Michigan State Trunkline Highway System#Works cited

File:WelcomeToMichiganSignUS8Nov2009.jpg

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.{{cite book |author1 = Federal Highway Administration |author2 = Michigan Department of Transportation |author3 = Michigan State Police |name-list-style = amp |author1-link = Federal Highway Administration |author3-link = Michigan State Police |date = December 2009 |chapter-url = https://mdotcf.state.mi.us/public/tands/Details_Web/mmutcdpart2d_2011.pdf |chapter = Chapter 2D: Guide Signs—Conventional Roads |title = Michigan Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices |location = Lansing |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |edition = 2011 Michigan supplement to the 2009 federal |chapter-format = PDF |access-date = April 13, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160109094457/https://mdotcf.state.mi.us/public/tands/Details_Web/mmutcdpart2d_2011.pdf |archive-date = January 9, 2016 |url-status = live |page = 143 }} 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,{{cite book |type = Report |last = Dillman |first = George C. |chapter = Maintenance: Trunk Line Marking |editor-last = Rogers |editor-first = Frank F. |year = 1920 |title = Eighth Biennial Report of the State Highway Commissioner |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LH9NAAAAYAAJ |location = Lansing, Michigan |publisher = Wynkoop, Hallenbeck and Crawford, State Printers |page = 15 |oclc = 11888473 |access-date = April 12, 2013 |via = Google Books }} and continues to this day in official and unofficial contexts.{{cite book |type = Report |author = Office of Governmental Affairs |date = January 2013 |url = http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT_CitizensGuide2011_346347_7.pdf |format = PDF |title = A Citizen's Guide to MDOT |location = Lansing |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |access-date = April 12, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140211013746/http://michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT_CitizensGuide2011_346347_7.pdf |archive-date = February 11, 2014 |url-status = live |page = 1 }}{{cite news |first = Zlati |last = Meyer |date = August 19, 2012 |title = You Haven't Lived Here until You Take a Drive down M-99 |url = http://www.freep.com/article/20120819/NEWS06/120818032/You-haven-t-lived-here-until-you-take-drive-down-M-99 |work = Detroit Free Press |access-date = April 13, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130626002517/http://www.freep.com/article/20120819/NEWS06/120818032/You-haven-t-lived-here-until-you-take-drive-down-M-99 |archive-date = June 26, 2013 |url-status = live |page = 18A |issn = 1055-2758 |oclc = 10345127 }} Michigan is one of only two states following this syntax, the other one being Kansas.{{cite book |last1 = Schirmer |first1 = Sherry Lamb |last2 = Wilson |first2 = Theodore A. |name-list-style = amp |title = Milestones: A History of the Kansas Highway Commission and the Department of Transportation |location = Topeka |publisher = Kansas Department of Transportation |year = 1986 |oclc = 19126368 |page = 3-24 }}

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,{{cite book |author = Driving Standards Agency |title = The Official Highway Code |publisher = Department for Transport |location = London |year = 2007 |isbn = 978-0-11-552814-9 |oclc = 141379651 |chapter = Motorways |pages = 85+ }} 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.{{cite book |title = Michigan's West Coast: Explore the Shore Guide |last = Hutchins |first = Brian |year = 2005 |publisher = Abri-Press |location = Roscommon, Michigan |isbn = 0-9760754-9-0 |oclc = 58809851 |pages = 172–77 }}

File:Glass' Curve.JPG|alt= Photograph looking north]]

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,{{cite magazine |url = https://archive.org/stream/californiahighwa196465calirich#page/n85/mode/2up |title = Route Renumbering: New Green Markers Will Replace Old Shields |journal = California Highways and Public Works |date = March–April 1964 |volume = 43 |issue = 3–4 |pages = 11–13 |issn = 0008-1159 |oclc = 7511628 |via = Archive.org |access-date = March 8, 2012 }} 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.{{cite map |author1 = Bureau of Public Roads |author2 = 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 }}{{cite MDOT map |date = 1926-12-01 }} 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.{{cite MDOT map |year = 1960 |at = Full map }}

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.

File:M-121 in Jenison.jpg|alt=Photograph of ]]

There are also instances of M-numbered state highways that once existed as extensions of US Highways. M-25 was originally an extension of US 25 before the latter was decommissioned in Michigan, and M-24 was once an extension of US 24 before routing changes separated the two highways. M-131 was an extension of US 131 until US 131 was routed onto the former M-131.{{cite MDOT map |date = 1937-12-01 |c-link = y |sections = E9–G10 }}{{cite MDOT map |date = 1938-12-01 |sections = E9–G10 }} There was also once an M-112 that served as an alternate routing for US 112 (both have since been changed to I-94 and US 12, respectively).{{cite MDOT map |year = 2010 |at = Full map }}{{cite MDOT map |date = 1943-06-01 |section = M13 }}

There are four types of highways maintained by MDOT as part of the overall State Trunkline Highway System. In addition, there are systems of roads maintained by the federal government and local counties. There are frequent overlaps between designations when different types of highways share the same stretch of pavement in concurrencies. As just one example of the phenomenon, the freeway between Flint and Standish carries both the I-75 and US 23 designations for around {{convert|75|mi|km}}.

