H-63 (Michigan county highway)

H-63
Mackinac Trail
Route information
Maintained by Mackinac & Chippewa county road commissions
Length: 45.38 mi[2] (73.03 km)
Existed: c. October 5, 1970[1] – present
Major junctions
South end: I-75 / BL I-75 near St. Ignace
  To M-123 near St. Ignace
To M-134 near St. Ignace
M-48 near Rudyard

I-75 / M-80 in Kinross

M-28 near Dafter
North end: BS I-75 in Sault Ste. Marie
Location
Counties: Mackinac, Chippewa
Highway system

County-Designated Highways

← H-60 A-2 →

H-63 is a county-designated highway (CDH) in the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The highway parallels the Interstate 75 (I-75) corridor between St. Ignace and Sault Ste. Marie. The road is called Mackinac Trail, named for an Indian trail used before European settlers reached the area. Later the roadway was used as a section of US Highway 2 (US 2) before being added to the CDH system in the 1970s.

H-63 serves as a two-lane alternative to the I-75 freeway across the eastern end of the Upper Peninsula. Between the northern side of St. Ignace, the roadway has connections to two state highways before running concurrently with M-48 near Rudyard. H-63 ends on the south side of Sault Ste. Marie.

Contents

Route description

H-63 starts a winding trail at Business Loop I-75 (BL I-75) north of St. Ignace in rural Mackinac County. From there, the highway heads northward towards the new Kewadin Casino. The road then passes within viewing distance of I-75 past the Horseshoe Bay Wilderness. As it continues , H-63 has a connection to the southern terminus of M-123 with access to I-75 via a connecting road to M-123. After crossing to the west side of I-75, H-63 has access to I-75 via a connecting road to the western terminus of M-134. The CDH runs to the north and into Chippewa County. As it does so, H-63 turns away from I-75 as the latter curves northeastward. South of Rudyard and into center of the community, H-63 runs concurrently with M-48 for about three miles (4.8 km).[3][4]

From Rudyard northward, H-63 once again runs parallel to I-75. At Kinross, there is an interchange between I-75 and M-80; H-63 has a brief concurrency with M-80 so that the the latter can connect to all of the ramps in the interchange. The trail then crosses to the eastern side of I-75. Near Dafter, the CDH intersects M-28. Along this section, H-63 is roughly a half mile (0.8 km) away from the I-75 freeway at any given point as it continues northward to the Sault Ste. Marie area. H-63 terminates at its intersection with Business Spur I-75 (BS I-75) on the south side of the city.[3][4]

History

The first transportation route in the area was the Mackinac Trail, used by Native Americans before the Europeans arrived in the area.[5] Until 1933, no roadway was built along the path of the Indian trail. After that year, US 2 was rerouted between St. Ignace and Sault Ste. Marie using the modern routing of H-63.[6][7] This placed the Mackinac Trail on the state trunkline highway system for the first time. Later in 1962 and 1963, the state transferred the highway to county control when US 2 was rerouted to follow the completed I-75 freeway.[8][9][10] With the transfer to local control, Mackinac Trail became a county road. Later, it was given the H-63 designation after October 5, 1970 as part of the County-Designated Highway System.[1] The designation on the 1971 state map follows the routing used today.[11]

Major intersections

County Location Mile[2] Destinations Notes
Mackinac
 St. Ignace Township 0.00 I-75 – St. Ignace, Sault Ste. Marie
BL I-75 south – St. Ignace
LHCT
4.67 To M-123 north – Trout Lake
12.00 To M-134 east / LHCT east – Cedarville
Chippewa
 Rudyard Township 22.26 M-48 east – Pickford Southern end of M-48 concurrency
Rudyard 25.17 M-48 west Northern end of M-48 concurrency; access to I-75
25.31 H-40 west Eastern terminus of H-40
Kinross 30.49–
30.78		 I-75 / M-80 east – St. Ignace, Sault Ste. Marie Short concurrency at the western terminus of M-80 so the latter can connect to all of the ramps in the I-75 exit 378 interchange
Dafter Township 39.02 M-28 – Munising, Marquette
Sault Ste. Marie 45.38 BS I-75 / LHCT – Sault Ste. Marie
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
     Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "County Primary Road Marking System Okayed". Holland Evening Sentinel: p. 6. October 5, 1970. 
  2. ^ a b "MiGDL - Center for Geographic Information - Geographic Data Library". Michigan Department of Information Technology. May 2007. http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/mgdl/?rel=thext&action=thmname&cid=14&cat=MI+Geographic+Framework+All+Roads+%28v7b%29. Retrieved February 4, 2008. 
  3. ^ a b Michigan Department of Transportation (2010). Official Department of Transportation Map (Map). 1 in.:15 mi/1 cm:9 km. Section B11–D10. 
  4. ^ a b Google, Inc. Google Maps – Overview Map of H-63 (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Unknown+road&daddr=45.926172,-84.7362829+to:45.9904371,-84.7342472+to:46.17034,-84.60745+to:46.24465,-84.57186+to:46.3055323,-84.4727995+to:46.3996631,-84.3956764+to:W+3+Mile+Rd&hl=en&geocode=FT57vAIduPry-g%3BFRzHvAId5gbz-ilfSfzx7fc1TTEshE1JlecOtQ%3BFSXCvQId2Q7z-imtXZzfmPg1TTH6Gxcum7-wnQ%3BFeSAwAIdJv70-iljDnuwGgQ2TTEyeY63LMrbGg%3BFSqjwQIdLIn1-inzRY4sNBs2TTFquss6SIaW5w%3BFfyQwgIdIQz3-ilFXyxWzRA2TTH4e6_C98SlSQ%3BFa8AxAIdZDn4-ikPjf4pCz42TTHpcp0A4FOebA%3BFYD5xAId_pD4-g&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=6&sz=13&via=1,2,3,4,5,6&sll=46.427919,-84.38942&sspn=0.111813,0.128231&ie=UTF8&ll=46.26819,-84.48761&spn=0.897113,1.025848&t=h&z=10. Retrieved September 21, 2010. 
  5. ^ Mason, Philip P. (1959). Michigan Highways from Indian Trails to Expressways. Ann Arbor, MI: Braun-Brumfield. p. 18. OCLC 23314983. 
  6. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (May 1, 1933). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map). Cartography by Rand McNally. Section B11–D10. 
  7. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (September 1, 1933). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map). Cartography by Rand McNally. Section B11–D10. 
  8. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (1962). Official Highway Map (Map). Section B11–D10. 
  9. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (1963). Official Highway Map (Map). Section B11–D10. 
  10. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (1964). Official Highway Map (Map). Section B11–D10. 
  11. ^ Michigan Department of State Highways (1971). Official Highway Map (Map). Section E10–E11. 

External links