerson and Emerson from Main to Pine River—to state control. Thus, there is no net gain or loss in state trunkline mileage with the "swap." | ||||||||||||||
| 2002 (May) - The "big changeover" takes place, converting all of US-27 from De Witt northerly to US-127, while all US-27 route markers along the concurrent portion with I-69 from De Witt southerly have been removed for nearly a year. Along with changing out all US-27 markers with new US-127 signs on the mainline, all US-27 markers along BUS US-127 at Ithaca are replaced with US-127 signs signaling the redesignation of BUS US-27 to BUS US-127. | ||||||||||||||
| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of BUS US-127 (Ithaca) is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | No portion of BUS US-127 (Ithaca) is on the NHS. | |||||||||||||
| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | ||||||||||||||
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Alma |
Southern Terminus: | US-127 at the Lincoln Rd interchange (Exit 123) east of Alma | ||||||||||||
| Northern Terminus: | US-127 at the Alger Rd interchange (Exit 127B) north of Alma | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 5.631 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BUS US-127 (Alma) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | BUS US-127 at Alma is one of eight former BUS US-27 routings which required the new route designation BUS US-127 when the "parent" route, US-27, was "decommissioned" in favor of an extension of US-127 from Lansing northerly to Grayling in 2002. Prior to 2002, BUS US-127 at Alma was designated as BUS US-27 in its entirety. | |||||||||||||
| Before the US-27 freeway was completed in the early 1960s, BUS US-27 in Alma was designated as US-27A (the US-27 mainline ran through St Louis). Today, the twin BUS US-127 routes at Alma and St. Louis form an almost-perfect square, practically sharing southern and northern termini. | ||||||||||||||
| The history of this route, below, also includes the complete history of US-27A and BUS US-27 at Alma, the direct predecessors of the current route. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1926-27 - When the US Highway System is laid out, the route of M-14 through Central Michigan is assumed into the new system and assigned the designation US-27. At Alma and St Louis, M-14 originally turned westerly from State Rd via Lincoln Rd/Superior St into downtown Alma, turning northerly via Wright St/Alger Rd to Jefferson Rd, westerly to Forest Hill, then northerly via Luce Rd toward Shepherd. The plans, however, call for US-27 to continue northerly into St Louis, turn westerly via Monroe Rd to Alger Rd then northerly via the route of M-14, but this route is not yet in the state trunkline system. It is assumed new US-27 markers are erected along the existing route of M-14 through downtown Alma at this time. | |||||||||||||
| 1927 (Dec 1) - The 2 miles of State Rd from Lincoln Rd east of Alma northerly to M-46 in St Louis are transferred to state control as a part of the proposed 'final' route of US-27, although since the east-west component running westerly from St Louis is not yet a trunkline, this two-mile segment is likely not yet signed as US-27. | ||||||||||||||
| 1929 (Aug 17) - A 3-mile long stretch of Monroe Rd from downtown St Louis westerly to Alger Rd is transferred to state control as is an additional mile of Monroe Rd to Luce Rd and the 2 miles of Luce from Monroe to Jefferson Rd (in Forest Hill). This becomes the new route for US-27 from east of Alma to St Louis, westerly to Luce Rd and then northerly to Forest Hill. The former route of US-27 via Lincoln Rd/Superior St into downtown Alma and Wright St/Alger Rd from there northerly to Monroe Rd is redesignated as US-27A ("US-27 Alternate"), one of the earliest Alternate US Highways in the country. (The former US-27 along Alger from Monroe to Jefferson and along Jefferson from Alger to Luce is transferred to local control.) | ||||||||||||||
| 1951 (July 2) - The route of US-27A is realigned at the C&O Railway crossing between Grover Ave and Pleasant Ave onto a slightly new route, with most of the former route being turned back to local control as an extension of Grover Ave and the rest abandoned. | ||||||||||||||
| 1961 (Aug 17) - The new US-27 expressway—it would not become a fully controlled-access freeway for another few years—is officially assumed into the state
trunkline system and opens to traffic from existing US-27 at Washington Rd east of downtown Ithaca
northerly to M-46 west of St Louis. All of the existing route
of US-27A through Alma is redesignated as BUS US-27 with very minor extensions
at either end to bring the route along Lincoln Rd from State Rd easterly
and along Alger Rd northerly from M-46/Monroe Rd to the new US-27 expressway. |
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| 1979 (May 15) - The popular trend at this time is to improve traffic flow and the overall "friendliness" in downtown cores across the state, with Alma being no different. Traffic on BUS US-27/Superior St from Pine Ave westerly to Lincoln St/Wright St is changed to one-way west(north)bound. To service east(south)bound traffic, Lincoln St from the cnr of Wright & Superior Sts southerly one block to Center St, Center St from Lincoln easterly six blocks to Pine Ave and Pine Ave from Center back to Superior is transferred to state control. | ||||||||||||||
| 2002 (May) - The "big changeover" takes place, converting all of US-27 from De Witt northerly to US-127, while all US-27 route markers along the concurrent portion with I-69 from De Witt southerly have been removed for nearly a year. Along with changing out all US-27 markers with new US-127 signs on the mainline, all US-27 markers along BUS US-127 at Alma are replaced with US-127 signs signaling the redesignation of BUS US-27 to BUS US-127. | ||||||||||||||
| 2004 (Aug 10) - After 25 years running on a one-way pair of streets through downtown, the process for reverting the route of BUS US-127 back to the original configuration of BUS US-27 and US-27A before it begins, although actual changes to traffic flow and route sigange will not occur for nearly a year. Superior St between Lincoln-Wright Sts and Pine Ave is to be returned to a two-way configuration. With Superior St accommodating two-way travel, the former east(south)bound route via Lincoln-Center-Pine will no longer needed and is transferred from state to city control. The one-way streets and all BUS US-127 signage, however, remains in place for now. | ||||||||||||||
| 2005 (July 1) - While the Lincoln-Center-Pine route for south(east)bound BUS US-127 through downtown Alma was transferred to local control eleven months earlier, the necessary signage, traffic signal and pavement marking changes are completed and BUS US-127 traffic now officially runs in a two-way pattern through downtown via Superior St and all remaining state trunkline signage on the Lincoln-Center-Pine route is removed. | ||||||||||||||
| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of BUS US-127 (Alma) is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | The entirety of BUS US-127 (Alma) is on the National Highway System (NHS). (The entire route was added to the NHS in 2012 with the passage of the MAP-21 funding and authorization bill.) |
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| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
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St Louis |
Southern Terminus: | US-127 at the State Rd interchange (Exit 124) south of St Louis | ||||||||||||
| Northern Terminus: | US-127 at the M-46/Monroe Rd interchange (Exit 127A) west of St Louis | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 4.825 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BUS US-127 (St Louis) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | BUS US-127 at St Louis is one of eight former BUS US-27 routings which required the new route designation BUS US-127 when the "parent" route, US-27, was "decommissioned" in favor of an extension of US-127 from Lansing northerly to Grayling in 2002. Prior to 2002, BUS US-127 at St Louis was designated as BUS US-27 in its entirety. | |||||||||||||
| St. Louis' BUS US-127, the former mainline routing of US-27 through the city, runs concurrently with M-46 between downtown St Louis and the highway's northern terminus. The twin BUS US-127 routes at Alma and St. Louis form an almost-perfect square, practically sharing southern and northern termini. | ||||||||||||||
| The history of this route, below, also includes the complete history of BUS US-27 at St Louis, the direct predecessor of the current route. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1961
(Aug 17) - The new US-27 expressway—it would not become a fully-controlled
access freeway for another few years—is officially assumed into the state
trunkline system and opens to traffic from existing US-27 at Washington Rd east of downtown Ithaca
northerly to M-46 west of St Louis. The portion of the former US-27 route through St Louis—from the State Rd interchange south of the
city (present-day Exit 124) northerly via State Rd/Main St into downtown, then westerly via M-46/Washington
St-Monroe Rd back to the new highway west of the city at present-day Exit 127A—is redesignated
as BUS US-27. |
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| 2002 (May) - The "big changeover" takes place, converting all of US-27 from De Witt northerly to US-127, while all US-27 route markers along the concurrent portion with I-69 from De Witt southerly have been removed for nearly a year. Along with changing out all US-27 markers with new US-127 signs on the mainline, all US-27 markers along BUS US-127 at St Louis are replaced with US-127 signs signaling the redesignation of BUS US-27 to BUS US-127. | ||||||||||||||
| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of BUS US-127 (St Louis) is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | The entirety of BUS US-127 (St Louis) is on the National Highway System (NHS). (The portion of the route from the southern terminus at US-127 south of St Louis to M-46 in downtown was added to the NHS in 2012 with the passage of the MAP-21 funding and authorization bill.) |
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| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
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|
Mount Pleasant |
Southern Terminus: | US-127 at Exit 139 southeast of Mount Pleasant | ||||||||||||
| Northern Terminus: | US-127 at Exit 144 north of Mount Pleasant | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 5.702 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BUS US-127 (Mount Pleasant) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | BUS US-127 at Mount Pleasant is one of eight former BUS US-27 routings which required the new route designation BUS US-127 when the "parent" route, US-27, was "decommissioned" in favor of an extension of US-127 from Lansing northerly to Grayling in 2002. Prior to 2002, BUS US-127 at Mount Pleasant was designated as BUS US-27 in its entirety. | |||||||||||||
| The portion of BUS US-127 along Mission St runs via the former route of US-27 through the city. | ||||||||||||||
| The history of this route, below, also includes the complete history of BUS US-27 at Mount Pleasant, the direct predecessor of the current route. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1961
(Aug 10) - The US-27 bypass at Mount Pleasant is opened to traffic from the southern Mount Pleasant interchange (present-day US-127 Exit 139) northerly 3.3 miles to M-20 (present-day Exit 143, however only the northbound lanes are signed as mainline US-27 at this point. At M-20, nbd US-27 traffic continues westerly along M-20/Pickard Rd back to existing US-27 at Mission St. Southbound US-27 traffic continues to use the existing route through Mount Pleasant. State Highway Dept district engineer John Hautala noted southbound through US-27 traffic is not directed to the new freeway to avoid congestion caused by left turns onto M-20 at the Mission St & Pickard Rd intersection. The sbd lanes of the new bypass are open to traffic, however, but only signed for local traffic originating from M-20. Wether or not it is signed as such, the former northbound route of US-27 through Mount Pleasant (from present-day US-127 Exit 139 northwesterly to Mission St then northerly along Mission to jct M-20/Pickard Rd) effectively begins operating as BUS US-27 at this point. |