{{see also|List of Interstate Highways in Michigan|List of U.S. Highways in Michigan|List of state trunklines in Michigan|l1=Interstate Highways in Michigan|l2=US Highways in Michigan|l3=State Trunklines in Michigan}}

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The State Trunkline Highway System comprises four types of highways: Michigan's portions of the Interstate Highway System and United States Numbered Highway System (US Highways), and the regular state trunklines;{{cite book |type = Report |last = Hamilton |first = William E. |url = http://house.michigan.gov/hfa/PDFs/act51.pdf |title = Act 51 Primer: A Guide to 1951 Public Act 51 and Michigan Transportation Funding |location = Lansing |publisher = Michigan House Fiscal Agency |date = February 2007 |access-date = September 27, 2010 |format = PDF |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100703034848/http://house.michigan.gov/hfa/PDFs/act51.pdf |archive-date = July 3, 2010 |page = 8 }} the fourth type, special routes, are variations of the other three types of highway, and are distinguished by special plates placed above the route marker. The plates indicate the routes as business or connector routes. Business loops and spurs of the Interstate Highway System use a special green version of the standard Interstate marker which places the word "Business" at the top where "Interstate" would otherwise appears. These business loops and spurs connect downtown districts to main highways after realignments and bypasses have routed the main highway out of the downtown area. Another category, connector routes, serve to connect two highways as their names suggest; most of these connectors are unsigned.{{cite web |author = Michigan Department of Information Technology |url = http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Appendix_C_Connector_19295_7.pdf |format = PDF |title = Appendix C: State Trunkline Connector Routes |date = May 1, 2008 |access-date = October 15, 2008 |work = Michigan Geographic Framework |publisher = Michigan Department of Information Technology |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110522054153/http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Appendix_C_Connector_19295_7.pdf |archive-date = May 22, 2011 |url-status = live }} The highways names for special routes are formulated by prefacing the parent highway with the type of special route. The full names are commonly abbreviated like other highways: Business Loop Interstate 196 (BL I-196), Business M-60 (Bus. M-60) or Connector M-44 (Conn. M-44). {{As of|2010}} there are {{convert|9,669|mi|km}} of state trunklines in Michigan, making up about eight percent of the state's roadways.{{cite book |type = Report |author = County Road Association of Michigan |date = January 21, 2009 |url = http://www.micountyroads.org/PDF/econ_broch.pdf |format = PDF |title = Michigan’s County Road Commissions: Driving Our Economy Forward |publisher = County Road Association of Michigan |access-date = April 11, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130909010809/http://www.micountyroads.org/PDF/econ_broch.pdf |archive-date = September 9, 2013 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all |page = 2 }} Of that mileage, some {{convert|4,415|mi|km}} of state-maintained highways are included in the National Highway System,{{cite web |author = Michigan Department of Transportation |date = n.d. |title = National Highway System (NHS) Maps |url = http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9622_11033_11155-25932--,00.html |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |access-date = April 18, 2013 }} which are highways selected for their importance 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 state trunkline highways in Michigan carry approximately 51 percent of the state's traffic, {{as of|2007|lc=y}}.

The highways in the system range in length from the unsigned Business Spur Interstate 375 (BS I-375) at {{convert|0.170|mi|km|3}} and signed M-212 at {{convert|0.732|mi|km|3}} to I-75 at {{convert|395.40|mi|km|2}}.{{cite MDOT PRFA |access-date = September 24, 2010 }} Some trunklines in Michigan are maintained by MDOT but bear no signage along the route to indicate so. These unsigned trunklines are mostly segments of former highway designations that have been moved or decommissioned.{{cite MDOT map |year = 2008T |at = Full map }} They remain under state control until their respective city or county accepts jurisdiction of the roadway from the state.

{{anchor|Freeways}}[[File:Michiganexpressways.png|thumb|left|upright=0.87|{{legend-line|blue solid 2px|Interstate Highways}}

{{legend-line|#00FF00 solid 2px|Other freeways}}

{{legend-line|red solid 2px|Miscellaneous expresswaysNot all freeways and expressways are shown in this image; {{as of|2006|03|28|lc=y|df=US}}.}}|alt=Map]]

Highways in the state maintained by MDOT range from two-lane rural highways up to 12-lane freeways. In addition to the Interstates, other trunklines are built to freeway standards. Sections of US 10, US 23, US 31, US 127 and US 131 have been upgraded to freeway standards. All or part of several state trunklines are also freeways. In the Metro Detroit area, M-5, M-8 (Davison Freeway), M-10 (Lodge Freeway), M-14, M-39 (Southfield Freeway), M-53 (Van Dyke Freeway), and M-59 have such sections. In the rest of the state, M-6 near Grand Rapids, Conn. M-13 near Bay City, M-47 near Midland, M-60 near Jackson, and Bus. US 131 near Kalamazoo are also freeways, for all or part of their respective lengths. Sections of US 12, M-20, M-37, M-46, M-55, M-66 and US 223 have been routed to run concurrently with other freeways as well.

{{As of|2013|01}}, there are three sources of revenue that contribute to the Michigan Transportation Fund (MTF): fuel excise taxes, vehicle registration fees and federal aid. Michigan levies an excise tax of 18.7 cents per gallon on gasoline and 15 cents per gallon on diesel fuel to generate approximately $955 million in revenue per year. Vehicle registrations account for about $868 million while federal aid from federal fuel taxes accounts for the last third of funding in Michigan.{{harvp|Office of Governmental Affairs|2013|p=17|ps=.}} Money from the MTF is distributed between MDOT, county road commissions, city or village street departments and local public transit agencies.{{harvp|Office of Governmental Affairs|2013|p=25|ps=.}} For fiscal year 2013, MDOT has budgeted approximately $1.2 billion on the highway system, including $273.4 million in routine maintenance. The remainder financed major projects in terms of planning, right-of-way acquisition or construction.{{harvp|Office of Governmental Affairs|2013|p=24|ps=.}} In terms of winter maintenance, MDOT classifies all state highways into two priority levels for snow removal, authorizing overtime to clear some highways in the state.See for example:

• {{cite map |author = Michigan Department of Transportation |date = September 2009 |title = Superior Region Winter Level of Service |url = http://michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT_LoS_map_superior_08-09_FINAL_255163_7.pdf |scale = Scale not given |location = Lansing |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |access-date = October 16, 2015 }}
• {{cite map |author = Michigan Department of Transportation |date = September 2009 |title = North Region Winter Level of Service |url = http://michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT_LoS_map_North_08-09_FINAL_255162_7.pdf |scale = Scale not given |location = Lansing |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |access-date = October 16, 2015 }}

