:M-119 (Michigan highway)

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|image1 = 2009-0619-UP022-TunnelofTrees.jpg

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|footer = Portions of the Tunnel of Trees section running between Harbor Springs and Good Hart, lacking a centerline

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M-119 starts at an intersection with US 31 about four miles (6.4 km) northeast of Petoskey near the community of Bay View in Bear Creek Township. The highway runs north between Petoskey State Park on the west and Round Lake on the east as it rounds the east end of Little Traverse Bay. The trunkline passes the eastern and northern edges of the Harbor Springs Municipal Airport as it turns westward near the junction with C-81 (Pleasantview Road). Through this area, M-119 runs through the community of Wequetonsing and forests just inland from the bay's northern shore. As it passes into the city limits of Harbor Springs, the highway follows Main Street into downtown. It turns north and then westward along State Street in the middle of town, intersecting the southern end of C-77 in the central business district. M-119 continues westward, passing through a residential area on Bluff Drive as it leaves the city.{{cite MDOT map |year=2011 |section= E10}}{{google maps |url= https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=M-119+N&daddr=45.51304,-85.10478+to:N+State+Rd&hl=en&sll=45.515485,-84.970075&sspn=0.46334,0.465546&geocode=FdaVtAIdPFbw-g%3BFVB5tgIddGft-ilBA4UAvmFKTTGPKwl-lTSzsw%3BFeFvuAId1Wvu-g&vpsrc=0&mra=dpe&mrsp=1&sz=11&via=1&t=h&z=11 |title= Overview Map of M-119 |access-date= September 6, 2011}}

From Harbor Springs on, M-119 is the Tunnel of Trees Scenic Heritage Route,{{cite web |url = http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9621_11041_11209-220123--,00.html |title = Interactive Heritage Route Listing |date = December 8, 2010 |author = Michigan Department of Transportation |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |access-date = September 6, 2011 }} one of the Pure Michigan Byways in the state. Bluff Drive becomes Lake Shore Drive near the Harbor Point Golf Course, and M-119 turns northward to follow the Lake Michigan shoreline at the mouth of Little Traverse Bay. The roadway meanders through oaks, maples, birch and cedars along an old Ottawa trail. The writers at National Geographic said that "only sometimes can you catch glimmers of Lake Michigan through the trees, but the dense foliage lends beauty to the winding road".{{cite book |author = National Geographic Society |author-link = National Geographic Society |year = 2001 |title = Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways |location = Washington, DC |publisher = National Geographic Society |edition = 2nd |isbn = 0-7922-7468-7 |page = 123 |url = https://archive.org/details/nationalgeograph0000unse_r0d6/page/123 |url-access = registration |access-date = December 18, 2019 |via = Archive.org }} Along this area of the routing, the highway narrows in width and continues through the forest without a centerline most of the remainder of the way. As the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) states on their website, "M-119 is not a road for those in a hurry." The roadway is known as the Tunnel of Trees because, "the foliage from trees on either side of the road meets high over the middle of road where it forms a canopy so soft that it lets daylight trickle through in small amounts only."{{cite book |last1 = Wargin |first1= Kathy-jo |last2 = Wargin |first2 = Ed |name-list-style = amp |year = 1997 |title = Scenic Driving Michigan |location = Guilford, Connecticut |publisher = Falcon Guide |page = 96 |isbn = 978-1-56044-518-0 }} The trunkline continues through the community of Good Hart up the Lake Michigan shoreline to the community of Cross Village. M-119, and state maintenance, end at the intersection between Lake Shore Drive and C-66/C-77 (State Road) in the middle of town.

As part of the state's maintenance of M-119, MDOT tracks the volume of traffic that uses the roadway. MDOT's surveys in 2010 showed that the highest traffic levels along M-119 were the 14,647 vehicles daily near the southern terminus, on average; the lowest counts were the 2,036 vehicles per day at the northern terminus.{{cite web |author = Bureau of Transportation Planning |url = http://mdotnetpublic.state.mi.us/tmispublic/ |title = Traffic Monitoring Information System |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |year = 2008 |access-date = September 6, 2011 }} None of M-119 has been listed on the National Highway System,{{cite map |author = Michigan Department of Transportation |location = Lansing |scale = Scale not given |title = National Highway System, Michigan |date = April 23, 2006 |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |url = http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MDOT_NHS_Statewide_150626_7.pdf |format = PDF |access-date = October 7, 2008 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121004040152/http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MDOT_NHS_Statewide_150626_7.pdf |archive-date = October 4, 2012 |df = mdy-all }} a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.{{cite web |first1 = Stefan |last1 = Natzke |first2 = Mike |last2 = Neathery |first3 = Kevin |last3 = Adderly |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/ |title = What is the National Highway System? |work = National Highway System |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |date = June 20, 2012 |access-date = July 1, 2012 |name-list-style = amp }} The Discovery Channel named the roadway as one of the "Top 10 Motorcycle Rides in North America".{{cite web |author = Discovery Channel |author-link = Discovery Channel |date = n.d. |url = http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/north-america/top-10/motorcycle-rides.htm |title = Top 10 Motorcycle Rides in North America |publisher = Discovery Channel |access-date = October 9, 2013 }}