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| 1961
(Nov 10) - The portion of the new US-27 expressway from M-20/Pickard Rd on the northeastern edge of Mount Pleasant northerly to Clare is completed and opened to traffic. While northbound US-27 traffic had been using the first 3.3-mile segment of the Mount Pleasant bypass since August, southbound mainline US-27 traffic had been maintained along its existing route through the city until now. What had been operating as BUS US-27 for northbound traffic and US-27 for southbound traffic along Mission St from the new expressway bypass southeast of Mount Pleasant to M-20/Pickard Rd on the north side of town now becomes BUS US-27 for both directions of traffic. Additionally, former US-27 from M-20/Pickard St northerly for ½ mile becomes an extension of BUS US-27, which then veers easterly via a new freeway connector to a northern terminus at the new US-27 expressway (at present-day US-127 Exit 144). |
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| 1961 (Nov 25) - The entire route of the US-27 expressway in Isabella Co
is officially assumed into the state trunkline system, as are the 2.22-mile southern and 0.89-mile long northern connectors linking the new US-27 with the former route, which is now BUS US-27, even though each has been open to traffic since August 10 and November 10, respectively. |
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| 2002 (May) - The "big changeover" takes place, converting all of US-27 from De Witt northerly to US-127, while all US-27 route markers along the concurrent portion with I-69 from De Witt southerly have been removed for nearly a year. Along with changing out all US-27 markers with new US-127 signs on the mainline, all US-27 markers along BUS US-127 at Mount Pleasant are replaced with US-127 signs signaling the redesignation of BUS US-27 to BUS US-127. | ||||||||||||||
| Freeway: | From northern intersection with Mission Rd (north of the northern M-20 jct at Pickard St) northerly to northern terminus. | |||||||||||||
| Expressway: | From southern terminus northwesterly to southern intersection with Mission Rd (south of Bluegrass Rd), the highway is a two-lane, undivided limited-access expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | The entirety of BUS US-127 (Mount Pleasant) is on the National Highway System (NHS). (The entire route was added to the NHS in 2012 with the passage of the MAP-21 funding and authorization bill.) |
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| Weblinks: | ||||||||||||||
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Clare |
Southern Terminus: | US-127 at Exit 156 south of Clare | ||||||||||||
| Northern Terminus: | US-127/US-10 at the Old 27 interchange (Exit 160) north of downtown Clare | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 3.385 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BUS US-127 (Clare) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | BUS US-127 at Clare is one of eight former BUS US-27 routings which required the new route designation BUS US-127 when the "parent" route, US-27, was "decommissioned" in favor of an extension of US-127 from Lansing northerly to Grayling in 2002. Prior to 2002, BUS US-127 at Clare was designated as BUS US-27 in its entirety. | |||||||||||||
| Contrary to what is indicated on many commercial maps, BUS US-127 and BUS US-10 remain concurrently designated along McEwen St between downtown Clare and US-127/US-10 north of the city. The highway referred to as BUS US-10 west of Clare through Farwell is, in reality, M-115. | ||||||||||||||
| The history of this route, below, also includes the complete history of BUS US-27 at Clare, the direct predecessor of the current route. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1961
(Nov 10) - The US-27 expressway bypass of Clare is completed and opened to traffic as part of the segment of the new highway to be opened from Mount Pleasant northerly past Rosebush and Clare to existing US-27 north of Clare (present-day US-127/US-10 Exit 160). A 1.06-mile long limited-access connector from the new US-27 expressway (at present-day US-127 Exit 156) northwesterly to the former route of US-27 at Mission Rd also opens as part of the new BUS US-27 routing through downtown Clare which debuts today as well. |
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| 1975 (Nov 12) - With the completion of the new US-10/M-115 freeway from US-27 north of Clare westerly past Farwell and the transferring of the US-10 route to that freeway and concurrently with US-27 between the new highway and the existing freeway at Clare, a new BUS US-10 designation is created at Clare and runs concurrently with BUS US-27 via McEwen St from Fifth St downtown northerly to the US-27/US-10 interchange north of the city. | ||||||||||||||
| 2002 (May) - The "big changeover" takes place, converting all of US-27 from De Witt northerly to US-127, while all US-27 route markers along the concurrent portion with I-69 from De Witt southerly have been removed for nearly a year. Along with changing out all US-27 markers with new US-127 signs on the mainline, all US-27 markers along BUS US-127 at Clare are replaced with US-127 signs signaling the redesignation of BUS US-27 to BUS US-127. | ||||||||||||||
| Freeway: | From the southern terminus northwesterly to Mission Rd south of downtown Clare. | |||||||||||||
| Expressway: | No portion of BUS US-127 (Clare) is expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | No portion of BUS US-127 (Clare) is on the NHS. | |||||||||||||
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| Weblinks: | ||||||||||||||
|
Harrison |
Southern Terminus: | Jct US-127 & M-61 southeast of Harrison (US-127 Exit 170) | ||||||||||||
| Northern Terminus: | US-127 at the Old 27 interchange (Exit 176) north of Harrison | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 6.894 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BUS US-127 (Harrison) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | BUS US-127 at Harrison is one of eight former BUS US-27 routings which required the new route designation BUS US-127 when the "parent" route, US-27, was "decommissioned" in favor of an extension of US-127 from Lansing northerly to Grayling in 2002. Prior to 2002, BUS US-127 at Harrison was designated as BUS US-27 in its entirety. | |||||||||||||
| The history of this route, below, also includes the complete history of BUS US-27 at Harrison, the direct predecessor of the current route. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1961
(Nov 10) - The US-27 expressway bypass of Harrison is completed and opened to traffic as part of the segment of the new highway to be opened from M-61 southeast of town then northerly past Harrison to the Houghton Lake area. The portion of former US-27 through Harrison between the two US-27 interchanges southeast and north of town is then redesignated as BUS US-27. |
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| 2002 (May) - The "big changeover" takes place, converting all of US-27 from De Witt northerly to US-127, while all US-27 route markers along the concurrent portion with I-69 from De Witt southerly have been removed for nearly a year. Along with changing out all US-27 markers with new US-127 signs on the mainline, all US-27 markers along BUS US-127 at Harrison are replaced with US-127 signs signaling the redesignation of BUS US-27 to BUS US-127. | ||||||||||||||
| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of BUS US-127 (Harrison) is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | No portion of BUS US-127 (Harrison) is on the NHS. | |||||||||||||
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| Weblinks: | ||||||||||||||
 Constantine |
PLEASE NOTE: | The BUS US-131 (Constatine) route information has been added on its own page: BUS US-131 (Constantine) Route Listing. | ||||||||||||
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Three Rivers |
Southern Terminus: | Jct US-131 & M-60 west of downtown Three Rivers | ||||||||||||
| Northern Terminus: | US-131 just north of Three Rivers | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 2.982 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BUS US-131 (Three Rivers) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | Three River's BUS US-131 follows a former alignment of US-131 through the city. | |||||||||||||
| In the late-1990s, several prominent business owners and Three Rivers City Council members floated the idea of moving the BUS US-131 routing out of downtown and out onto the US-131 "bypass" west of the city. They hoped this would decrease the traffic in the downtown area. Cooler heads prevailed, noting three things: 1) many downtown businesses actually needed the traffic to survive; 2) even if the Business Connection was removed, the route would still be a signed state trunkline highway (as M-60 and M-86), thereby not lessening the traffic levels; and 3) the "bypass" was already signed as part of US-131, so it logically could not serve as both the "bypass" and "business route" simultaneously! | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1954 (Jan 4) - The US-131 bypass of Three Rivers from the present-day northern jct of M-60 northerly to Main St north of the city is completed and opened to traffic. The former route of US-131 through downtown Three Rivers, from the new bypass west of the city easterly with M-60 via Michigan Ave then northerly via Main St back to US-131 north of the city, is redesignated as BUS US-131. | |||||||||||||
| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of BUS US-131 (Three Rivers) is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | No portion of BUS US-131 (Three Rivers) is on the NHS. | |||||||||||||
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|
Kalamazoo |
Southern Terminus: | Nbd: N Park St & Dunkley St (North Kalamazoo city limit) Sbd: N Westnedge Ave & Dunkley St (North Kalamazoo city limit) |
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| Northern Terminus: | US-131 at Exit 41 northwest of Kalamazoo | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 4.660 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BUS US-131 (Kalamazoo) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | In 2019, every through trunkline route in Kalamazoo—BL I-94, BUS US-131 and M-43—as well as the unsigned M-331 were all turned back to local control by MDOT after many, many years of discussion between City and MDOT planners and engineers. City staffers had long sought to eliminate what they termed as "confusing" one-way streets through the heart of downtown Kalamazoo as well as trying to limit or eliminate large trucks from traversing through the city. MDOT, on the other hand, had long stuck to its mandate to provide a smoothly-operating network of arteries, minimizing delays and congestion. The two sides could never come to a satisfactory solution so, in 2018, MDOT staff in Southwest Region finally gave up and acquiesced to the City's demands by agreeing to transfer all downtown trunkline highway routes to local control. As of January 14, 2019, the downtown trunklines became city streets. To retain "route connectivity," MDOT decided to reroute M-43 along US-131 from Kalamazoo to Plainwell, then southeasterly concurrently with M-89 to Richland where it meets back up with the existing route. Unfortunately, this left several "stub routes" terminating at random locations around the city. MDOT employed three different strategies to deal with this:
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| Prior to its truncation due to the 2019 juridictional transfers, BUS US-131 at Kalamazoo was 10.096 miles in length. It is now 46.2% of its previous length. |
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| In the late-1990s, it had been speculated that Kalamazoo's BUS US-131 might be a good candidate for rerouting on its southern end. As a part of the Rationalization Process, S Park St & Westnedge Ave from downtown Kalamazoo southerly to the Portage city limit at Kilgore Rd were transferred to state control and given the unposted designation of M-331. If Westnedge Ave in the City of Portage from Kilgore Rd southerly to Centre St and Centre St from Westnedge westerly to US-131 had also been transferred to state control, it would have made an excellent routing for BUS US-131. This, however, has not happened and it is easy to assume it shall not. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1962 (Nov 5) - In preparation for a future BUS US-131 routing at Kalamazoo, Westnedge Ave and Park St from downtown northerly to the north city limit are transferred to state control, although not signed with any route markers in the field. Additionally, a new freeway routing is officially determined as a state trunkline, although not yet constructed, from the north Kalamazoo city limit (at the end of Westnedge-Park) northwesterly to the new US-131 freeway near Mile 41. | |||||||||||||
| 1963 (Dec 16) - With the completion and opening of the segment of the US-131 freeway from M-43/W Main St west of Kalamazoo to Shaver Rd between Portage and Schoolcraft, a new BUS US-131 routing debuts at Kalamazoo but is not signed in the field at first. Beginning at the Stadium Dr interchange, the new BUS US-131 runs concurrently with BL I-94 via Stadium Dr and Michigan Ave into downtown Kalamazoo where it continues easterly with BL I-94/M-43 along Michigan Ave to Westnedge Ave & Park St. Downtown, the new route continues northerly via the one-way pair of streets—Westnedge Ave & Park St—transferred to the state in 1962—to the north Kalamazoo city limit where a new freeway 'connector' will take the route back to US-131 northwest of the city when completed the next year. | ||||||||||||||
| 1964 - The fully-controlled access freeway 'connector' which connects BUS US-131 north of downtown Kalamazoo (along Westnedge Ave & Park St) with the US-131 freeway at Exit 41 northwest of the city is completed and opened to traffic. The entire BUS US-131 route at Kalamazoo is now complete and fully signed. | ||||||||||||||
| 1965 (Oct 4) - Several segments of streets in downtown Kalamazoo are transferred to state control in an effort to streamline traffic patters through the heart of the city. Kalamazoo Ave from Michigan Ave east of downtown to nbd BUS US-131/Park St becomes a state trunkline and a brand-new street, Michikal Ave—a connector between Michigan Ave and Kalamazoo Ave—is also made part of the system. Kalamazoo Ave from sbd BUS US-131/Westnedge Ave to Michikal and Michikal from Kalamazoo to the cnr of Michigan Ave & W Main St is then signed as the southbound route of sbd BUS US-131 through the city, while the existing route via Michigan Ave from the cnr of W Main St & Michikal Ave to Park st now serves nbd BUS US-131 traffic. | ||||||||||||||
| 2000s–2010s – For many years, disagreement about the proper function of the major thoroughfares through downtown Kalamazoo, the most major of which were state trunkline highway routes, existed between City planners and engineers and the planners and engineering staffs at the MDOT regional office. Several attempts were made to find common ground with little to no success. A push in the mid- to late-2010s resulted in City staff members making headway while MDOT staff grew tired of the impass, resulting in the state agreeing to simply turn back all downtown Kalamazoo state highway routes to the City. |
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| 2019 (Jan 7–14) – After the Kalamazoo City Commission agrees to the Memorandum of Understanding from MDOT on the conditions of the trasfer of the affected streets in the city a week earlier on January 7, MDOT approves the changes on January 14, thereby removing them from the state trunkline highway system and transferring them to the city primary street system. For M-43, this affected the entire route from Douglas St west of downtown to the intersection of Riverview Dr & Gull Rd/Gull St northeast of dowtown, including the one-way pair of Michigan Ave (eastbound) and Kalamazoo Ave/Douglas St (westbound) through the heart of the city. |
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| 2019 (June 3–7) – MDOT crews remove the state trunkline route markers from both the transferred roadways in dowtown Kalamazoo as well as along those segments which will remain as unsigned state trunkline routes. Thus, in the field, BUS US-131 becomes a spur route beginning at US-131 northwest of the city and terminating at the northern city limit, although no "ENDS" route marker assembly is erected by MDOT noting this and a few remaining straggler BUS US-131 route markers remain along the Westnedge—Park couplet north of downtown at this point. Additionally, all BUS US-131 signage remains at US-131's EXIT 36 on the west side of Kalamazoo. |
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| Freeway: | BUS US-131 is freeway from the N Westnedge Ave intersection north of Kalamazoo to its northern terminus. | |||||||||||||
| Expressway: | From southern terminus at Dunkley St to the N Westnedge Ave intersection, BUS
US-131 is a limited-access expressway. |
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| NHS: | The entirety of BUS US-131 (Kalamazoo) is on the National Highway System (NHS). | |||||||||||||
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| Weblinks: | ||||||||||||||
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Grand Rapids |
Former Southern Terminus: |
US-131 at Exit 83B in downtown Grand Rapids within the Wealthy St interchange complex | ||||||||||||
| Former Northern Terminus: |
US-131 at Exit 87 (Leonard Ave interchange) north of downtown Grand Rapids | |||||||||||||
| Former Length: | 2.810 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of Former BUS US-131 (Grand Rapids) Detailed map of Downtown Grand Rapids |
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| Notes: | As of 2017, Grand Rapids' BUS US-131 is no longer a state-maintained trunkline routing. After having been a state trunkline route for 64 years from 1953–2017, a redevelopment project on the south side of downtown proposed vacating the one block of the route between Cherry and Oakes Sts south of the Van Andel Arena. Instead of relocating that portion of the route to a different street—say, Cherry St easterly to Division Ave—the City of Grand Rapids and MDOT came to an agreement to simply turn back control of BUS US-131 in its entirety! The BUS US-131 route in Grand Rapids pre-dates the present US-131 freeway by nine years, from a time when mainline US-131 bypassed Grand Rapids on the Beltline System—present-day M-11/28th St east from US-131, then northerly via M-37 and M-44/East Beltline Ave, with BUS US-131 originally running along Division and Plainfield Aves between 28th St south of the city to East Beltline Ave & Northland Dr northeast of the city. Once the US-131 freeway was constructed through the city in the early 1960s, BUS US-131 was shortened to its final length as a shorter route in the central city area. At the same time BUS US-131 was decommissioned in its entirety, several other signed and unsigned trunkline routes within Grand Rapids were also transferred from state to city control. |
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| During the "S-Curve
2000" reconstruction project along US-131 in
downtown Grand Rapids, the former elevated off-ramp for BUS US-131 at its southern
terminus was removed as part of the project. The old elevated ramp, which was
closed and removed in mid-1999, diverged from the elevated portion of the US-131 S-Curve
and descended into downtown, making a sharp turn to the right and dumping traffic
directly onto Oakes St ebd at Ionia Ave. (A companion ramp leading traffic
from wbd Weston St at Ionia Ave a block north was interrupted a few years earlier—see
note below.) To both accommodate the S-Curve 2000 Project and provide a path for the "Local Detour" traffic when US-131 itself was completely shut down for much of 2000, a new nbd BUS US-131 off-ramp was built, diverging from the freeway south of the Wealthy St overpass and paralleling the freeway for a short distance before encountering a new intersection created during the "reconnection" of Cherry St, which was severed during the original S-Curve construction four decades earlier. The new BUS US-131 route now proceeds northerly another block to Oakes St, now a two-way street, where it turns right for 2-1/2 blocks to Division Ave. |
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| With the completion of the Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids, the ramp from southbound BUS US-131 to southbound US-131 was severed, creating a route gap in sbd BUS US-131. (See 1995-96 listing in the History section below.) Also, since MDOT has contracted with the City of Grand Rapids for signage and day-to-day maintenance of BUS US-131 through downtown, decent signage of the route was, for many years, nearly nonexistent. Until corrected during the S-Curve 2000 project, this route discontinuity only made it more difficult to follow BUS US-131 through downtown Grand Rapids. Then in May 2007, an MDOT project replaced all route marker (and other) signage along the route of BUS US-131, including those signs marking the previously unsigned turns. For the first time in many years, the route of BUS US-131 through downtown Grand Rapids is now very easy to follow. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1953 - In mid-1953, what had been designated BYP US-131 bypassing the Grand Rapids metro area via South Beltline Rd (28th St) and East Beltline Ave is redesignated as the mainline route of US-131. Simultaneously, the former route of US-131 through the city, via Division Ave and Plainfield Ave from 28th St to East Beltline Ave, is redesignated as BUS US-131. | |||||||||||||
| 1961 (July 24) – A one-mile segment of the "Grand Rapids North–South Freeway" (future US-131) is completed and opened to traffic from US-16/M-21/28th St (present-day M-11) northerly to Burton St. Construction on this segment began in 1958 but completion was delayed due to right-of-way acqusition issues. Construction on the seven miles of freeway north of Burton St is underway. It is not clear if the BUS US-131 designation is officially signed along this mile of freeway at this time or not, however. Mainline US-131 traffic continues to exit the freeway at 28th St to continue to bypass Grand Rapids via the "Beltline System." |
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| 1961 (Nov 6) – Another 1½-mile long section of the Grand Rapids North-South Freeway (future US-131) is opened to traffic, from Burton St northerly to BUS M-21/Franklin St in the southern part of the city. Instead of waiting for the entire segment from the southern city limit northerly to Pearl St downtown to be completed, the State Highway Dept is opening segments as they are completed. As with the previous segment opened to the south between 28th St and Burton St 3½ months earlier, it is not clear if the BUS US-131 designation is officially extended along the freeway to Franklin St at this time or not. Mainline US-131 traffic continues to exit the freeway at 28th St to continue to bypass Grand Rapids via the "Beltline System." |
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| 1961 (Dec 23) – The extension of the Grand Rapids North-South Freeway (future US-131 freeway) from BUS M-21/Franklin St northerly to Pearl St downtown Grand Rapids is completed and opened to traffic.