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MDOT assigns the numbers for a parallel system of county-designated highways in the state; the numbers are assigned in a grid system by the department. These highways, while signed from connecting trunklines and shown on the official MDOT map, are maintained by the various counties. They were started in 1970 as a supplement to the main trunkline system and carry a letter-number combination on the national standard pentagon-shaped marker in blue and yellow. The letter component of the name corresponds to a zone of the state; zones A–F are in the Lower Peninsula while G and H are in the Upper Peninsula. The numbers correspond to a numbered grid within each lettered zone.{{cite news |title = County Primary Road Marking System Okayed |work = The Holland Evening Sentinel |date = October 5, 1970 |page = 6 |issn = 1050-4044 |oclc = 13440201 |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11060438/county_primary_road_marking_system/ |access-date = May 17, 2017 |via = Newspapers.com }} Other county systems are designated and maintained in each of the 83 counties, and signage and numbering practices vary.{{#tag:ref|Counties like Marquette use the older black and white square marker,{{google maps |SV = yes |link = no |date = September 2008 |url = http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Negaunee,+MI&hl=en&ll=46.531986,-87.543998&spn=0.014289,0.015042&sll=41.582057,-84.589504&sspn=0.061891,0.060167&hnear=Negaunee,+Marquette,+Michigan&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=46.532091,-87.543922&panoid=pQLxgrC-mDemuS6LtLXj5A&cbp=12,39.96,,0,0 |title = CR 501 (Midway Drive) in Negaunee Township, Michigan |access-date = April 7, 2013 }} while others like Gogebic use the newer pentagon marker.{{google maps |SV = yes |link = no |date = September 2009 |url = http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Bessemer,+MI&hl=en&ll=46.520515,-90.096688&spn=0.012875,0.030084&sll=46.532089,-87.543912&sspn=0.014289,0.015042&oq=Bessem&hnear=Bessemer,+Gogebic,+Michigan&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=46.520529,-90.096704&panoid=WC7Y-NSOZk5XvSwzEmSVvw&cbp=11,357.94,,0,28.05 |title = CR 204 (Airport Road) in Bessemer Township, Michigan |access-date = April 7, 2013 }} Keweenaw County does not use county road numbers or markers,{{cite sign |author = Keweenaw County Road Commission |title = Brockway Mountain Drive West Terminus |medium = Highway sign |url = http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brockway_Mountain_Drive_West_Terminus_M-26.jpg |location = Grant Township, Keweenaw County, Michigan |publisher = Keweenaw County Road Commission |access-date = April 7, 2013 }} and Delta County uses a green and white sign for some county roads.{{google maps |SV = yes |link = no |date = September 2008 |url = https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Perkins,+MI&hl=en&ll=45.93399,-87.070599&spn=0.013013,0.030084&sll=45.825869,-87.111111&sspn=0.057896,0.060167&hnear=Perkins,+Baldwin,+Delta,+Michigan&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=45.933989,-87.070614&panoid=Vas9SQ5-4MMvlD9JGrxvYw&cbp=11,86.08,,0,0 |title = CR 186 (Brampton Road, 27.5 Road) in Brampton, Michigan |access-date = April 7, 2013 }}|group=lower-alpha}} The state's 533 incorporated cities and villages also maintain their own street networks, but townships in the state have no jurisdiction over roads.

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|footer= Markers for Federal Forest Highway 16, the Great Lakes Circle Tour, and a Pure Michigan Byway}}

The U.S. Forest Service and Federal Highway Administration designate Federal Forest Highways providing access to the handful of National Forests in the state.{{cite web |url = http://flh.fhwa.dot.gov/programs/plh/fh/ |title = Forest Highways |author = Office of Federal Lands Highway |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |date = December 18, 2009 |access-date = July 28, 2010 |archive-date = August 18, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100818105029/http://flh.fhwa.dot.gov/programs/plh/fh/ |url-status = dead }} In addition, Michigan participates in the Great Lakes Circle Tour program, signing tours along the state-maintained highway closest to Michigan's Great Lakes shorelines.{{cite news |last = Davis |first = R. Matt |title = Signs To Mark Lake Circle Tour |work = The Daily Mining Gazette |location = Houghton, Michigan |agency = Capital News Service |date = May 1, 1986 |page = 16 |oclc = 9940134 }} The Michigan Heritage Route System was created in 1993 to highlight trunklines with historic, recreational or scenic qualities;{{cite web |author = Michigan Department of Transportation |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |url = http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9621_11041_11209-217276--,00.html |title = Drive Home Our Heritage |work = Heritage Routes |date = February 5, 2010 |access-date = May 7, 2011 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100314085408/http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0%2C1607%2C7-151-9621_11041_11209-217276--%2C00.html |archive-date = March 14, 2010 }} the name was changed to Pure Michigan Byway on December 30, 2014.{{cite press release |first1 = Sara |last1 = Wurfel |first2 = Dave |last2 = Murray |name-list-style = amp |url = http://www.michigan.gov/snyder/0,4668,7-277-57577-344557--,00.html |title = Gov. Rick Snyder Signs Bills Focused on Creating Good Government Practices: Also Signs Memorial Highway, 'Pure Michigan Byways' Bills |date = December 31, 2014 |publisher = Office of the Governor |access-date = January 1, 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150103071754/http://www.michigan.gov/snyder/0%2C4668%2C7-277-57577-344557--%2C00.html |archive-date = January 3, 2015 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}

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File:Michigan's Indian trails.png

The history of the highway system in Michigan dates back to the old Native American trails that crossed the state. These trails were pathways no wider than approximately {{convert|12|–|18|in|cm}}, permitting single-file traffic. Many of the modern highways in the state follow the path of these old trails, including the Great Trail from Fort Pitt to Fort Detroit which is now US 24 from Detroit to Toledo, Ohio. This trail connected with Braddock's Road which led to the Atlantic Coast.{{cite web |url = http://www.michiganhighways.org/history.html |title = The History of Roads in Michigan |last1 = Pohl |first1 = Dorothy G. |last2 = Brown |first2 = Norman E. |name-list-style = amp |publisher = Association of Southern Michigan Road Commissions |date = December 2, 1997 |access-date = September 11, 2008 |page = 1 }}

