M-77 (Michigan highway)

File:M-77 northern terminus.jpg

From US 2 near Blaney Park going north, M-77 runs past the former Blaney Park Resort and out of town by a small private airport next to Lake Ann Louise. The highway continues through rural woodlands past Chip Lake. The road crosses the Manistique River as it runs through Germfask. From just south of Germfask to just south of Seney, the road forms the eastern boundary of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge.

The refuge is a managed wetland in Schoolcraft County in Michigan. Established in 1935, it has an area of {{convert|95,212|acres}} bordered by M-28 and M-77 that is the remains of the Great Manistique Swamp, a perched sand wetland located in the central UP. The refuge contains the Strangmoor Bog National Natural Landmark within its boundaries. During the 1930s, work crews employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) rebuilt, restored, and expanded the wetland drains, this time for active wetlands management purposes. These CCC ponds and drains are still used by the wetlands managers that staff the current National Wildlife Refuge.{{cite journal |last = Rosentreter |first = Roger L. |title = Roosevelt's Tree Army: Michigan's Civilian Conservation Corps |date = May–June 1986 |journal = Michigan History |url = http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17451_18670_18793-53515--,00.html |access-date = December 3, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071101015836/http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0%2C1607%2C7-160-17451_18670_18793-53515--%2C00.html |archive-date = November 1, 2007 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}

At Seney, M-77 crosses a line of the Canadian National Railway{{cite map |author = Michigan Department of Transportation |location = Lansing |scale = Scale not given |url = http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MDOT_Official_Rail_130897_7.pdf |title = Michigan's Railroad System |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |date = April 2009 |access-date = September 14, 2010 |format = PDF }} and turns east along M-28. Both run concurrently for less than half a mile (0.8 km) over a crossing of the Fox River before M-77 turns back northward. About {{convert|11|mi}} north of Seney, the road turns sharply to the west, near Snyder Lake. The trunkline continues along several other lakes before turning northeasterly and then northward. The road marks the easternmost extent of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore around {{convert|2.5|mi}} south of Grand Marais. Within Grand Marais, the highway follows Lake Avenue through downtown. M-77 intersects H-58 in town and the two designations run concurrently for two blocks. The trunkline continues one block farther north and ends at an intersection with Braziel Street by the Grand Marais harbor; the roadway continues northward as Lake Avenue at that point.{{cite MDOT map |year=2010 |sections=B8–D8}}{{google maps |url=https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=M-77+N&daddr=M-77+N%2FLake+Ave&hl=en&geocode=FXRxvwIdENvg-g%3BFZYryAIdDvnf-g&mra=ls&sll=46.667786,-85.990334&sspn=0.027624,0.029097&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=10 |title=Overview Map of M-77 |access-date=May 3, 2011}}

File:M-77 Heading North.jpg

Grand Marais is situated on the shores of Lake Superior some {{convert|25|mi|km|0}} north of the mainline of the Lake Superior Circle Tour. Since the Tour runs only along state trunklines in Michigan, a Scenic Spur of the tour was created to route traffic north from Seney to Grand Marais. The scenic spur also terminates in Grand Marais with M-77 north of the junction with H-58.{{cite web |author = Great Lakes Information Network |date = n.d. |url = http://www.great-lakes.net/tourism/circletour/superior/ |title = Lake Superior Circle Tour |publisher = Great Lakes Information Network |access-date = May 3, 2011 }}

M-77 is maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) like other state highways in Michigan. As a part of these maintenance responsibilities, the department tracks the volume of traffic that uses the roadways under its jurisdiction. These volumes are expressed using a metric called annual average daily traffic, which is a statistical calculation of the average daily number of vehicles on a segment of roadway. MDOT's surveys in 2009 showed that the highest traffic levels along M-77 were the 1,924 vehicles daily between Floodwood and Ten Curves roads in Schoolcraft county; the lowest counts were the 799 vehicles per day north of M-28 in Seney.{{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 = May 3, 2011 }} No section of M-77 has been listed on the National Highway System,{{cite map |author = Michigan Department of Transportation |date = April 23, 2006 |title = National Highway System, Michigan |scale = Scale not given |location = Lansing |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 route was first designated by July 1, 1919, with a route very close to its present course. A pair of sharp turns were straightened {{convert|11|mi|km|0}} north of Seney at Lavender Corner around 1950.{{cite MDOT map |date= 1950-04-15 |sections=B8–C8}}{{cite MDOT map |date=1951-04-15 |sections=B8–C8}} The last segments of gravel road were paved in 1958–59.{{cite MDOT map |year=1958 |sections=B8–C8}}{{cite MDOT map |year=1960 |sections= B8–C8}}

{{Clear}}

{{MIinttop|ref={{cite MDOT PRFA |link= yes |access-date=April 9, 2010}}}}

{{MIint

|county=Schoolcraft

|cspan=3

|location=Blaney Park

|mile=0.000

|road={{jct|state=MI|US|2|Tour|LMCT|city1=Manistique|city2=St. Ignace}}

|notes=}}

{{MIint

|location=Seney

|lspan=2

|mile=17.310

|type=concur

|road={{jct|state=MI|M|28|Tour|LSCT|dir1=west|dir2=west|city1=Munising|city2=Marquette}}

|notes=Western end of M-28 concurrency to cross the Fox River }}

{{MIint

|mile=17.670

|type=concur

|road={{jct|state=MI|M|28|Tour|LSCT|dir1=east|dir2=east|city1=Newberry|city2=Sault Ste. Marie}}
{{jct|state=MI|Tour|LSCT-Spur|dir1=north}}

|notes=Eastern end of M-28 concurrency; southern end of LSCT Scenic Spur concurrency}}

{{MIint

|county=Alger

|cspan=3

|location=Grand Marais

|lspan=3

|mile=42.219

|type=concur

|road={{jct|state=MI|CDH|H-58|county1=Alger|name1=Veteran Street|dir1=east|location1=Muskallonge Lake State Park}}

|notes=Southern end of H-58 concurrency}}

{{MIint

|mile=42.373

|type=concur

|road={{jct|state=MI|CDH|H-58|county1=Alger|name1=Carlson Street |dir1=west|city1=Munising}}

|notes= Northern end of H-58 concurrency}}

{{MIint

|mile=42.602

|type=concur

|road=Braziel Street
Lake Avenue
{{jct|state=MI|Tour|LSCT-Spur|dir1=south}}

|notes=Northern terminus of M-77 and LSCT Scenic Spur at Lake Avenue; roadway continues north as Lake Avenue}}

{{jctbtm|keys=concur}}

• {{portal-inline|Michigan Highways}}

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• [http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/M-077.html M-77] at Michigan Highways

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061105190954/http://www.fws.gov/midwest/seney/index.htm Seney National Wildlife Refuge]

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Category:Transportation in Schoolcraft County, Michigan

Category:Transportation in Alger County, Michigan