Since the freeway is not yet complete through the city, the US-131 mainline designation remains on the "Beltline System" of
28th St easterly from the freeway to East Beltline Ave, then northerly
via East Beltline to Plainfield Ave northeast of the city. The new
freeway from 28th St northerly to the "Downtown" exit (present-day
Exit 84B) is designated as BUS
US-131, while the remainder from the "Downtown" exit
northerly to Pearl St is not given a route designation in the field. BUS US-131 from the "Downtown" exit continues northerly to
Oakes & Weston
Sts. Northbound traffic is routed easterly via Oakes to Division Ave
while southbound traffic uses Weston westerly from Division to the
new on-ramp. From Oakes & Weston, BUS
US-131 continues northerly
via its previous routing on Division & Plainfield Aves. The former route of BUS US-131 via Division Ave from US-16/US-131/M-21/28th
St (present-day M-11) northerly to Oakes St remains an unsigned state trunkline for the time
being. |
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| 1962 (Oct 15) - The former route of BUS US-131 (formerly US-131) via Division Ave from US-131/M-11/M-21/28th St northerly into downtown Grand Rapids at Oakes St is cancelled and turned back to local control, even though the freeway route replacing the Division Ave trunkline was opened to traffic the previous December. | ||||||||||||||
1962 (Dec 28) – Exactly one year and five days after opening, the new BUS
US-131 freeway
from 28th St northerly into downtown Grand Rapids is officially assumed
into the state trunkline system. The determination for the freeway continues
northerly from downtown to I-196 (present-day I-96) on the north side of
town, generally coinciding with the completion of this portion of the freeway which opens to traffic on Dec 28.
With this completion, the following changes are made:
|
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| 1986 (Nov 1) - A jurisdictional "route-swap" near the northern end of BUS US-131 moves the route off Coldbrook St (Division Ave to Monroe Ave) and Monroe Ave (Coldbrook St to Leonard St), which is turned back to local control. The new route of BUS US-131 continues northerly via Division Ave/Plainfield Ave to Leonard St, then westerly via Leonard to Monroe and on westerly toward US-131. This change takes two left turns and a right turn just to stay on the route and replaces them with a single left turn. | ||||||||||||||
| 1995–96 - To accommodate the construction of the Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids, Weston Ave (sbd BUS US-131) from Ionia Ave westerly for approximately ½ block and southerly for one block is vacated, while the northbound BUS US-131 ramp "plugging into" Oakes St at Ionia Ave remains untouched. The southbound on-ramp to US-131 is tied into eastbound Oakes St just east of Ottawa Ave, however Oakes St itself is not "reconnected" to form a through street. Since southbound BUS US-131 traffic travelling westerly via Weston St at Ionia Ave has no way to access the southbound US-131 on-ramp (without travelling northerly via Ionia, westerly via Fulton St, southerly via Ottawa Ave and easterly via the new Oakes St connection), the route in that direction is effectively broken. The Van Andel Arena officially opens on October 10, 1996, but sbd BUS US-131 would remain discontinuous for more than three more years. | ||||||||||||||
| 1999 (Dec 17) - Construction, which began in May, to demolish the previous elevated ramp from nbd US-131 to nbd BUS US-131 at the cnr of Oakes St & Ionia Ave and replace it with a new surface level off-ramp, is completed and the ramp opened on this day. While the former elevated ramp (Exit 84B) formerly departed the US-131 freeway after (north of) the Wealthy St ramp (Exit 84A), the new "Downtown" BUS US-131 off-ramp departs the freeway on the right just before the Wealthy ramp departs on the left. The two ramps retain their existing exit numbers, however. The new BUS US-131 ramp passes under the Wealthy St overpass and hugs the freeway before passing through an intersection with a newly-reconnected Cherry St then proceeding northerly for another block to a new T-intersection at Oakes St behind the Van Andel Arena. Oakes St is restored not only as a two-way street, but also as a through street between Ottawa Ave and Ionia Ave. Both directions of BUS US-131 now use Oakes St between the end of the new freeway ramps and Division Ave and Division between Oakes and Weston Sts. Weston St from Division Ave westerly two blocks to Ionia Ave (the former sbd BUS US-131) remains as an unsigned state trunkline, but now posted for two-way traffic. | ||||||||||||||
2017 (Aug 22) – To accommodate a two-block redevelopment on the south side of downtown Grand Rapids, the closing and vacating the segment of BUS US-131 between Cherry St and Oakes St south of the Van Andel Arena is required. MDOT comes to an agreement with the City of Grand Rapids to transfer several signed and unsigned state trunklines within the city, including the entirety of BUS US-131. From Cherry St to Oakes St, existing BUS US-131 is turned over to the City, which allows the City to sell the right-of-way to accommodate the new development. (The City will construct a one-block southerly extension of Ottawa Ave to the west to take the place of the former BUS US-131 between Cherry and Oakes.) The other segments of BUS US-131 turned back to city control are:
|
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| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of former BUS US-131 (Grand Rapids) was freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | No portion of former BUS US-131 (Grand Rapids) was on the NHS. | |||||||||||||
| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | ||||||||||||||
|
Big Rapids |
Southern Terminus: | US-131 at Exit 139 (M-20 EAST interchange) west of Big Rapids | ||||||||||||
| Northern Terminus: | US-131 at Exit 142 (B-96/19 Mile Rd interchange) northwest of Big Rapids | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 7.855 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BUS US-131 (Big Rapids) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | The portion of BUS US-131 along Northland Dr and State St runs along a former segment of US-131 before the freeway past Big Rapids was completed in the mid-1980s. | |||||||||||||
| History: | 1980 - Two early developments leading to the eventual establishment of a BUS US-131 routing at Big Rapids:
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| 1983 - Eleven miles of US-131 freeway are completed and open to traffic in Mecosta Co from B-88/8 Mile Rd (present-day M-20) at Stanwood northerly to 19 Mile Rd northwest of Big Rapids, where US-131 traffic turns easterly via 19 Mile Rd, now a state trunkline, to Northland Dr and US-131's original routing. A new BUS US-131 routing at Big Rapids is created, beginning at Exit 139 and heading easterly via M-20 (using the 1980 relocation) to State St, then northerly with M-20 via State St into downtown where BUS US-131 continues northerly via the former US-131, terminating at US-131 at the cnr of Northland Dr & 19 Mile Rd. | ||||||||||||||
| 1986 - Eighteen miles of new US-131 freeway are completed from B-96/19 Mile Rd northwest of Big Rapids past Reed City to the southern end of the freeway southwest of Le Roy, thus completing the US-131 freeway from north of Schoolcraft to just south of Cadillac. The former route from the 19 Mile Rd interchange easterly via 19 Mile to Northland Dr becomes a northerly extension of the BUS US-131 route at Big Rapids, while Northland Dr northerly from 19 Mile Rd toward Reed City becomes an unsigned state trunkline. | ||||||||||||||
| 1988 (Feb 1) - The former route of M-20 (the one replaced by the 1980 relocation) from 220th Ave just west of the US-131 freeway interchange at Exit 139 easterly to State St (OLD US-131) is finally turned back to local control. | ||||||||||||||
| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of BUS US-131 (Big Rapids) is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | The entirety of BUS US-131 (Big Rapids) is on the National Highway System (NHS). (The route was added to the NHS in 2012 with the passage of the MAP-21 funding and authorization bill.) |
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| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | • BUS US-131 (Big Rapids) @ Michigan Highway Ends - photos of the termini of BUS US-131 (Big Rapids) at Dan Garnell's excellent Michigan Highway Ends website. | |||||||||||||
|
Cadillac |
Southern Terminus: | US-131 at Exit 177 south of Cadillac | ||||||||||||
| Northern Terminus: | US-131 at Exit 183 (Boon Rd interchange) north of Cadillac | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 5.597
miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BUS US-131 (Cadillac) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | The majority of Cadillac's BUS US-131 routing runs along the previous route of US-131 through the city used prior to the 2001 completion of the long-awaited "Cadillac Bypass." Prior to that, the US-131 freeway leading from downstate cities like Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids simply ended at the south end of the city and emptied all of its traffic onto the main street of Cadillac. | |||||||||||||
| History: | 2000 (Nov 1) - The first 2.9 miles of the "Cadillac Bypass" opens to traffic and while that freeway would eventually bear the US-131 designation, for the next year, it will only be signed as a rerouted M-55. For the time being, through US-131 traffic is directed to exit the freeway at Exit 177 to continue into Cadillac and on toward Petoskey. | |||||||||||||
| 2001 (Oct 30) - The remainder of the US-131/"Cadillac Bypass" is opened to traffic on this day from the M-55 EAST interchange (Exit 180) northerly to existing US-131 north of Cadillac. US-131 now officially joins M-55 on the portion of the freeway opened November 1, 2000 between Exits 177 and 180, then continuing northerly to the end of the new freeway segment. The former US-131 from Exit 177 northerly through downtown Cadillac to Boon (34) Rd is redesignated as BUS US-131, which then turns easterly via Boon (34) Rd, terminating at the new freeway at Exit 183. Former US-131 from Boon (34) Rd northerly to the northern end of the new freeway becomes an unsigned/un-numbered state trunkline (although it will take MDOT several years to remove the physical US-131 route markers). | ||||||||||||||
| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of BUS US-131 (Cadillac) is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | The entirety of BUS US-131 (Cadillac) is on the National Highway System (NHS). (The route was added to the NHS in 2012 with the passage of the MAP-21 funding and authorization bill.) |
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| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | ||||||||||||||
|
Manton |
Southern Terminus: | US-131 at Exit 191 (M-42 interchange) east of Manton | ||||||||||||