The first incarnation {{circa|1930}} of the M-119 designation ran from an intersection {{convert|4|mi|km|spell=in}} south of US 12 in Paw Paw south to Lawton in Van Buren County.{{cite MDOT map |date=1930-01-01 |c-link= yes }} By the middle of 1936, it had been extended farther south to US 112 near Mottville.{{cite MDOT map |date=1936-06-01 |c-link= yes |sections=M8–N8}} In 1971, all of M-119 was redesignated as M-40.{{cite MDOT map |year=1971 |link= yes |sections= M8–N8}}{{cite MDOT map |year=1972 |sections= M8–N8}}

{{Infobox road small

|header_type=former

|state=MI

|type=M 1973

|route=131

|length_mi= 27.548

|length_ref=

|formed=1926

|deleted=1979

|location=Bay View–Cross Village

}}

The current highway was designated in 1979, replacing the former route of M-131;{{cite MDOT map |year= 1979 |link= yes |section= E10}}{{cite MDOT map |year=1980 |section= E10}} the routing has remained unchanged since. This section of highway had been part of M-13 on July 1, 1919, when the state trunkline highway system debuted.{{cite MDOT map |date=1919-07-01L |link= yes }}{{#tag:ref|The first state highways in Michigan were signposted in 1919.{{cite news |title = Michigan May Do Well Following Wisconsin's Road Marking System |work = The Grand Rapids Press |date = September 20, 1919 |page = 10 }}|name=name|group=lower-alpha}} Later on November 11, 1926, M-13 south of Fife Lake was redesignated as part of US 131,{{cite map |author1 = Bureau of Public Roads |author-link = Bureau of Public Roads |author2 = American Association of State Highway Officials |author2-link = American Association of State Highway Officials |date = November 11, 1926 |title = United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials |url = https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_System_of_Highways_Adopted_for_Uniform_Marking_by_the_American_Association_of_State_Highway_Officials.jpg |scale = 1:7,000,000 |location = Washington, DC |publisher = United States Geological Survey |oclc = 32889555 |access-date = November 7, 2013 |via = Wikimedia Commons |name-list-style = amp }} and the remainder of M-13 was designated as M-131.{{cite MDOT map |date=1926-12-01 }}

Until 1933, M-131 had terminated in Harbor Springs; the highway was extended to the north along Little Traverse Bay and the Lake Michigan shoreline through the community of Good Hart before terminating in Cross Village.{{cite MDOT map |date=1933-05-01 |section= E10}}{{cite MDOT map |date=1933-09-01 |section= E10}} This section of highway would be stripped of its designation in 1937 and truncated back to Harbor Springs.{{cite MDOT map |date=1937-05-15 |section=E10}}{{cite MDOT map |date=1937-12-01 |section=E10}} In late 1938 or early 1939, the State Highway Department extended US 131 along the M-131 corridor to Petoskey. This allowed US 131 to finally connect to its parent, US 31 for the first time since their inception in 1926.{{cite MDOT map |date=1938-12-01 |sections=E9–G10}}{{cite MDOT map |date=1939-04-15 |sections=E9–G10}} The MSHD re-extended M-131 back to Cross Village in 1945.{{cite MDOT map |date=1945-10-01 |section= E10}} The highway remained as such until 1967 when a slight realignment was made in Emmet County along the lakeshore where M-131 was routed on to its final alignment.{{cite MDOT map |year=1967 |section=E10}}{{cite MDOT map |year=1968 |section=E10}} The southern end was moved in 1969 out of Petoskey so that M-131 would no longer run concurrently with US 31 to connect with US 131.{{cite news |url = https://newspaperarchive.com/anonymous-other-articles-clipping-sep-18-1969-812692/ |title = Route Number Changed |work = The Hillsdale Daily News |date = September 18, 1969 |agency = Associated Press |page = 2 |oclc = 35329761 |access-date = September 1, 2018 |via = NewspaperArchive.com }}

{{MIinttop|ref={{cite MDOT PRFA |link= yes |access-date=September 6, 2011}} |county=Emmet}}

{{MIint

|location=Bear Creek Township

|lspan=2

|mile=0.000

|road={{jct|state=MI|US|31|Tour|LMCT|city1=Petoskey|city2=Mackinaw City}}

|notes=}}

{{MIint

|mile=3.196

|road={{jct|state=MI|CDH|C-81|county1=Emmet|name1=Pleasantview Road|dir1=north|city1=Mackinaw City}}

|notes=Southern terminus of C-81 }}

{{MIint

|location=Harbor Springs

|mile=7.200

|road={{jct|state=MI|CDH|C-77|county1=Emmet|name1=State Road|dir1=north|city1=Cross Village}}

|notes= Southern terminus of C-77}}

{{MIint

|location=Cross Village

|mile=27.548

|road={{jct|state=MI|CDH|C-66|CDH|C-77|county1=Emmet|county2=Emmet|dir2=south|dir1=east|city1=Cheboygan|city2=Harbor Springs}}

|notes=Western terminus of C-66 and northern terminus of C-77}}

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{{Portal|Michigan Highways}}

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{{Commons category|M-119 (Michigan highway)|M-119}}

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• [https://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/M-119.html M-119] at Michigan Highways
• [https://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/M-131.html M-131] at Michigan Highways

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Category:Transportation in Emmet County, Michigan