U.S. Route 12 in Michigan

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U.S. Route 12
Maintained by MDOT
Length:	208.90 mi[1] (336.19 km)
Formed:	1926
West end:	US 12 at the Indiana-Michigan border
Major junctions:	I-94 in New Buffalo US 31 in Niles US 131 in Three Rivers I-69 in Coldwater US 127 near Somerset US 23 near Ann Arbor I-94 in Ypsilanti US 24 in Dearborn I-94 in Dearborn I-96 in Detroit
East end:	corner of Michigan Ave. & Cass Ave. in Detroit
Counties:	Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph, Branch, Hillsdale, Lenawee, Washtenaw, Wayne
Michigan highways < M-11 M-12 >

U.S. Route 12 in Michigan is the section of the larger US highway in the U.S. state of Michigan. Previous to the creation of Interstate highways in Michigan, US 12 ran along Michigan Avenue between Kalamazoo and Detroit, a highway corridor now served by I-94. The US 12 designation was moved at that time to replace US 112 between New Buffalo and Ann Arbor.

Contents 1 Route description 2 History 2.1 Michigan Avenue 2.2 Current routing 3 Major intersections 4 References

[edit] Route description

US 12 enters the state of Michigan west of New Buffalo near the town of Michiana. The Lake Michigan Circle Tour is routed along US 12 until the two meet I-94 in New Buffalo. US 12 continues across the southern portion of Berrien County running eastward to Niles. There US 12 meets US 31/St. Joseph Valley Parkway. US 12 runs parallel to the state line intersecting US 131 near White Pigeon and M-66 in Sturgis in St. Joseph County. East of Sturgis, US 12 turns norteasterly to Coldwater and a major intersection with I-69.

East of Coldwater, US 12 runs northeastward to Jonesville northwest of Hillsdale where it meets M-99. In Jackson County it passes near the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. It runs along the Lenawee/Washtenaw county line before turning northeast to Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. Here it forms Michigan Avenue the rest of the way to Detroit. US 12 and Michigan Avenue part ways briefly in Ypsilanti when US 12 follows I-94 and BUS US 12 follows Michigan Avenue near Willow Run. US 12 runs roughly parallel to I-94 east to Detroit before crossing over to the south side of the freeway and ending downtown Detroit at the corner of Michigan and Cass.

[edit] History

Old U.S. 12 in Michigan runs from downtown Detroit to Chicago. It was replaced by Interstate 94 in 1962, and the state of Michigan re-routed the U.S. 12 designation to the former route of U.S. Highway 112.

It was an old highway that ran through the middle of the major towns and cities of Michigan between Detroit and Chicago. In most cases the road is still there, and is named either Michigan Avenue, Old U.S. 12 or the Red Arrow Highway, named after the 32nd Infantry Division^[2][3]. It is still possible to drive the highway from downtown Detroit all the way to The Magnificent Mile in Chicago, with only a few places in which one is required to navigate around the interstate highway. The major break in Old U.S. 12 is in the middle of Michigan half way between the village of Parma and the city of Albion. It is at this point that I-94 cuts south to some degree and bisects the old highway, forcing a motorist to navigate north on smaller roads.

Prior to 1956, the Detroit-Ann Arbor segment of U.S. 12 was routed directly through Ann Arbor, through Plymouth Township, Livonia, and Redford Township, into Detroit, along the Plymouth-Ann Arbor Road corridor to Plymouth Road's eastern terminus at U.S. 16, Grand River Avenue. U.S. 12 continued on Grand River Avenue, co-signed with U.S. 16, into downtown Detroit. Except for the co-signed Grand River Avenue segment, this route was designated as M-14 when U.S. 12 was rerouted to the Detroit Industrial and Willow Run Expressways, which became I-94 in 1962.

The highway is considered an important historic road like Route 66. Some of it had been the original Territorial Road of Michigan laid out in the early 1800s.

[edit] Michigan Avenue

Michigan Avenue is one of the major pre-interstate roads of the state of Michigan. Running through the state east to west, it follows the former course of old US 12 which itself followed the earlier military territorial highway, the Chicago Road. Today the Michigan Avenue name follows a discontinuous route: from downtown Detroit to Hayes State Park in Lenawee County it follows the current route of US 12. West of this on the current US 12, the Michigan Avenue name is dropped and the road is known as simply "US 12" (west of the junction with US 127 the road is also known as "Chicago Road").