| Northern Terminus: | US-131 near the north end of the freeway, south of the Manistee River bridge north of Manton | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 5.668
miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BUS US-131 (Manton) Map of US-131 Manton Bypass as opened 9/19/2003 Map of US-131 Manton Bypass prior to completion | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | The BUS US-131 routing was a new, "surprise" designation, as most external observers had not anticipated MDOT designating the bypassed segment of the former US-131 at Manton as a Business Connection. Unfortunately, MDOT was very slow to re-sign the former US-131 now part of BUS US-131 and was also slow to remove the old US-131 route markers along the portion of the former route between Cadillac and Manton. Thus, it was unclear whether BUS US-131 at Manton would be signed as a full loop routing or as a spur route from the north side of town, ending at (now former) M-42/Main St downtown. All doubt and question was erased during the fall of 2005 when BUS US-131 route marker assemblies began showing up along (now former) M-42 on the south side of Manton and the old US-131 markers along the former route of that highway south of M-42 (toward Cadillac) were removed. | |||||||||||||
| History: | 2003 (Sept 19, 10am) - The so-called US-131 "Manton bypass" opens from the north end of the freeway north of Cadillac to north of Manton, just south of the Manistee River bridge in northeastern Wexford Co. The former route of US-131 from the former end of the freeway northerly to the south jct of M-42 at Manton becomes an unsigned state trunkline highway, while the formerly concurrent US-131/M-42 becomes M-42/BUS US-131 with the BUS US-131 designation continuing northerly out of Manton via the old route to the northern end of the freeway north of Manton. | |||||||||||||
| 2005 (Oct, Nov) - Over two years after the route's debut, BUS US-131 markers are erected along (now former) M-42 on the south side of Manton, signifying the route will be maintained as a loop, albeit without corresponding signage along the US-131 freeway itself at the M-42 interchange. | ||||||||||||||
| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of BUS US-131 (Manton) is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | No portion of BUS US-131 (Manton) is on the NHS. | |||||||||||||
| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | • Roadpix - New US-131 Freeway Terminus - photographs and information by Barry L. Camp of the new northern end of the US-131 freeway near Manton. | |||||||||||||
 South Haven |
Southern Terminus: | I-196/US-31 at Exit 18 southeast of downtown South Haven | ||||||||||||
| Northern Terminus: | I-196/US-31 at Exit 20 (Phoenix Rd interchange) east of downtown South Haven | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 3.806 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BL I-196 (South Haven) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | When the I-196/US-31 freeway was initially completed around South Haven, a new BL I-196 designation was added along what was then US-31 from M-140 to North Shore Dr via Blue Star Hwy. Later, the BL I-196 designation was removed from the Blue Star Hwy routing and tansferred onto an earlier routing of BUS US-31 (and US-31 before that) into downtown, then due easterly back to I-196/US-31 via Phoenix St. The Blue Star Hwy-North Shore Dr routing was turned back to local control, with that portion of Blue Star Hwy assuming the A-2 designation. | |||||||||||||
| The history of this route, below, also includes the complete history of BUS US-31 at South Haven, the direct predecessor of the current route. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1942 (Jan 28) - In an odd move during wartime, an easterly bypass of the City of South Haven is assumed into the state trunkline system, although it seems the highway will not open to traffic until 1943. The new bypass (following present-day A-2/Blue Star Hwy) begins at the jct of the existing US-31 and M-140 south of the city and continues past the city on the east to North Shore Dr northeast of town. The former route of US-31 through the city via La Grange St, Phillips St, Broadway, Dyckman Ave, and North Shore Dr is redesignated as a new BUS US-31 routing. | |||||||||||||
1963 - Two segments of the I-196/US-31 freeway (recently redesignated
from I-96/US-31) are assumed into the state trunkline system during the
last part of this year along with other trunkline changes:
|
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| 1968 (Aug 30) - The portion of the former BUS US-31 routing in South Haven (signed as M-140? M-43?) from Phoenix St northerly via Broadway and northwesterly via Dyckman Ave to North Shore Dr is turned back to local control. | ||||||||||||||
| 1972 (Dec 15) - Phoenix St from Broadway in downtown South Haven easterly to I-196/US-31 at Exit 20 is transferred to state control as part of a rerouting of BL I-196 in the city. Instead of turning northeasterly via Blue Star Hwy on the south side of town, BL I-196 now continues northerly via La Grange St, northwesterly via Phillips St, and northerly along Broadway to Phoenix downtown. BL I-196 now turns easterly via Phoenix St to a new terminus at Exit 20. The former route of BL I-196 via Blue Star Hwy (M-140 to North Shore Dr) and North Shore Dr from Blue Star easterly to I-196/US-31 at Exit 22 remains as an unsigned state trunkline. | ||||||||||||||
| 1990s? - While a precise transfer date is not yet known, the former pre-1972 route of BL I-196 via Blue Star Hwy and North Shore Dr is turned back to local control. | ||||||||||||||
| 2016 (July 25) – The West Michigan Pike Historic Byway is officially unveiled at a ceremony in Muskegon's Heritage Park. Running from the Indiana state line south of New Buffalo up Michigan's west coast to Ludington, the Byway runs along the entire length of BL I-196 through South Haven. |
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| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of BL I-196 (South Haven) is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | The entirety of BL I-196 (South Haven) is on the National Highway System (NHS). (The route was added to the NHS in 2012 with the passage of the MAP-21 funding and authorization bill.) |
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| Circle Tour: |  Lake Michigan Circle Tour: Entire Route |
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| Pure Michigan Byway: |  West Michigan Pike Historic Byway : Entire route. |
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| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | ||||||||||||||
Holland- Zeeland |
Southern Terminus: | Jct I-196 & US-31 (at Exit 44) south of Holland | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Terminus: | I-196/Gerald R Ford Frwy at Exit 55 east of Zeeland | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 11.635 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BL I-196 (Holland-Zeeland) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | For many years, the City of Holland and MDOT had been at odds over the matter of additional downtown parking spaces, speed limits and traffic signal timing. Holland had been able to create and maintain a vibrant, healthy downtown business, shopping and entertainment district over the past few decades. Unfortunately, the City may have done too good of a job as there was a perceived dearth of convenient parking spaces in the downtown area and they had butted heads with MDOT over the state's insistence that all three through traffic lanes on Seventh & Ninth Sts be maintained based on current traffic volumes. Finally, in January 2004, an agreement was tenatively reached between the City and MDOT to transfer a few blocks of Seventh St to the City with the City maintaining all Business Connection signage for the benefit of motorists. | |||||||||||||
| By the Summer of 2004, however, MDOT was in talks with the City of Holland and the Ottawa Co Road Commission to turn back all of BUS US-31 and BL I-196 "inside" the US-31/Holland bypass to local control. These talks resulted in the August 2004 jurisditional transfer of essentially all of BUS US-31 (and that portion of BL I-196 co-signed with BUS US-31) to local control. The Ottawa Co Road Commission took over the portion of the route along Chicago Dr from 8th St northeasterly to US-31, while the City accepted the remainder of the route, with the exception of the portion of Washington Ave from Matt Urban Dr southerly through the US-31 interchange on the south side of town. Reportedly, this remaining portion of trunkline was retained by MDOT to facilitate the eventual reconstruction of the US-31 & Washington interchange in the future. While the road commission removed all trunkline signage along Chicago Dr soon after the transfer, the City of Holland took until May 2005 to remove all BUS US-31, BL I-196 and LMCT route signage through the city, replacing some of the former trunkline route marker assemblies with trailblazer signage ("TO US-31"), however several of the necessary turns are not signed, resulting in a confusing and unfortunate situation for visitors and tourists. Also unfortunate was the continued existence of BUS US-31, BL I-196 and LMCT route signage along US-31 itself directing motorists to a non-existant business route until late-2006. | ||||||||||||||
| From 2004 when the first BL I-196 route markers were removed from the in-town routing (and then from 2005 when the remainder of the signs were taken down), BL I-196 was a de facto discontinuous route in the field, existing in two segments: From the southern terminus at I-196 Exit 41 to where the route formerly left US-31 at Exit 47; and from the US-31 & Chicago Dr interchange east of Holland to the northern terminus at I-196 Exit 55 east of Zeeland. MDOT may have considered the route of BL I-196 at Holland/Zeeland as one, continuous route on paper, while signage in the field otherwise reflected a discontinuity only resolved in 2009-2010 when BL I-196 route markers were erected in the gap. | ||||||||||||||