The Michigan Territory was established in 1805, and the territorial governor established the first road districts. The districts built farm-to-market roads to serve the agricultural needs of the farming population of the area at the time; they connected farmers with markets in their local communities. The local streets in the individual communities were the responsibility of those communities. At the same time, Detroit created {{convert|120|ft|m|adj=mid|-wide}} rights-of-way for the five great avenues in the city following a fire.{{cite book |title = Michigan Highway History Timeline 1701–2001: 300 Years of Progress |last = Lingeman |first = Stanley D. |date = April 6, 2001 |location = Lansing |publisher = Library of Michigan |oclc = 435640179 |page = 1 }}

Outside of Detroit, the situation was quite different. Maps of the territory were printed with the words "interminable swamp" across the interior until 1839.{{cite book |last1 = Forster |first = Edith C. |title = Yesterday's Highways: Traveling Around Early Detroit |location = Detroit |publisher = Wayne State University Press |year = 1951 |oclc = 3324319 |page = 5 }} Reports of the first explorers and government surveyors crossing the future state only seemed to confirm the assessment that Michigan land was unsuitable for agriculture or other productive activities. The few roads in the area were impassable for half of the year. The poor quality of the early roads meant that most transportation in the state was by way of the lakes and rivers at first. Commerce was limited to trade to and from Canada.

These roads proved inadequate to the needs of the military during the War of 1812. Territorial Governor Lewis Cass lobbied the federal government for road construction funding to bolster defensive needs as well as aid in settlement of the territory. Military roads debuted in 1816 with the construction of the Detroit–Fort Meigs Road to Toledo as a response to transportation needs. More roads were built with Congressional appropriations in the 1820s and 1830s connecting Detroit to Port Huron, Saginaw, Grand Rapids and Chicago.

Townships were given authority to construct roads under the supervision of county commissioners in 1817. This supervision was difficult since in one case, one county{{#tag:ref|What is today's Mackinac County was once called Michilimackinac County; it encompassed everything north of the central LP in the 1830s.{{cite map |last = Burr |first = David H. |author-link = David H. Burr |date = c. 1831 |title = Michigan |url = https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Michigan_(1831)_DH_Burr.jpg |location = New York |publisher = David H. Burr |scale = [c. 1:2,000,000] |access-date = April 7, 2013 |oclc = 35063180 |via = Wikimedia Commons }}|group=lower-alpha}} covered all of the Upper Peninsula and several of today's counties in the Lower Peninsula. Direct supervision over construction was granted to the townships in 1827, and federal involvement in road building ended with the 1837 grant of statehood.

The first state constitution encouraged state involvement in internal improvements like roads. The Panic of 1837 devastated the new state's efforts, and the government defaulted on bond payments. Private construction companies built roads starting in 1844 to fill the void in long-distance road construction left by the departure of the federal government. The first roads were corduroy roads; to build these, logs of all sizes were placed across the road. The gaps between the logs were filled in with smaller logs or earth. In swampy or marshy areas, brush was laid down first for drainage. In time, the logs would rot, leaving large gaps to the roadway that would catch wagon wheels or draft animal feet. Later, roads were built with oak planks. The plank road companies had to be chartered by the state after passage of legislation in 1848. According to the plank road law, these companies had to build their roads to a set of minimum specifications. These specifications included {{convert|2|-|4|rod}} in total width, a road surface {{convert|16|ft|m}} wide with at least {{convert|8|ft|m}} made of {{convert|3|in|cm|0|adj=on}} planks. Later amendments to the law allowed the companies to substitute gravel for the planks.{{cite magazine |last = Morrison |first = Roger L. |title = The History and Development of Michigan Highways |journal = Michigan Alumnus Quarterly Review |date = Autumn 1937 |location = Ann Arbor |publisher = University of Michigan Bureau of Alumni Relations |pages = 59–73 |volume = 39 |issue = 54 |oclc = 698029175 }} Starting with the enactment of a new state constitution in 1850, the state was prohibited from being "a part to, or interested in, any work of internal improvement"; this provision ended the state government's involvement in Michigan's roads.

File:Grand River Avenue.jpg, was originally an Indian trail converted as a plank road before becoming a state highway.|alt=Photograph of a street sign in East Lansing for]]

The early plank roads were funded by tolls; these fares were collected at turnstiles every few miles along the roads, at rates of $0.02/mile for wagons pulled by two animals{{harvp|Forster|1951|pp=11–12|ps=.}} (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|0.02|1849|r=2}} in {{inflation-year|US}}{{inflation-fn|US}}). As time passed, the planks would warp and rot. The tolls were insufficient to fund the maintenance necessary to keep the roads in good repair. Even Mark Twain remarked, "The road could not have been bad if some unconscionable scoundrel had not now and then dropped a plank across it," after a trip to Grand Rapids. The planks were removed over time and replaced with gravel roads. The longest chartered road was a distance of {{convert|220|mi}} from Zilwaukee to Mackinaw City by way of Traverse City; the shortest was a mile (1.6 km) near Sault Ste. Marie.{{cite magazine |last = Mason |first = Phillip P. |title = The Plank Road Craze: A Chapter in the History of Michigan's Highways |journal = Great Lakes Informant |location = Lansing |publisher = Michigan Department of State |year = 1980 |volume = 2 |issue = 1 |pages = 1–4 |oclc = 17646708 }}

Townships continued to maintain and build local roads using the "statute labor system". An able-bodied man residing in a local road district was expected to pay his road taxes by performing 30 days of labor on the roads in his district. If he was unable to work off the tax, a rate of $0.625/day was assessed (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|0.625|1850|r=2}} in {{inflation-year|US}}{{inflation-fn|US}}). This road maintenance was performed under the guidance of the township road overseer, a separate elected township official, according to the wishes of his constituents, often without any county-level planning or coordination. Often the "improved roads" were in worse condition than unimproved roads due to the amateur nature of the maintenance.{{harvp|Pohl|Brown|1997|p=[http://www.michiganhighways.org/history2.html 2]|ps=.}}

An early form of federal aid contributed to the road network in the state starting in the 1850s. Congress granted certain forest and swamp lands to the state in 1850.{{cite book |last = Mason |first = Philip P. |title = Michigan Highways from Indian Trails to Expressways |location = Ann Arbor, Michigan |publisher = Braun-Brumfield |year = 1959 |oclc = 23314983 |url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009793467&view=1up&seq=13 |via = HathiTrust |page = 7 }} A stipulation on the grant stated that the proceeds from the lands would be used to reclaim them for use. The Michigan Legislature established several roads to be built by contractors, paid with the proceeds from the sale of the land adjoining the roads, or with land itself. Despite these efforts, only {{convert|1179|mi}} of the {{convert|5082|mi}} of plank roads authorized by the state were ever built by 89 of the 202 chartered plank road companies.

