M-185 (Michigan highway)

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M-185

Length:

8.004 mi^[1] (12.881 km)

Formed:

1933

"West" end:

corner of Main St. & Fort St.

"East" end:

corner of Main St. & Fort St.

Counties:

Mackinac

Michigan highways
< M-184		M-186 >

M-185 is a highway in the U.S. state of Michigan that circles Mackinac Island, a popular tourist destination, along the island's shoreline. A narrow paved road of 8 miles (13 kilometers) in length, it offers highly scenic views of the Straits of Mackinac that divide the Upper Peninsula and the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

Bikers on M-185 at mile marker 0 in downtown Mackinac Island.

M-185 passes by several key sites within Mackinac Island State Park, including Fort Mackinac, Arch Rock, British Landing, and Devil's Kitchen. The first city ordinances banning all motorized vehicles from the island were passed in 1896, with similar state park rules coming about a decade later. As such, other than a handful of emergency and utility vehicles as well as others by special, limited-time permit, no cars or trucks are allowed on the island and no motorized vehicles appear on M-185. Traffic on this highway is by foot, on horse or by horse-drawn vehicle, or bicycle. It also has no connection to any other Michigan state trunkline highways— as it is on an island— and is accessible from elsewhere only by passenger ferry.

The City of Mackinac Island, which shares jurisdiction over Mackinac Island, calls M-185 "Main Street" within the built-up area on the island's southeast quadrant, and "Lake Shore Road" everywhere else.

[edit] Trivia

It is one of only three state trunkline routes in Michigan on islands. The others are M-134 on Drummond Island and M-154 on Harsens Island.
One of the only known motor vehicle collisions on Mackinac Island occurred on M-185 at the head of the Shepler passenger ferry dock, when the island's fire truck slightly damaged the island's ambulance on May 13, 2005. Both vehicles were responding to a report from the ferryboat that an injured passenger required medical attention.
As a circular highway, it has no specific termini. The location of the Visitor's Center (originally a U.S. Coast Guard station) on the island is used for the distances on the milemarkers posted. Only the wooden markers shown at the upper left of the page are used on the route.