| This author believed the turnback the entire "Holland Business Loop" (BUS US-31 & BL I-196) in exchange for a few additional parking spaces caused more negative side effects than positive. While additional downtown parking spaces may be needed to ensure downtown Holland remains healthy and a desirable place to visit, the loss of a marked route into and through the city for tourists and casual visitors does much more harm than not adding the new on-street parking spaces. In fact, since the Lake Michigan Circle Tour is only signed along state trunkline routes, the removal of BUS US-31/BL I-196 through Holland also meant the loss of the Circle Tour routing as well, thus another blow to the City's tourist prospects. In an era of waning manufacturing jobs, tourism is becoming an increasingly more important industry for the area. The removal of the convenient signed and mapped route will can only hurt the City. To that end, the author contacted various civic leaders in Holland with a letter expressing the above concerns. A presentation was also given to the Holland AM Rotary in mid-August 2004, linked from the Holland Business Routes: The Turnback page. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1974 (Dec 11) - The short connection from M-21/Chicago Dr easterly to the new I-196 freeway at Exit 55 east of Zeeland via Byron Rd is transferred to state control. This short new connector is then paired with existing M-21 around the south side of Zeeland to US-31 at the Chicago Dr interchange on the eastern edge of Holland and designated as an I-196 Business Connection. Official maps seem to indicate only the portion of the former M-21 from US-31 to I-196 at Exit 55 receives this designation, meaning it would be signed as BS I-196. However, by 1976 official maps show the route continuing through downtown Holland concurrently with BUS US-31 to US-31 south of the city at the Washington Ave interchange, then back to I-196 at Exit 44, meaning the route may have been designated as BL I-196 (as a loop route) from day one, however. Former M-21 via Chicago Dr from the new BL I-196 east of Zeeland to Exit 69 in Grandville is relieved of its M-21 designation, but remains as an unmarked state trunkline highway. | |||||||||||||
| c.1990s - In the early 1990s, Ninth Ave from Lincoln Ave easterly to its end is tranferred to state control and a new double-curve connector roadway between Ninth and Eighth Sts is built. This becomes the new north/eastbound route for BUS US-31/BL I-196. | ||||||||||||||
| 1998 - After Seventh St was reconstructed in 1995 and Ninth St reconstructed this year, both streets—along with the rest of the BUS US-31/BL I-196 route "inside" the US-31/Holland Bypass, it can be assumed—are "scheduled" to be turned back to local control. This transfer, for whatever reason, does not take place. | ||||||||||||||
| 2004 (Jan, Aug 4) - After years of constant back-and-forth between MDOT and the City of Holland over adding additional parking spaces on either Seventh or Ninth Sts downtown, the city and state supposedly reach an agreement in January whereby a short portion of Seventh St is to be turned back to the city, while Business Connection route markers for BUS US-31/BL I-196 would remain "for the benfit of motorists." However, by the Summer, MDOT, the City of Holland and the Ottawa County Road Commission have initiated talks to turn back the entire length of BUS US-31/BL I-196 within the city from US-31 east of downtown to US-31 south of downtown. On August 4, the Holland City Commission votes to accept these streets from MDOT. | ||||||||||||||
| 2005 (May) - Even after accepting the majority of the former BUS US-31/BL I-196 route through the city, Holland waits nine months before removing the trunkline route markers during May. A few "trailblazer" signs are erected simultaneously, though not at all of the required turns, providing additional points of confusion for visitors and tourists. The only signs now remaining for the business route are along US-31 itself. | ||||||||||||||
| 2009 (Oct) - The route of BL I-196 at Holland/Zeeland is again made "whole" with the erection of BL I-196 route markers along US-31 from Chicago Dr southerly to 32nd St on the Allegan/Ottawa Co line. While no BL I-196 signs are present along US-31 between 32nd St and the Washington Ave interchange (Exit 47), the formerly discontinuous route of BL I-196 effectively becomes a single route as far as signage is concerned. | ||||||||||||||
| 2010 - BL I-196 route signage appears along US-31 between 32nd Ave (the Allegan/Ottawa Co line) and A-2/Washington Ave, filling the remaining unsigned portion of the route left over from the jurisdictional transfer of the former route through downtown Holland six years prior. | ||||||||||||||
| 2016 (July 25) – The West Michigan Pike Historic Byway is officially unveiled at a ceremony in Muskegon's Heritage Park. Running from the Indiana state line south of New Buffalo up Michigan's west coast to Ludington, the Byway runs along the segment of Holland's BL I-196 from the southern terminus at jct I-196 & US-31 northerly to the US-31 & Chicago Dr interchange. |
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| Freeway: | From the southern terminus at I-196 northerly to Central Ave on the south side of Holland. | |||||||||||||
| Expressway: | Two segments:
|
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| NHS: | The entirety of BL I-196 (Holland-Zeeland) is on the National Highway System (NHS). (The portion of the route east of US-31 to the eastern terminus at I-196 was added to the NHS in 2012 with the passage of the MAP-21 funding and authorization bill.) |
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| Circle Tour: | Lake Michigan Circle Tour: Along the segment concurrent with US-31, from the southern terminus at jct I-196 & US-31 northerly to the US-31 & Chicago Dr interchange. |
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| Pure Michigan Byway: | West Michigan Pike Historic Byway :Along the segment concurrent with US-31, from the southern terminus at jct I-196 & US-31 northerly to the US-31 & Chicago Dr interchange. |
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| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | • Holland Business Routes: The Turnback - Detailing the transfer of control of both Business Connections in the City of Holland—BUS US-31 and BL I-196—to local control due to a perceived lack of parking downtown. This page explains some of the other negative side-effects of the transfer and offers other possible solutions. | |||||||||||||
| • Retain Holland's Business Routes - presentation given to Holland AM Rotary meeting August 18, 2004. | ||||||||||||||
 Wyoming |
Western Terminus: | I-196 at Exit 72 in on the Wyoming/Grandville city limit | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Terminus: | Cnr of Chicago Dr, Grandville Ave (Cesar E. Chavez Ave) & Clyde Park Ave on the Wyoming/Grand Rapids municipal boundary |
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| Length: | 2.457 miles |
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| Map: | Maps of BS I-196 (Wyoming) |
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| Notes: | In August 2017, the portion of BS I-196 within the City of Grand Rapids—Grandville Ave from Clyde Park Ave northerly to Franklin St (since renamed as Martin Luther King Jr Ave) and Franklin (M L King) from Grandville easterly through the US-131 interchange—was transferred to city control and ceased to be part of BS I-196. This rendered the route of BS I-196 a dangling route with a terminus not at another highway, but at an intersection of two streets along a municipal boundary. At present, MDOT has continued to sign the portion of BS I-196 within Wyoming (instead of either attempting to transfer the remainder of BS I-196 to the City of Wyoming or simply removing the route markers, rendering it an unsigned state trunkline route). While formerly listed as the Grand Rapids-Wyoming BS I-196 route listing, it is now listed as being the Wyoming BS I-196 listing, as it no longer enters the City of Grand Rapids. |
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| The 2017 jurisdictional transfer of BS I-196 within the City of Grand Rapids had been pursued by the City for many years, due to neighborhood pressure to remove through truck traffic from Grandville Ave (since renamed Cesar E. Chavez Ave), which runs through the densely populated Southwest neighborhood. With the agreement between the City and MDOT to transfer control of the entirety of BUS US-131 through downtown Grand Rapids to local control to accommodate a planned development, several other signed and unsigned trunkline routes were also transfered as part of what seemed to be a "package deal." Prior to the 2017 truncation, BS I-196 was 4.132 miles in length. |
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| BS I-196 at Grand Rapids was formerly designated as a portion of BUS M-21 prior to the completion of I-196 between Holland and Grand Rapids. Prior to that, today's BS I-196 was a part of the Holland-to-Port Huron route of M-21. | ||||||||||||||
| At some point in the first decade of the 2000s, during a regular sign replacement program along the route of BS I-196, the route markers were replaced with BL I-196 (Business Loop I-196) signs. While BS I-196 had always been designated as such on MDOT-produced maps in the 1970s into the 1990s, MDOT staff decided the route had an implied connection back to I-196 in downtown Grand Rapids, utilizing the US-131 freeway to make that connection. No BL I-196 route markers were ever erected along any portion of US-131 (with the exception of exit signage at the Franklin St [now M L King] interchange pointing the way to the route itself) and other than the insistance of a couple MDOT employees, no other evidence of this route being a Business Loop can be found. It seems to be a matter of a judgement call by MDOT staff to sign BS I-196 as BL I-196 at that point. Check out two MDOT-produced maps from c.1979 and c.1995 showing this route as Business Spur I-196 |
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| Prior to its 2017 truncation and elimination of the portion of the route within the City of Grand Rapids, technically state jurisdiction along BS I-196 did not end at the US-131 interchange, but continued 755 feet east of the nbd US-131 off- and on-ramp, ending 407 feet west of Ionia Ave. This roughly corresponds to the eastern end of the Franklin Ave (now Martin Luther King Jr Ave) bridge spanning US-131, Buchanan Ave and the Grand Elk Railroad. It made sense for a bridge structure to be under the ownership and maintenance of one agency instead of being split between two or more. With the 2017 jurisdictional transfer, the entire bridge came under city control. |
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| The history of this route, below, also includes the complete history of BUS M-21 at Grand Rapids, the direct predecessor of the current route. | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1953 - During mid-1953, M-21 mainline route is removed from its through-town routing in the Grand Rapids area out to the "Beltline System" to replace the BYP M-21 designation created a decade earlier via 28th St and East Beltline Ave. The former route of M-21 through Grand Rapids via Chicago Dr, Grandville Ave, Franklin St, Eastern Ave and E Fulton Ave is re-designated as BUS M-21. | |||||||||||||
| 1964 (Dec 14-21) - The I-196/M-21 freeway through Grand Rapids is opened to traffic on December 14th and is officially assumed into the trunkline system one week later on the 21st, from existing M-21/Chicago Dr at Exit 69 in Grandville through downtown Grand Rapids to its terminus at I-96, where M-21 now continues the short distance via I-96 easterly to its existing routing along E Fulton St. Due to the relocation of M-21, the route of BUS M-21 is elongated at either end. From the former western terminus at M-11/28th St in Grandville, BUS M-21 now continues southwesterly via Chicago Dr to the western end of the completed I-196/M-21 freeway (present-day Exit 69). On the east, BUS M-21 is extended a short distance via E Fulton St to terminate at jct I-96 & M-21 east of Grand Rapids (present-day Exit 38). | ||||||||||||||