The tax system was partially reformed in 1881, allowing for direct payment of road taxes instead of relying totally on the statute-labor system. The first road district larger than the township level was created in Bay County in 1883 under Public Act 278. This road district encompassed eight townships and provided for better coordination and planning of road construction. Other county systems were created in 1893 with passage of legislation which allowed other counties to follow the lead of Bay County. By 1900, the plank roads were generally abandoned. While a few were still in good repair, most consisted of rotting logs with intermittent patches of gravel. Toll houses were empty shacks, and the ditches were clogged with duck ponds. Only 23 of the original 202 plank roads chartered by the state were still in operation.

The Good Roads Movement, borne out of the needs of the bicycle craze of the 1880s and 1890s, turned its attention towards the needs of automobiles at the turn of the century. Horatio S. "Good Roads" Earle, a state senator from Detroit, was elected national president of the League of American Wheelmen in 1901. Earle worked on a committee report that called for the removal of the prohibition on road improvements from the state constitution. That report also recommended the creation of a commission and system for state highways.

{{see also|Michigan Department of Transportation}}

The first state road agency, the Michigan State Highway Department (MSHD), was created on July 1, 1905. At first the department administered rewards to the counties and townships for building roads to state minimum specifications. In 1905, there were {{convert|68000|mi|km|sigfig=2}} of roads in Michigan. Of these roads, only {{convert|7700|mi|km|sigfig=2}} were improved with gravel and {{convert|245|mi|km|sigfig=3}} were macadam. The state's statute labor system was abolished in 1907. Instead, a property tax system was instituted with the funding only for permanent improvements, not maintenance.{{cite book |last1 = Kulsea |first1 = Bill |last2 = Shawver |first2 = Tom |title = Making Michigan Move: A History of Michigan Highways and the Michigan Department of Transportation |url = https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Making_Michigan_Move#3 |year = 1980 |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |location = Lansing |oclc = 8169232 |name-list-style = amp |page = 3 |access-date = January 18, 2021 |via = Wikisource }} Rural farmers opposed the state's efforts, and even Henry Ford was against the idea of reforming road construction and maintenance. In response to this opposition, the department's work was decentralized; standards for road improvement came from the state, but work was carried out by the townships and counties.{{harvp|Pohl|Brown|1997|p=[http://www.michiganhighways.org/history3.html 3]|ps=. }} The nation's first mile of concrete roadway was laid along Woodward Avenue in 1909 between Six Mile and Seven Mile roads in Detroit; this section of street was {{convert|17|ft|8|in|m}} wide{{harvp|Kulsea|Shawver|1980|p=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Making_Michigan_Move#5 5]|ps=.}} and cost $14,000{{cite news |first = Jason |last = Stein |title = Woodward Avenue: More than Just the Heart of Detroit, It's the Soul of the Automotive World |work = Daily Herald |location = Arlington Heights, Illinois |date = September 13, 2009 |at = §9, p. 1 |oclc = 18030507 |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21829523/woodward_avenue_more_than_just_the/ |access-date = July 13, 2018 |via = Newspapers.com }} (equivalent to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US-GDP|14000|1909|r=-2}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}).{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|name-list-style=amp}}

File:Thefirstruralhighwaycenterline.png

Passage of the State Reward Trunk Line Highways Act on May 13, 1913, provided for {{convert|3000|mi|km|0}} of roadways in a state-financed system.{{harvp|Kulsea|Shawver|1980|p=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Making_Michigan_Move#7 7]|ps=.}} The system comprised 10 divisions, several of which had associated branches, that ran along existing roads throughout the state. After the creation of the system, the Huron Shore Road Association scheduled a Road Bee Day on June 13, 1913; some 5,000 men, 200 women, 3,000 teams of horses and 750 automobiles participated in the effort that improved {{convert|200|mi|km}} of roads in the state.{{harvp|Kulsea|Shawver|1980|p=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Making_Michigan_Move#8 8]|ps=.}} Further legislation at the time allowed for special assessment taxing districts for road improvements, taxation of automobiles based on weight and horsepower, and tree-planting along highway roadsides.{{harvp|Kulsea|Shawver|1980|p=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Making_Michigan_Move#9 9]|ps=.}} Congress passed the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916, and the state passed a constitutional amendment in 1917 to qualify for federal aid with state funding matches.

The first centerline was painted on a state highway in 1917 along the Marquette–Negaunee Road which was designated Trunkline 15, now County Road 492 in Marquette County.{{#tag:ref|The first centerline was invented in 1911 in Wayne County by Edward N. Hines.{{cite news |last = Boyle |first = Johanna |date = November 7, 2011 |title = Centerline Marked: State Inventor of Ubiquitous Centerline Honored |url = http://www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/568858/State-inventor-of-ubiquitous-centerline-honored.html?nav=5006 |work = The Mining Journal |location = Marquette, Michigan |pages = 1A, 6A |access-date = April 7, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131224110724/http://www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/568858/State-inventor-of-ubiquitous-centerline-honored.html?nav=5006 |archive-date = December 24, 2013 |url-status = live |issn = 0898-4964 |oclc = 9729223 }}|group=lower-alpha}} Winter maintenance started during World War I to keep {{convert|590|mi|km|0}} of strategic highways clear;{{harvp|Kulsea|Shawver|1980|p=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Making_Michigan_Move#10 10]|ps=.}} some $13,200 (equivalent to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US-GDP|13200|1918|r=-2}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|name-list-style=amp}}) was appropriated with partial funding from the War Loan Board.

