M-63 (Michigan highway)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

M-63

Length:

16.29 mi^[1] (26.22 km)

Formed:

1986

South end:

M-139 at Scottdale

Major
junctions:

I-94 at St. Joseph

North end:

I-196/US 31 near Hagar Shores

Michigan highways
< M-62		M-64 >

M-63 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Michigan that runs from M-139 (formerly US 31) at Scottdale through the cities of Benton Harbor and St. Joseph to I-196/US 31 at Exit 7 just outside Hagar Shores. All of M-63's routing was part of US 33 before that highway's truncation south of Niles in 1986.

1 Expressway portion
2 Previous routing
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Expressway portion

The expressway portion of M-63 is a relic of a now revised plan of a freeway corridor for US 31 through the St. Joseph county area. The highway's only grade-separated interchange was at Klock Road. That interchange however, got demolished and downgraded to an at-grade intersection along with the overpass over the industrial access road to Whirlpool's warehouse in Benton Harbor. Today, there are only two overpasses over smaller roads existing on this stretch of expressway[1].

The expressway portion stretches from inside Benton Harbor to North Shore Drive. The highway is an expressway in its entire length except for a stub of it near where the expressway ends. The US 31 freeway project on this stretch of highway was most likely abandoned since they were focusing more on keeping freeways up to Interstate Highway standards and that this stretch of expressway fell far below those.