U.S. Route 31 in Michigan

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U.S. Route 31
Length: 356.04 mi[1] (572.99 km)
Formed: 1926
South end: US 31 at the Indiana-Michigan border
Major
junctions:		 I-94 at Benton Harbor
I-96 at Muskegon
US 10 in Ludington
US 131 at Petoskey
North end: I-75 near Mackinaw City
Michigan highways
< M-30 M-31 >

U.S. Route 31 in Michigan runs from the Indiana-Michigan state line of Niles Charter Township 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] Route description

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 St. Ignace. The former US 31/33, now M-51 South, enters the state of Michigan from Indiana in Niles Charter Township.

[edit] Lane configurations

Major cities

The first part of the former US 31/33 is a four-lane freeway into the City of Niles where a marker is placed on the corner of Bertrand Road and what is now South 11th Street (aka M-51) in Niles Charter Township. 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 along 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] 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.

The Michigan Memorial Highway Act (Act 142 of 2001) designates all of US 31 from the Indiana border to the Straits of Mackinac as the Blue Star Memorial Highway.[2][3] "Act 71 of 1952" had previously designated all of US 31 in the Lower Peninsula and the portion of US 2 from St. Ignace to Sault Ste. Marie, although this was not included in the Act of 2001. Various portions of former routings of US 31 throughout southwest and west Michigan are still called "Blue Star Highway".

[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 using 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.


[edit] Major intersections

[edit] Exit list

# Destinations Notes
3 US-12 – Niles, Sturgis, New Buffalo
5 Niles-Buchanan Road - Buchanan
7 Walton Road - Buchanan Former BUS US 31
13 Snow Road - Berrien Springs
15 M-139 / Old 31 – Benton Harbor, St. Joseph, Berrien Springs Signed as exits 15A (Old 31) and 15B (M-139) northbound
18 Tabor Road - Eau Claire
22 Pipestone Road - Eau Claire
24 Napier Avenue Temporary northern terminus of the freeway
Gap and I-196 overlap
I-196 north – Grand Rapids North end of I-196 overlap; south end of I-196 Bus. overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance
47A A-2 south (Blue Star Highway)
47B
I-196 BL north / US-31 BR north (Washington Avenue) – Holland

[edit] Bannered routes

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bessert, Christopher J. (2006-03-02). Michigan Highways: Highways 30 through 39. Michigan Highways. Retrieved on 2006-03-02.
  2. ^ Section 250.1011, Act 142 of 2001, Michigan Compiled Laws
  3. ^ All Memorial Highways, Michigan Department of Transportation

[edit] External links


U.S. Route 31
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Indiana		 Michigan Next state:
Terminus