File:M-14 1922.png

In 1919, the legislature passed the Aldrich Act; combined with the approval of the Bond Issue Act during an election that April, the MSHD was authorized to assume responsibility over the roadways that composed the State Trunkline Highway System.{{cite book |type = Report |last = Belknap |first = Leslie H. |chapter = Construction |editor-last = Rogers |editor-first = Frank F. |year = 1920 |title = Eighth Biennial Report of the State Highway Commissioner |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LH9NAAAAYAAJ |location = Lansing, Michigan |publisher = Wynkoop, Hallenbeck and Crawford, State Printers |page = 10 |oclc = 11888473 |access-date = April 12, 2013 |via = Google Books }} The state highway commissioner was required to sign the state trunkline highways,{{cite book |author = Michigan Legislature |editor-first = Coleman C. |editor-last = Vaughn |year = 1919 |orig-year = enacted March 18, 1919 |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iTXiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA31 |title = Public Acts of the Legislature of the State of Michigan Passed at the Regular Session of 1919 Containing Joint Resolutions and Amendments to the Constitution |chapter = PA 19: An Act to Provide for the Construction, Improvement and Maintenance of Trunk Line Highways |location = Fort Wayne, Indiana |publisher = Fort Wayne Printing |pages = 31–35 |access-date = October 10, 2013 |issn = 0893-2573 |oclc = 1757300 |via = Google Books }} and Michigan became the second state after Wisconsin to do so.{{cite news |title = Michigan May Do Well Following Wisconsin's Road Marking System |work = The Grand Rapids Press |date = September 20, 1919 |page = 10 |oclc = 9975013 }} Alan Williams, Ionia County engineer, helped to design the diamond marker used to sign the highways; he is also known for placing a picnic table alongside US 16 (Grand River Avenue) in 1929 south of Saranac, considered the first in the country.{{cite news |url = http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/07/ionia_county_boasts_first_road.html |last = Ellison |first = Garret |title = Stopping at Roadside Table? It Started Here |work = The Grand Rapids Press |date = July 4, 2011 |pages = A3, A4 |access-date = July 6, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121014094719/http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/07/ionia_county_boasts_first_road.html |archive-date = October 14, 2012 |url-status = live }} Other sources say that the first roadside park in the country was created by Herbert Larson near what is now US 2 near Iron River in 1919–20.{{cite news |last = Bleck |first = Christine |date = April 20, 2015 |title = Roadside Relief: Parks, Rest Areas, Scenic Turnouts Aid Travelers |work = The Mining Journal |location = Marquette, Michigan |page = 1A |issn = 0898-4964 |oclc = 9729223 }} The first crows nest traffic tower in the US was installed at the intersection of Woodward and Michigan avenues in Detroit on October 9, 1917. The tower elevated a police officer above the center of the intersection to direct traffic before it was replaced in October 1920 with the world's first four-way traffic light.{{cite book |last = Barnett |first = LeRoy |year = 2004 |title = A Drive Down Memory Lane: The Named State and Federal Highways of Michigan |location = Allegan Forest, Michigan |publisher = Priscilla Press |isbn = 1-886167-24-9 |oclc = 57425393 |pages = 243–44 }}

While Michigan was the second state to post route designations along its highway system in 1919, Michigan actually began assigning internal trunkline designations for internal inventory purposes as early as 1913. From 1918 to 1926, only the M-numbered highway designations existed on state highways throughout Michigan, while the creation of the US Highway System in 1926 caused several existing designations to be either reassigned or retired altogether. Public Act 131 of 1931 allowed the MSHD to take control over the city and village streets that carried state highways through cities and villages in the state.{{cite book |type = Report |last = Dillman |first = George C. |year = 1932 |title = Fourteenth Biennial Report of the State Highway Commissioner |location = Lansing, Michigan |publisher = Franklin DeKlein Co., State Printers |page = 120 |oclc = 11888473 }} The 1932 McNitt Act consolidated all of the township-controlled roads into 83 county road commissions.{{harvp|Pohl|Brown|1997|p=[http://www.michiganhighways.org/history4.html 4]|ps=.}} On May 4, 1935, the state opened the first highway welcome center next to US 12 in New Buffalo near the Indiana state line; Michigan was the first state in the country to do so at the time.{{cite news |last = Vellequette |first = Larry P. |date = October 4, 2005 |title = $2.6M Center To Be Welcome Sight |work = The Blade |location = Toledo, Ohio |page = B2 |oclc = 12962717 |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mHZhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YgQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6890,891313&dq=new+buffalo+welcome+center&hl=en |access-date = April 30, 2013 |via = Google News }}{{cite press release |last = Borgstrom |first = Kirsten |date = May 25, 2010 |title = Nation’s First Highway Travel Information Center: Celebrate 75 Years at the New Buffalo Welcome Center, May 27, 2010 |url = http://www.michigan.org/pressreleases/nation-s-first-highway-travel-information-center-br-celebrate-75-years-at-the-new-buffalo-welcome-center-may-27-2010/ |publisher = Michigan Economic Development Corporation |access-date = April 30, 2013 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130628142447/http://www.michigan.org/pressreleases/nation-s-first-highway-travel-information-center-br-celebrate-75-years-at-the-new-buffalo-welcome-center-may-27-2010/ |archive-date = June 28, 2013 |df = mdy-all }}