| 1972 (Dec 29) - A portion of the "in-town" business routing for the I-196/M-21 freeway through Grand Rapids, designated BUS M-21, is turned back to local control, specifically the portion from US-131 easterly via Franklin St, northerly via Eastern Ave and easterly again via E Fulton St. At this point, BUS M-21 becomes a spur routing from I-196/M-21 at Exit 69 through Grandville and Wyoming to US-131 in Grand Rapids. | ||||||||||||||
| 1973 (Mar 12) - The final segment of I-196 freeway is assumed into the state trunkline system (and likely opens within several months) from the existing I-196/US-31 freeway south of Holland at Exit 44 northeasterly past Zeeland and Hudsonville to the western end of the existing freeway at M-21/Chicago Dr (Exit 69). Sources indicate the BS I-196 designation debuts at this time from the Chicago Dr interchange (Exit 72) in Wyoming easterly into Grand Rapids via Chicago Dr, Grandville Ave and Franklin St, replacing that portion of BUS M-21. The remainder of the former BUS M-21 within the City of Grandville via Chicago Dr becomes an unsigned state trunkline for the time being. | ||||||||||||||
| 1982 (Aug 31) - The portion of the former BUS M-21 along Chicago Dr from the ebd I-196 off-ramp (at Exit 69) in Grandville easterly to Wilson Ave downtown is turned back to local control. | ||||||||||||||
| 1982 (Oct 20) - The segment of the former BUS M-21/Chicago Dr from the ebd I-196 off ramp in Grandville (at Exit 69) westerly to the Kent/Ottawa Co line is turned back to city control. | ||||||||||||||
| 1985 (Dec 1) - The portion of the former BUS M-21/Chicago Dr from downtown Grandville at Wilson Ave northeasterly to the Grandville/Wyoming city limit is turned back to city control. | ||||||||||||||
| Early 2000s – At some point in the early 2000s during a regular highway sign replacement project along BS I-196, MDOT replaces all BS I-196 route markers with BL I-196 markers, implying the route is now a Business Loop instead of a Business Spur. (See Note above.) |
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| 2017 (Aug 22) – The segment of BS I-196 within the City of Grand Rapids is cancelled as a state trunkline highway route and jurisdiction is turned back to city control. This involves Grandville Ave (present-day Cesar E Chavez Ave) from the cnr of Chicago Dr & Clyde Park Ave on the Wyoming/Grand Rapids municipal boundary northerly to Franklin St (present-day Martin Luther King Jr Ave) and Franklin (M L King) from Grandville easterly through the US-131 interchange. The transfer occurs as part of a wider effort by the City of Grand Rapids to gain control over several signed and unsigned state trunkline routes within the city, including the entirety of BUS US-131 through downtown and all of unsigned OLD M-45. The transfer involves one-quarter of the entire route. | ||||||||||||||
| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of BS I-196 (Wyoming) is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | The entirety of BS I-196 (Wyoming) is on the National Highway System (NHS). (The route was added to the NHS in 2012 with the passage of the MAP-21 funding and authorization bill.) |
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| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | • BS I-196 (Grand Rapids) @ Michigan Highway Ends - photos of the termini of BS I-196 (Grand Rapids) at Dan Garnell's excellent Michigan Highway Ends website. | |||||||||||||
 Adrian |
Western Terminus: | US-223 northwest of downtown Adrian | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Terminus: | Jct US-223 & M-52 south of downtown Adrian | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 3.750 miles |
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| Map: | Route Map of BUS US-223 (Adrian) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | Concurrently signed with M-52 between southern terminus and downtown Adrian, this highway runs along a former routing of US-223 through downtown. | |||||||||||||
| Adrian's BUS US-223 is the highest-numbered and signed Business Connection in Michigan. BS I-375 in downtown Detroit is an unsigned trunkline, while the I-496 "Capitol Loop" in Lansing has a higher-numbered parent route, but is not signed with "496," making BUS US-223 the highest-numbered business route. | ||||||||||||||
| In an interesting side note, BUS US-223 at Adrian is signed as an east-west route throughout, while its parent route, US-223, is signed as a north-south route in its entirety. While more of BUS US-223, indeed, runs east-west than north-south. the same is also true of US-223 itself, while that route has been signed as a north-south route... likely due to a determination by highway authorites that most traffic using the US-223 corridor is north-south in nature instead of east-west. | ||||||||||||||
| During 2010, massive changes in the traffic patterns and state trunkline routings in downtown have added complexity to BUS US-223's history while also generally simplifying its actual route in the field. (See map.) | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1942 (Jan 28) - South of Adrian, a new 1.27-mile segment of state trunkline highway following Cadmus Rd from US-223 at Treat Hwy westerly to M-52/Adrian Hwy is determined and the US-223 routing is transferred onto it. At M-52, US-223 now turns northerly with M-52 into downtown Adrian where it meets up with its former routing. The former route of US-223 from M-52/Main St east along E Church St, south along S Center St, east and southeast vis Treat St and then southerly along Treat Hwy to existing US-223 is redesignated as BUS US-223. (See map.) | |||||||||||||
| 1943 (Feb 26) - Winter St from US-223/Church St southerly for a bit more than one block to US-223/M-52/Main St in downtown Adrian is determined as a state trunkline highway and the US-223 route is moved onto it, acting as a "cut-off" of sorts. The US-223 route along Main St from Winter St to Church St remains designated M-52, while the portion of Church St from M-52/Main St westerly to Winter St now becomes a short westerly extension of the BUS US-223 routing. (See map.) | ||||||||||||||
| 1956 (Mar 26) - A new US-223 southwestern bypass of Adrian consisting of 2.885 miles of new trunkline highway on new alignment is officially assumed into the system. The new bypass begins at the southern jct of US-223 & M-52 south of the city and proceeds northwesterly back to existing US-223 west of town. The previous (1942-56) iteration of BUS US-223 is cancelled as a state trunkline (with the exception of the one block of Church St between M-52/Main St and Winter St) allowing the 1942-56 routing of US-223 through Adrian to become a new BUS US-223 routing. (See map.) | ||||||||||||||
| 1959 (Mar 29) - In downtown Adrian, the one block of Front St between Main St and Winter St along with the four blocks of Winter St from Front St southerly to Church St are transferred to state control and become the new southbound route of M-52 through the center of the city. The change for BUS US-223 is that the one block "cutoff" along Winter St between Church St and Main St is now one-way southbound and part of the new southbound M-52 routing. Thus, the "cutoff" is now eastbound BUS US-223 only, while westbound BUS US-223 now continues northerly on Main St one additional block to Church St where it turns west via Church to Winter St to continue on its existing route. (See map.) | ||||||||||||||
| 1960 (Jan 6) - Less than a year after M-52 was split into a one-way pair routing through downtown Adrian (nbd via Main St, sbd via Front-Winter Sts)—which resulted in BUS US-223 using the southernmost city block of this one-way pair before turning west along Church St—BUS US-223 itself becomes a one-way pair when Maumee St from nbd M-52/Main St westerly for four blocks to Church St is transferred to state control on this date. The new westbound route for BUS US-223 continues north from Church St with M-52 via Main St for an additional block, then turns west along Maumee St for four blocks back to its existing routing. Eastbound BUS US-223 now uses the formerly two-way route along Church St from Maumee St easterly to sbd M-52/Winter St where it turns southerly. Interestingly, the one block of Church St between sbd M-52/Winter St and nbd M-52/Main St remains a state trunkline route, though not "technically" part of the eastbound route of BUS US-223, which turns south with sbd M-52 along Winter St. (See map.) | ||||||||||||||
| 1973 (June 29) - Several trunkline changes in downtown Adrian effectively remove the routes of M-52 and BUS US-223 from the downtown core. Main St from Church St northerly to Front St is turned back to local control, while Church St from Main St easterly to Broad St, Broad northerly from Church to Front St and Front from Broad back westerly to Main becomes the new northbound M-52 route and the westbound BUS US-223 route, which now continues westerly another block via Front St to Winter St, then southerly via Winter to Maumee St where it then continues westerly. Maumee St (formerly part of wbd BUS US-223) between Main & Winter Sts is also turned back to local control. The sbd M-52 and ebd BUS US-223 routes remain unchanged. (See map.) | ||||||||||||||
| 1995 (Nov 7) - The two blocks of Church St, functioning as ebd BUS US-223 between Maumee St and sbd M-52/Winter St in downtown Adrian, are turned back to city control on this date. This conicides with the first wave of returning some of the downtown streets to two-way traffic flow. The former ebd BUS US-223 along Church St is now a two-way city street, while the former wbd BUS US-223 from sbd M-52/Winter St westerly to Church St is now the two-way route for both directions of BUS US-223. Since M-52 still occupies the "one-way box" routing around the downtown core, however, wbd BUS US-223 still travels concurrently with M-52 north via Main St, east via Church St, north via Broad St, west via Front St, and south via Winter St to Maumee St. Ebd BUS US-223 now turns southerly from Maumee St onto sbd M-52 via Winter St. Thus the only one-way portions of BUS US-223 in downtown Adrian are portions shared with M-52. (See map.) | ||||||||||||||
