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Michigan State Trunkline Highway System
The State Trunkline Highway System consists of all the state highways in Michigan, including those designated as Interstate, United States Numbered (US Highways), or State Trunkline highways. In their abbreviated format, these classifications are applied to highway numbers with an I-, US, or M- prefix, respectively. The system is maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and comprises 9,669 miles (15,561 km) of trunklines in all 83 counties of the state on both the Upper and Lower peninsulas (UP, LP), which are linked by the Mackinac Bridge. Components of the system range in scale from 10-lane urban freeways with local-express lanes to two-lane rural undivided highways to a non-motorized highway on Mackinac Island where cars are forbidden. The longest highway is nearly 400 miles (640 km) long, while the shortest is about three-quarters of a mile (about 1.2 km). Some roads are unsigned highways, lacking signage to indicate their maintenance by MDOT; these may be remnants of highways that are still under state control whose designations were decommissioned or roadway segments left over from realignment projects.
Predecessors to today's modern highways include the foot trails used by Native Americans in the time before European settlement. Shortly after the creation of the Michigan Territory in 1805, the new government established the first road districts. The federal government aided in the construction of roads to connect population centers in the territory. At the time, road construction was under the control of the township and county governments. The state government was briefly involved in roads until prohibited by a new constitution in 1850. Private companies constructed plank roads and charged tolls. Local township roads were financed and constructed through a statute labor system that required landowners to make improvements in lieu of taxes. Countywide coordination of road planning, construction and maintenance was enacted in the late 19th century.
In the early 20th century, the constitutional prohibition on state involvement in roads was removed. The Michigan State Highway Department (MSHD) was created in 1905, and the department paid counties and townships to improve roads to state standards. On May 13, 1913, the State Reward Trunk Line Highways Act was passed, creating the State Trunkline Highway System. The MSHD assigned internal highway numbers to roads in the system, and in 1919, the numbers were signposted along the roads and marked on maps. The US Highway System was created in 1926, and highways in Michigan were renumbered to account for the new designations. Legislation in the 1930s consolidated control of the state trunklines in the state highway department. During the 1940s, the first freeways were built in Michigan. With the introduction of the Interstate Highway system in the 1950s, the state aborted an effort to build the Michigan Turnpike, a tolled freeway in the southeast corner of the LP. Construction on Michigan's Interstates started in the latter part of that decade and continued until 1992. During that period, several freeways were canceled in the 1960s and 1970s, while others were delayed or modified over environmental and political concerns. Since 1992, few additional freeways have been built, and in the early years of the 21st century, projects are underway to bypass cities with new highways.
The letter M in the state highway numbers is an integral part of the designation and included on the diamond-shaped reassurance markers posted alongside the highways. The state's highways are referred to using an M-n syntax as opposed to Route n or Highway n, which are common elsewhere. This usage dates from 1919, when Michigan's state trunklines were first signed along the roadways, and continues to this day in official and unofficial contexts. Michigan is one of only two states following this syntax, the other one being Kansas.
Although M-n outside of Michigan could conceivably refer to other state, provincial, local, or national highways, local usage in those areas does not mimic the Michigan usage in most cases. In countries like the United Kingdom, M refers to motorways, analogous to freeways in the United States, whereas M-numbered designations in Michigan simply indicate state trunklines in general and may exist on any type of highway. M-numbered trunklines are designated along a variety of roads, including eight-lane freeways in urban areas, four-lane rural freeways and expressways, principal arterial highways, and two-lane highways in remote rural areas. The system also includes M-185 on Mackinac Island, a non-motorized road restricted to bicycles, horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians.
The highest numbers used for highway designations include M-553 in the UP and Interstate 696 (I-696) running along the northern Detroit suburbs. The lowest numbers in use are M-1 along Woodward Avenue in the Detroit area and US Highway 2 (US 2) across the UP. Most M-numbered trunkline designations are in the low 200s or under, but some have been designated in the low 300s. MDOT has not assigned a designation outside the Interstate System in the 400s at this time. No discernible pattern exists in Michigan's numbering system, although most of the M-numbered routes lower than 15 are typically located in or around the major cities of Detroit and Grand Rapids.
Unlike some other states, there are no formal rules prohibiting the usage of the same route number under different systems. Motorists using Michigan's highways may encounter I-75 and M-75, as well as both US 8 and M-8. Many of the state's US Highways were assigned numbers duplicating those of state trunklines when the US Highway System was created in 1926. The introduction of the Interstate Highway System in the late 1950s further complicated the situation, as each mainline Interstate designation has an unrelated M-n trunkline counterpart elsewhere in the state.
Many former US Highways in Michigan have left an M-numbered highway with the same number as a relic of their existence. For example, M-27 runs along a portion of former US 27. In addition, there are two occurrences of original M-numbered state routes which became US Highways with the same designations: all of M-16 became US 16 and most of M-10 from Detroit to Saginaw was assumed into the route of US 10 in 1926. In fact, each iteration of M-10 has existed in whole or part along a former or future alignment of US 10.