File:M-28 & M-178.jpg

The state passed legislation in 1941 that authorized the creation of limited-access roadways; the MSHD could prohibit access to a state trunkline from the adjacent properties. Around the same time, single-digit highways like M-9 were renumbered to set aside those numbers for future freeways in the state. During World War II, the Willow Run Expressway, the Detroit Industrial Expressway and the Davison Freeway were built, ushering in the beginnings of the state's freeway system.{{harvp|Kulsea|Shawver|1980|p=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Making_Michigan_Move#18 18]|ps=.}}{{cite news |last=Mieczko |first=Louis |title=State, County Haggle Over Davison Repairs |work= The Detroit News |date = May 17, 1986 |page= B6|issn= 1055-2715 |id= {{oclc| 137348716 | 473153198}} }} These highway improvements were financed by the Defense Highway Act of 1941 to aid in national defense. After the war, the MSHD and the Good Roads Federation studied the highway needs of the state. Their study reported that road maintenance and improvement deteriorated since the Great Depression. It also stated that funding needed to be increased to deal with pressures from traffic increases after the war.{{harvp|Pohl|Brown|1997|p=[http://www.michiganhighways.org/history5.html 5]|ps=.}}

Public Act 51 of 1951 amended and clarified the current system of jurisdiction over roads in the state. The existing tri-level system was maintained, splitting road jurisdiction between the state, counties and cities, as well as subdividing each level into several classifications. Further legislation redefined the exact distribution, but Act 51 set up a system to distribute road funding from gas taxes from a single funding source, currently the Michigan Transportation Fund. Funding was increased during the 1950s as the fuel taxes were increased. Whereas those revenues during the war dropped to levels barely sufficient to keep existing highways in usable condition, they were increased during the following decade to deal with increasing traffic. The state highway department was also authorized to sell bonds to provide funding for the proposed road improvements.

File:1956-11-01 M-87 (Main & Center Sts., Fenton, Michigan).jpg

The Michigan Turnpike Authority (MTA), an agency created in 1951,{{cite book |type = Report |author = Michigan Department of Transportation |title = Section 394 Report: Analysis of Transportation Funding Distribution Formula |url = http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOTsec394_312915_7.pdf |format = PDF |date = March 1, 2010 |location = Lansing |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |access-date = October 28, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151015123457/http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOTsec394_312915_7.pdf |archive-date = October 15, 2015 |url-status = live |page = 12 }} proposed the construction of a toll freeway to run north–south in the state. The original termini for the Michigan Turnpike were Bridgeport and Rockwood.{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8YQ_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=TVUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4841,1977765&dq=ohio-turnpike+opening&hl=en |title = Michigan To Push Its North–South Turnpike: Toll Road To Link Centers of Industrial Areas |work = Youngstown Vindicator |date = February 21, 1955 |page = 2 |access-date = October 30, 2012 |via = Google News |oclc = 5424159 }} The state highway commissioner at the time, Charles Ziegler, distrusted a separate agency dealing with statewide road building at the time and worked to stall progress on any proposed turnpikes.{{cite news |last = Bagley |first = Les |title = Autos Across Mackinac: Michigan Decides Against Building Turnpikes |url = http://www.stignacenews.com/news/2007-10-25/columns/039.html |work = The St. Ignace News |date = October 25, 2007 |access-date = October 30, 2012 |oclc = 36250796 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130709154106/http://www.stignacenews.com/news/2007-10-25/columns/039.html |archive-date = July 9, 2013 |url-status = dead }} He also opposed the idea because the state had three freeways under planning or construction.{{harvp|Kulsea|Shawver|1980|p=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Making_Michigan_Move#19 19]|ps=.}} Ziegler and the MSHD announced plans for a full freeway to run north through the Lower Peninsula and continue across to the Upper Peninsula. This announcement derailed the efforts to build the Michigan Turnpike.{{cite news |last = Bagley |first = Les |date = January 17, 2008 |title = Autos Across Mackinac: Bridge Construction Continues; Tourism Down |url = http://www.stignacenews.com/news/2008-01-17/columns/053.html |work = The St. Ignace News |access-date = October 30, 2012 |oclc = 36250796 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130709162822/http://www.stignacenews.com/news/2008-01-17/columns/053.html |archive-date = July 9, 2013 |url-status = dead }} The Interstate Highway System was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956,{{cite magazine |title = The Cracks are Showing |work = The Economist |date = June 26, 2008 |url = http://www.economist.com/node/11636517?story_id=11636517 |edition = US |volume = 387 |issue = 8586 |access-date = October 23, 2008 |issn = 0013-0613 |oclc = 181819241 |url-access = subscription }} and the state had already designed several freeways for its portion of that system. Seizing the opportunity brought by a 1957 state law, the department sold $700 million in bonds (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US-GDP|700000000|1957|r=-4}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|name-list-style=amp}}) in the late 1950s and early 1960s to finance land purchases and construction of the new freeways. The first Interstate Highway in the state was signposted in October 1959 when I-75 signs were first installed along the Detroit–Toledo Expressway. These signs replaced US 24A signage in the Monroe area,{{cite news |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21745135/interstate_75_road_markers_are_unveiled/ |title = Interstate 75 Road Markers Are Unveiled |work = The Herald-Press |location = St. Joseph, Michigan |agency = Associated Press |date = October 13, 1959 |page = 3 |access-date = July 10, 2018 |oclc = 10117184 |via = Newspapers.com }} after the state received final approval for the numbering system to be used in the state.{{cite news |title = Michigan Delays Road Number System |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mb1OAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9AAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7401,5582043&dq=interstate+opening+michigan&hl=en |work = Toledo Blade |agency = Associated Press |date = June 4, 1959 |page = 11 |access-date = November 21, 2010 |via = Google News |oclc = 12962635 }} Michigan was the first state to complete a border-to-border Interstate Highway in 1960 with the completion of I-94. The last gravel state highway was paved in the early 1960s as well; bids were let in March 1962 to finish paving M-48 in Chippewa County.{{cite news |title = Mich. To Pave Last Gravel Highway |work = Milwaukee Sentinel |date = March 14, 1962 |at = part 2, p. 1 |issn = 1052-4479 |oclc = 11723897 }}

File:River Rouge Dearborn.jpg

The original goal of Michigan's freeways was to connect every city with a population of more than 50,000 people with a network of roads that would accommodate traffic at {{convert|70|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}. Following the start of these highway improvements, the MSHD adopted a policy to allow traffic to use the state's trunklines every day of the year regardless of the weather. The state also invested in improving non-freeway roads in the highway system; better materials and construction methods were used to improve safety and traffic flow throughout the state.{{harvp|Kulsea|Shawver|1980|pp=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Making_Michigan_Move#19 19–21]|ps=.}}