| 2010 (May 28) - Apparently the removal of the one-way pair for BUS US-223 along Church and Maumee Sts is a success, as the City of Adrian decides to remove the remainder of the one-way streets in its downtown area, after a 51-year experiment with that configuration. The 1959 southbound routing for M-52 via Front St from Main St to Winter St and along Winter St from Front south to Main St is turned back to city control. Since the City still does not want through trunkline traffic to use the two main streets through its downtown core—north/south Main St and east/west Maumee St—MDOT converts Church St east of Main St, Broad St from Church St to Front St and Front St from Broad back to Main to two-way traffic and, with it, that becomes the sole route for M-52 through the city. So as to not cause a discontinuity in the BUS US-223 route, the 1995 jurisdictional transfer of Church St from Maumee St to Winter St is "undone" and Maumee St from Winter St to Church St is, this time, downloaded to city control. Coupled with the one block of Church between Main and Winter that has not technically had a trunkline designation since 1960 once again regains the BUS US-223 designation that segment of street had from 1943 to 1960. Now BUS US-223 enters downtown Adrian from the south via M-52/Main St, turns westerly to follow Church St for three blocks, then continues westerly out of the downtown area along Maumee St. (See map.) | ||||||||||||||
| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of BUS US-223 is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | No portion of BUS US-223 is on the NHS | |||||||||||||
| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | • BUS US-223 @ Michigan Highway Ends - photos of the termini of BUS US-223 at Dan Garnell's excellent Michigan Highway Ends website. | |||||||||||||
| • Adrian Downtown: Trunkline Routing History map - A map showing ALL of the state trunkline routes through Adrian since 1915, including the various changes from 2010. Includes EVERY state trunkline designation on each segment of highway, including the dates of determinatio or designation. | ||||||||||||||
 Detroit |
Western Terminus: | Downtown Detroit at the cnr of Jefferson Ave & Randolph St (at the western terminus of M-10) |
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| Eastern Terminus: | Southern end of the I-375/Walter P Chrysler Frwy along Jefferson Ave between Beaubien & St Antoine Sts in downtown Detroit. | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 0.1675 mile (884.2 feet) (10,610 inches) |
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| Map: | Route Map of BS I-375 |
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| Notes: | Downtown Detroit's curious trunkline designation, BS I-375 has never been posted during during its existence. In 1986, US-10 was truncated at Bay City, and segments of the former US-10 in Wayne and Oakland Counties needed new designations to take the place of the old one. The "M-10" designation was selected for much of the John C Lodge Frwy from I-75/Fisher Frwy in downtown Detroit out to suburban Southfield. However, for whatever reason, MDOT decided to designate the former US-10 from I-75 southeasterly into downtown Detroit along the John C Lodge Frwy and Jefferson Ave as "BS I-375." Since it took the department several years to remove most of the old US-10 signage , by the time new signs were erected along the former US-10 in downtown Detroit, M-10 markers replaced the old US-10 ones, and BS I-375 returned to its position as a very short, unsigned state trunkline routing. | |||||||||||||
| History: | The History section for this route listing is currently under development. | |||||||||||||
| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of BS I-375 is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | The entirety of BS I-375 is on the National Highway System (NHS). | |||||||||||||
| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | • Downtown Detroit Trunklines Map - PDF map showing the official routings and termini of all state trunklines in downtown Detroit. Many of these termini and some of the trunklines themselves are unsigned, making this map particularly helpful. | |||||||||||||
 Lansing |
Western Terminus: | I-496/R E Olds Frwy at Exit 5 (M-99/M L King Jr Blvd interchange) in Lansing west of downtown | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Terminus: | I-496/R E Olds Frwy at Exit 7 (BL I-96/Cedar St-Larch St interchange) in Lansing on the southeast side of downtown | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 2.243 miles (eastbound) 2.552 (westbound) |
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| Map: | Route Map of Capitol Loop (Lansing) | |||||||||||||
| Notes: | Information from MDOT about the Capitol Loop: "The Capitol Loop was established in 1986 as part of a larger effort to revitalize Michigan’s Capitol city and the downtown area. It is one of several elements intended to create and enhance historic, cultural, educational, recreational and economic opportunities for visitors, businesses and residents in the Capitol Complex area. Other aspects which are already set in place include:
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| Two figures are shown for the length of the Capitol Loop since, depending on which direction the route is measured, there is a three-tenths mile difference in the lengths. Normally, route lengths on this website are measured along the east- or northbound sides of a route if any part of that route is divided or runs along separate roadways, as in a one-way pair. In this instance, the route of the westbound Capitol Loop begins one block farther west than the eastbound side and then traverses a longer route through downtown Lansing as well, so both lengths are shown here. For "official" purposes, as far as the Michigan Highways website goes, the eastbound length is the one used for recordkeeping purposes. |
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Unfortunately, while MDOT's signing of its state trunkline highways
across the state often tends to be very complete and thorough, it seems signage along portions of the Capitol Loop in downtown
Lansing has disappeared at some crucial turns along the route. In an inspection of the route in December 2012 (re-verified in summer 2016), the western third
of the route—from the Captiol Building westerly and southerly to I-496 at Martin Luther King, Jr Blvd—was excellent
and signage along the eastern third—from the Grand River easterly and southerly to I-496 at the Cedar-Larch Sts
interchange—was acceptable. The following portions, howver, are no longer signed:
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| The Capitol Loop has also been designated on some MDOT maps as "CL I-496" similar to a Business Loop, only with the word "Capitol" in place of "Business." Formerly, the Capitol Loop was also known internally by MDOT as "Connector 81," a designation having no relation to its route number. Then in c.2006-2008, MDOT reassigned most of their internal connector designations, giving each a much more logical designation. The Captiol Loop is now internally known as "Connector 496." | ||||||||||||||
| History: | 1977 (Dec 1) – A dozen years before the creation of the Captiol Loop in Lansing, the northern terminus of M-99 is reconfigured into a one-way pair in the area of the I-496 interchange. Logan St (present-day Martin Luther King Jr Blvd) from St Joseph St (the I-496 wbd service drive) northerly to Kalamazoo St is transferred to state control and the northound route, while a new southbound connector is officially assumed into the trunkline system beginning at the cnr of Logan & Kalamazoo to the cnr of Birch St & St Joseph St (Birch St becomes the new sbd route of M-99 from St Joseph St southerly). While the M-99 markers officially end at I-496/US-27, the state trunkline itself extends northerly from the freeway via Logan-Birch to end at Kalamazoo St. | |||||||||||||
| 1986 (July) – The first mentions of a "Capitol Loop" come in conjunction with public hearings on projects associated with the Governor's Capital City Revitalizaton Task Force which is soliciting "ideas on how downtown Lansing can serve its residents, government workers, tourists, conventioneers and business people in parking, pedestrian movement, traffic circulation, roadway entrances to the Capitol Complex and transit services," according to an MDOT spokesman. In addition to the proposed signed loop route leading motorists into and through downtown from I-496, the task force is also considering ideas such as a proposed Capitol Park, a state welcome center and historic renovation of the State Capitol building. |
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| 1989 (June 15) – The brand-new "Capitol Loop" route markers are unveiled to the public today in advance of their posting along the route of the loop in the coming days. The route marker, designed by an artist according to MDOT, features an image of the Capitol dome. While the signs go up along the route of the Capitol Loop at this point, the official transfer of the route from city to state control won't come for another four months. |
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| 1989 (Oct 13) – Four months after Capitol Loop route markers are erected through downtown lansing, the route technically comes under state control as it is jurisdictionally transferred from city control. From the northern end of state control where Logan & Birch meet at Kalamazoo St, Logan St from
Kalamazoo northerly to Ottawa St is transferred to MDOT, as are Allegan & Ottawa
Sts (Allegan serves ebd traffic, while Ottawa is signed for wbd) and Grand
Ave between Allegan and Ottawa. Michigan Ave from Grand Ave easterly to nbd BUS US-27/wbd BL I-96/Larch St. The "loop" part of the Captiol
Loop is completed by using the one-way pair of Cedar & Larch Sts from
Michigan Ave southerly back to I-496. |
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| 1991 (June) – The portion of Logan St/MLKing Jr Blvd, signed as part of the Capitol Loop since 1989, from St Joseph St at I-496 northerly to north of Ionia St is completely reconstructed as a six-lane divided boulevard. It was the most controversial part of the entire Capitol Loop project as nearly 60 residences were removed to make way for the improved street alignment. |
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| Freeway/Expwy: | No portion of the Capitol Loop is freeway or expressway. | |||||||||||||
| NHS: | The entirety of the Capitol Loop is on the National Highway System (NHS). (The portion of the route west of BL I-96/Cedar-Larch Sts to the western terminus at I-496 Exit 5 was added to the NHS in 2012 with the passage of the MAP-21 funding and authorization bill.) |
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| Photographs: | ||||||||||||||
| Weblinks: | • Capitol Loop Route Map - detailed map of the route of the Capitol Loop in downtown Lansing. Includes termini, major state government buildings, and unsigned route turns. | |||||||||||||
| • Capitol Loop @ Michigan Highway Ends - photos of the termini of the Capitol Loop at Dan Garnell's excellent Michigan Highway Ends website. | ||||||||||||||
| • Renew the Loop! Presentation - (700 KB PDF) from MDOT via MichiganHighways. | ||||||||||||||
| • Capitol Loop Fact Sheet - from MDOT. | ||||||||||||||
| • Capitol Loop Reopening - from MDOT. | ||||||||||||||