From the eastern Jackson County boundary west to Battle Creek, it mostly follows the route of old US 12, although it has been routed over newer roads in places where I-94 was built over the former US 12. The Michigan Avenue designation ends on the west side of Kalamazoo, near US 131, and reappears only within the village of Paw Paw.

In Detroit, Michigan Avenue is one of five major avenues (along with Woodward, Grand River, Gratiot and Jefferson) planned by judge Augustus Woodward in 1805 that extend from downtown Detroit in differing directions. Like the other major avenues, the road extends well beyond the city of Detroit, and historically served as a principal axis of expansion for development beyond Detroit and as the main street of many small towns along its route. The road was a principal settlement and trade route to the west, connecting the water route through the Great Lakes from the east to Chicago and the west without the long passage by water around the unsettled North of Michigan.

Tiger Stadium, the home of the Detroit Tigers from 1895-1999, was colloquially named "The Corner", referring to its location on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Trumbull Street in Detroit.

[edit] Current routing

The US 12 designation was moved to supplant US 112 in Michigan in January 1962. This removed the US 12 designation from the I-94 freeway except for the Ypsilanti bypass, and US 112 was completely removed as a highway designation. BUS US 112 in both Niles and Ypsilanti became BUS US 12. On 2001-03-15, US 12 was shortened in Detroit by four city blocks to end along Michigan Avenue at Griswold Street. This would be shortened again on 2005-06-08 to Michigan Avenue and Cass Avenue.

Pulaski Memorial Highway, after Kazimierz Pułaski, is an honorary name given to the current routing.^[4]

[edit] Major intersections

County	Location	Mile	Roads	Notes
Berrien	New Buffalo	0.00	US 12	Western terminus of Michigan segment of US 12
			I-94
	Bertrand Township		US 31 St. Joseph Valley Parkway
			BUS US 12 W Chicago Road
	Niles Township		BUS US 12 M-51 S 11th Street
Cass	Milton Township		M-60 Detroit Road	US 12 leaves Niles bypass
	Edwardsburg		M-62
	Mason Township		M-205
			M-217 Michiana Parkway
	Porter Township		M-40
St. Joseph	Mottville		M-103
	White Pigeon		US 131
	Sturgis		M-66 S Centerville Road	Western terminus of concurrency
			M-66 N Nottawa Street	Eastern terminus of concurrency
Branch	Coldwater Township		M-86 E Colon Road
	Coldwater		BL I-69	Western terminus of concurrency
	Coldwater Township		I-69
			BL I-69	Eastern terminus of concurrency
Hillsdale	Allen		M-49 N Allen Road	Western terminus of concurrency
	Allen Township		M-49 N Edon Road	Eastern terminus of concurrency
	Jonesville		M-99 W Carleton Road	Western terminus of concurrency
			M-99 Homer Road	Eastern terminus of concurrency
Lenawee	Woodstock Township		US 127 US 223 S Meridian Road
	Cambridge Township		M-50
			M-124 Wamplers Lake Road
	Franklin Township		M-52
Washtenaw	Pittsfield Township		US 23
	Ypsilanti Township		I-94	Western terminus of concurrency; starts at Exit 181
	Ypsilanti		BUS US 12 S. Huron Street	Exit 183
	Ypsilanti Township		I-94	Eastern terminus of concurrency; ends at Exit 185
Wayne	Van Buren Township		BUS US 12 E. Michigan Avenue
	Canton Township		I-275
	Dearborn		US 24 Telegraph Road
			M-39 Southfield Freeway
			I-94 Edsel Ford Freeway
	Detroit		M-153 Ford Road
			I-75 Fisher Freeway
			M-10 Lodge Freeway
		208.90	Cass Avenue	Eastern terminus of US 12; Michigan Avenue continues to Woodward Avenue

Legend
Crossing, no access	Concurrency terminus	Deleted	Unconstructed	Closed

[edit] References

U.S. Route 12
Previous state: Indiana	Michigan	Next state: Terminus

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