Michigan Highways
The State Trunkline Highway System of the US state of Michigan is a network of roads owned and maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). The most prominent of these roads are part of one of three numbered highway systems in Michigan: Interstates Highways, US Highways, and the other State Trunklines. Other systems of roads are operated by the 83 counties in the state as well as each city.
Interstate Highways and US Highways are assigned at the national level. Interstate Highways are numbered in a grid—even-numbered routes are east–west routes (but the lowest numbers are along Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico), and odd-numbered routes are north–south routes (with the lowest numbers along the Pacific Ocean). US Highways are also numbered in a grid—even numbered for east–west routes (with the lowest numbers along Canada) and odd numbered for north–south routes (with the lowest numbers along the Atlantic Ocean). For this reason, mainline (two-digit) Interstate Highways in Michigan all have numbers above 69 and mainline US Highways all have numbers below 45. Three-digit Interstate and U.S. Highways, also known as "child routes," are branches off their main one- or two-digit "parents". The Interstate and US Highways are maintained by MDOT. Interstate 75 (I-75) and US Highway 23 (US 23) are the longest examples in the state.
State Trunklines are the other state highways maintained by MDOT. These highways are completely owned and maintained by the state. Michigan highways are properly referred to using the M and never as "Route 28" or "Highway 115", but as M-28 or M-115. The marker used for state trunklines is a diamond with a block-letter "M" at the top. Roads that are maintained by the state but not assigned a state trunkline designation carry an unsigned highway designation.
County-Designated Highways are assigned numbers in a zone system by MDOT, but maintained by the counties. Each zone is indicated by a letter A–H which is followed by a number based on a grid inside that zone. Each county also maintains any other roadway that is not a state trunkline or a city street. The numbering and signing practices vary from county to county, as does the size of each county's system. Numerical designations typically do not carry over from one county to the next; a CDH that crosses county lines keeps its designation in each county however. County road designations are typically abbreviated "CR" or "Co Rd" followed by the number, and CDHs are abbreviated to just their letter and number assignment.
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The State Trunkline Highway System is made up of all the highways designated as Interstates, U.S. Highways and State Highways in the US state of Michigan. The system is maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and comprises 9,716 miles (15,636 km) of trunklines in all 83 counties of Michigan on both the Upper and Lower peninsulas, linked by the Mackinac Bridge. The system ranges in size from the unsigned Business Spur Interstate 375 (BS I-375) at 0.170 miles (0.274 km) and signed M-212 at 0.732 miles (1.178 km) to Interstate 75 (I-75) at 395.40 miles (636.33 km). Some trunklines in Michigan are maintained by MDOT but bear no signage along the route to indicate this. The remainder of the system is comprised of the Interstate, US and State Highways throughout Michigan. MDOT also maintains all of the business and connector route variants in the system. The system was formed in 1913 with passage of the State Trunkline Act. The first signs were installed in 1919, making Michigan the second state after Wisconsin to do so. (more...)
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Did you know...
- ... that along the "Tunnel of Trees" (pictured), M-119 has no centerline?
- ... that M-17 used to extend across the Lower Peninsula, but now it only runs from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti?
- ... that the 267 miles (430 km) of US 131 includes only 0.67 miles (1.08 km) in Indiana?
- ... that county road F-41 was previously M-171?
- ... that M-179 is a Michigan Heritage Route named for Chief Nooday?
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State Trunkline System, overview of the system
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