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Michigan State Trunkline Highway System
The State Trunkline Highway System consists of all the state highways in Michigan, including those designated as Interstate, United States Numbered (US Highways), or State Trunkline highways. In their abbreviated format, these classifications are applied to highway numbers with an I-, US, or M- prefix, respectively. The system is maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and comprises 9,669 miles (15,561 km) of trunklines in all 83 counties of the state on both the Upper and Lower peninsulas (UP, LP), which are linked by the Mackinac Bridge. Components of the system range in scale from 10-lane urban freeways with local-express lanes to two-lane rural undivided highways to a non-motorized highway on Mackinac Island where cars are forbidden. The longest highway is nearly 400 miles (640 km) long, while the shortest is about three-quarters of a mile (about 1.2 km). Some roads are unsigned highways, lacking signage to indicate their maintenance by MDOT; these may be remnants of highways that are still under state control whose designations were decommissioned or roadway segments left over from realignment projects.
Predecessors to today's modern highways include the foot trails used by Native Americans in the time before European settlement. Shortly after the creation of the Michigan Territory in 1805, the new government established the first road districts. The federal government aided in the construction of roads to connect population centers in the territory. At the time, road construction was under the control of the township and county governments. The state government was briefly involved in roads until prohibited by a new constitution in 1850. Private companies constructed plank roads and charged tolls. Local township roads were financed and constructed through a statute labor system that required landowners to make improvements in lieu of taxes. Countywide coordination of road planning, construction and maintenance was enacted in the late 19th century.
In the early 20th century, the constitutional prohibition on state involvement in roads was removed. The Michigan State Highway Department (MSHD) was created in 1905, and the department paid counties and townships to improve roads to state standards. On May 13, 1913, the State Reward Trunk Line Highways Act was passed, creating the State Trunkline Highway System. The MSHD assigned internal highway numbers to roads in the system, and in 1919, the numbers were signposted along the roads and marked on maps. The US Highway System was created in 1926, and highways in Michigan were renumbered to account for the new designations. Legislation in the 1930s consolidated control of the state trunklines in the state highway department. During the 1940s, the first freeways were built in Michigan. With the introduction of the Interstate Highway system in the 1950s, the state aborted an effort to build the Michigan Turnpike, a tolled freeway in the southeast corner of the LP. Construction on Michigan's Interstates started in the latter part of that decade and continued until 1992. During that period, several freeways were canceled in the 1960s and 1970s, while others were delayed or modified over environmental and political concerns. Since 1992, few additional freeways have been built, and in the early years of the 21st century, projects are underway to bypass cities with new highways.
The letter M in the state highway numbers is an integral part of the designation and included on the diamond-shaped reassurance markers posted alongside the highways. The state's highways are referred to using an M-n syntax as opposed to Route n or Highway n, which are common elsewhere. This usage dates from 1919, when Michigan's state trunklines were first signed along the roadways, and continues to this day in official and unofficial contexts. Michigan is one of only two states following this syntax, the other one being Kansas.
Although M-n outside of Michigan could conceivably refer to other state, provincial, local, or national highways, local usage in those areas does not mimic the Michigan usage in most cases. In countries like the United Kingdom, M refers to motorways, analogous to freeways in the United States, whereas M-numbered designations in Michigan simply indicate state trunklines in general and may exist on any type of highway. M-numbered trunklines are designated along a variety of roads, including eight-lane freeways in urban areas, four-lane rural freeways and expressways, principal arterial highways, and two-lane highways in remote rural areas. The system also includes M-185 on Mackinac Island, a non-motorized road restricted to bicycles, horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians.
The highest numbers used for highway designations include M-553 in the UP and Interstate 696 (I-696) running along the northern Detroit suburbs. The lowest numbers in use are M-1 along Woodward Avenue in the Detroit area and US Highway 2 (US 2) across the UP. Most M-numbered trunkline designations are in the low 200s or under, but some have been designated in the low 300s. MDOT has not assigned a designation outside the Interstate System in the 400s at this time. No discernible pattern exists in Michigan's numbering system, although most of the M-numbered routes lower than 15 are typically located in or around the major cities of Detroit and Grand Rapids.
Unlike some other states, there are no formal rules prohibiting the usage of the same route number under different systems. Motorists using Michigan's highways may encounter I-75 and M-75, as well as both US 8 and M-8. Many of the state's US Highways were assigned numbers duplicating those of state trunklines when the US Highway System was created in 1926. The introduction of the Interstate Highway System in the late 1950s further complicated the situation, as each mainline Interstate designation has an unrelated M-n trunkline counterpart elsewhere in the state.
Many former US Highways in Michigan have left an M-numbered highway with the same number as a relic of their existence. For example, M-27 runs along a portion of former US 27. In addition, there are two occurrences of original M-numbered state routes which became US Highways with the same designations: all of M-16 became US 16 and most of M-10 from Detroit to Saginaw was assumed into the route of US 10 in 1926. In fact, each iteration of M-10 has existed in whole or part along a former or future alignment of US 10.