M-139 (Michigan highway)

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M-139

Length:

11.82 mi^[1] (19.02 km)

Formed:

1929-09-22^[1]

South end:

US 31 near Berrien Springs

Major
junctions:

I-94 near Benton Harbor

North end:

BL I-94 near Benton Harbor

Counties:

Berrien

Michigan highways
< M-138		M-140 >

M-139 is a Michigan state highway located in Berrien County. It was formed originally as a bypass of the Benton Harbor and St. Joseph area, but now it serves to provide access into the area from a set of bypasses consisting of I-94 and US 31. The Michigan Department of Transportation has indicated that it plans to extend M-139 southerly to Niles along the unsigned state trunkline, OLD US 31. ^[1]

[edit] Historical Notes

M-139 was determined as a state trunkline in 1929 from Scottdale to Benton Harbor, but the first sections were not opened until 1931. In 1964 or 1965, US 31 is rerouted along M-139 from I-94 to Scottdale and M-139 is truncated to I-94. On 2003-08-27, US 31 freeway was completed from Berrien Springs to Napier Ave. near Benton Harbor. The former section of M-139 replaced by US 31 is once again designated M-139. According to Marc Fannin on the Michigan Highways site:

Along the portion of M-139 from I-94 southerly to Scottdale which was superceded by the US-31 designation for nearly forty years (c.1964-2003), the physical street name for the addresses for the homes and businesses along that stretch of roadway remained "M-139" even though the route number was US-31 all those years!^[1]