U.S. Route 31 in Michigan

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U.S. Route 31
Length: 356.04 mi[1] (572.99 km)
Major
junctions:		 I-94 at Benton Harbor

I-96 at Muskegon
US 10 in Ludington
US 131 at Petoskey
Michigan highways
< M-30 M-31 >

U.S. Highway 31 in Michigan runs from the Indiana-Michigan state line southwest of Niles to its terminus at I-75 south of Mackinaw City. It runs for 356 miles in the state. At the introduction of the US Highway system in the early 1920s the route of US 31 largely replaced the existing M-58 and M-11 route designations. It also crossed the Straits of Mackinac for a time before the Mackinac Bridge was built.

Contents

[edit] Major Cities

[edit] Major Intersections

[edit] History

Much of US-31 from the Indiana-Michigan state line and Ludington is built to freeway standards. Two notable exceptions are a short segment between Napier Ave and I-94 near Benton Harbor and between Holland and Ferrysburg. The portion of I-75 north of US 31's northern terminus toward the Mackinac Bridge was designated US-31 prior to the 1990s and was US-31's most northern portion to be built to freeway status. Since its truncation at the I-75 junction, however, the most northern segment of US-31 freeway ends near Ludington.

[edit] Termini

The northern terminus of US-31 is at I-75 south of Mackinaw City. In the 1920s and 30s, US-31 crossed the Straits of Mackinac via auto ferry and terminated at US-2 in Rogers Park north of Saint Ignace. US-31 enters the state of Michigan from Indiana southwest of Niles.

[edit] Business Routes

  • Bus US-31 - Muskegon. Starts as a continuation of Interstate 96 from its junction with US 31 via Seaway Dr for a large portion of the loop. It loops back to US 31 just north of the City of Muskegon.
  • Bus US-31 - Whitehall/Montague. Starts from Whitehall/Colby Rd via downtown, ending at the Fruitvale Rd exit.
  • Bus US-31 - Hart. A short spur from the Polk Rd exit to Main St in downtown Hart.
  • Bus US-31 - Pentwater. A loop that starts with Monroe Rd, through downtown, ending at the Oceana Dr exit.
  • Bus US-31 - Ludington. A spur using Pere Marquette Highway from the US-31 interchange northerly to US-10, where it terminates.

[edit] Lane configurations

The first 25 miles of US-31 is a four-lane freeway, with the subsequent two miles along Napier Ave a five-lane urban, undivided roadway to its southern junction with I-94. The portion of US-31 concurrent with I-94 near Benton Harbor travels along a six-lane freeway, while the next 47 miles (44 of which are concurrent with I-196) from north of Benton Harbor to Holland a four-lane freeway. The 24 miles from Holland to Grand Haven runs along a mixture of four-lane divided highway and four-lane divided expressway. At Grand Haven, US-31 crosses the Grand River via a six-lane bascule bridge. The next 67 miles from Ferrysburg to Ludington travels slong a four-lane freeway. From Ludington to its northern terminus south of Mackinaw City, US-31 consists largely of two-lane rural highway and four- to five-lane urban street segments. Two segments, however, have been constructed to two-lane limited-access standards: from Elk Rapids northerly and from Carp Lake to I-75.

[edit] Future

According to the recently passed Federal Transportation Bill an earmark was provided to begin planning and right of way purchases for a new route of the highway along the 120th ave corridor in Ottawa County, between Holland and Nunica. Due to tight transportation budgets at the state level, the Michigan Department of Transportation will begin construction on this project utilizing a staged approach. The first phase in Ottawa County, designated Future M-231, will consist of a two-lane highway constructed on four-lane right-of-way for future conversion to freeway standards from M-45 (Lake Michigan Dr) to I-96 at Nunica. This segment will include a new crossing over the Grand River. MDOT is currently working on environmental clearances for this project with right-of-way acquisition to begin thereafter. Any work on the proposed US-31 freeway corridor south of M-45 (Lake Michigan Dr) has not yet been scheduled.

A second major project along US-31 in southwest Michigan will complete the freeway in Berrien County. This project will connect the existing end of the US-31 freeway at Napier Ave with I-94 at the BL I-94 interchange east of Benton Harbor. A new cloverleaf interchange will be built where the US-31 freeway will meet I-94 and improvements to I-94 itself between this new interchange and the existing I-196 interchange will also be made. As originally proposed, however, the US-31 freeway was to have continued northerly from Napier Ave to an interchange with I-94 at I-196. These plans were scrapped when an endangered butterfly was found to live along the proposed path of the freeway.

[edit] Related routes

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bessert, Christopher J. (2006-3-2). Michigan Highways: Highways 30 through 39. Michigan Highways. Retrieved on 2006-3-2.
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