The post-war years were also a period of major bridge building in the state. The Mackinac Bridge opened on November 1, 1957,{{cite news |title = World's Costliest Wonder Bridge Opens Today, Links Michigan's Two Peninsulas: Williams Leads First Caravan Across Bridge |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=X6wwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UzwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6051,2798148&dq=mackinac+bridge+open&hl=en |work = Ludington Daily News |agency = Associated Press |date = November 1, 1957 |page = 1 |oclc = 27033604 |access-date = March 30, 2013 |via = Google News }} the Portage Lake Lift Bridge, the largest double-deck lift bridge was completed in August 1959,{{cite news |title = World's Heaviest Lift Bridge Dedication Is Set at Houghton |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21760521/worlds_heaviest_lift_bridge_dedication/ |work = Ironwood Daily Globe |date = June 7, 1960 |page = 3 |access-date = July 11, 2018 |oclc = 10890811 |via = Newspapers.com }} and the International Bridge opened across the St. Marys River three years later on October 31, 1962.{{cite news |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21756941/new_international_bridge_opened_today/ |title = New International Bridge Opens Today |work = Traverse City Record-Eagle |page = 1 |agency = United Press International |access-date = July 10, 2018 |via = Newspapers.com }} The State Highway Department started erecting mileposts along the Interstates in 1963, and later expanded the practice to other freeways and used the mileages to number the interchanges along I-94.{{cite news |title = Michigan Mirror: Simple Signs Work |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2340361// |work = The Wakefield News |page = 2 |date = August 4, 1966 |access-date = May 3, 2015 |via = Newspapers.com }}

File:I-75 MI exit 254.jpg

Freeway construction continued through the 1970s. On April 6, 1972, the New Buffalo Welcome Center was relocated from its previous location next to US 12 to one adjacent to I-94. Later that year, the state switched paint colors for its centerlines; yellow was used for the lines separating directions of travel and white for lines separating lanes traveling in the same direction.{{cite news |title = Coming Color: Lane Lines To Be Yellow |date = May 17, 1972 |work = The State Journal |location = Lansing, Michigan |page = B5 |oclc = 9714548 }} Also in 1972, a gas tax increase was passed to facilitate US and state highway improvement projects.{{cite news |title = Gasoline Tax Wins Senate Approval |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ydJOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=G0oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5744,6036551&dq=michigan+gas+tax+g:locmichigan&hl=en |work = Ludington Daily News |agency = United Press International |page = 1 |date = December 13, 1972 |oclc = 27033604 |access-date = March 30, 2013 |via = Google News }} The final section of I-75 between Alger and Roscommon was opened on November 1, 1973, in a dedication by Governor William G. Milliken,{{cite news |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21756812/around_the_state_west_branch/ |title = Around the State: West Branch |work = Traverse City Record-Eagle |agency = United Press International |date = November 2, 1973 |page = 3 |access-date = July 10, 2018 |oclc = 30098364 |via = Newspapers.com }} completing the longest highway in the state. In 1974, the state implemented mileage-based exit numbers along the remaining Interstates in Michigan.{{cite news |title = Interstates Get New Exit Signs: Michigan Using National System |work = The Blade |location = Toledo, Ohio |agency = Associated Press |date = July 4, 1974 |page = 19 |oclc = 12962717 }} By late 1977, the state highway department shifted its focus from construction of new highways to improvements of the existing system.{{harvp|Kulsea|Shawver|1980|p=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Making_Michigan_Move#30 30]|ps=.}}

During the 1960s and 1970s, various freeway projects in the Detroit area were cancelled or scaled back in scope. The route of I-96 along Grand River Avenue was cancelled in response to freeway revolts in the city, and a new routing along the C&O Railroad right-of-way in Livonia was used instead.{{cite book |type = Report |author = ((Interstate 96 Planning Committee)) |year = 1964 |title = I-96 Freeway Planning and Route Location Study, City of Detroit |volume = 1 |location = Lansing |publisher = Michigan State Highway Department |oclc = 12332574 |page = 20 }} Plans to transfer the Davison Freeway in the 1970s to state control and extend it west to I-96 (Jeffries Freeway) and east to a Van Dyke Freeway (extended M-53) were dropped. Another freeway project near Lansing, the Van Atta Connector, was proposed in 1961 to provide an eastern freeway beltway around East Lansing,{{cite book |type = Report |author = Planning Division |year = 1961 |title = Lansing Area Trunkline Plan |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VWkhAAAAMAAJ |location = Lansing |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |oclc = 12495667 |access-date = June 17, 2014 |via = Google Books |at = n.p. }} but by 1981 the highway's impact to neighboring elementary schools along with larger economic impacts led to the project's cancellation.{{cite book |type = Report |author = Design Division |year = 1981 |title = Interstate 69 (US 27 Easterly to Morrice): Clinton and Shiawassee Counties |url = https://books.google.com/books?ei=kA-gU5GdFc6hqAa4s4DYBg&id=2aQ1AQAAMAAJ&dq=van+atta+connector&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22the+van+atta%22 |location = Lansing |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |oclc = 12714165 |access-date = June 17, 2014 |via = Google Books |page = 258 }}

File:Detroit, Michigan 1955 Yellow Book.jpg

The Michigan Highway Commission canceled the northern section of I-275 on January 26, 1977, after it spent $1.6 million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US-GDP|1600000|1976|r=0}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|name-list-style=amp}}) the year before purchasing land for the roadway.{{cite news |first = Reginald A. |last = Stuart |title = Michigan Drops $69-Million Road |work = The New York Times |date = January 27, 1977 |page = 18 |issn = 0362-4331 |oclc = 1645522 }} This northern section was not planned as an Interstate Highway at that time, bearing the designation M-275 instead. Opposition to construction came from various citizen's groups, different levels of local government, and both The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. The Detroit City Council, led by then-Chairman Carl Levin, opposed the plan as well. Levin said at the time, "At last I think people are waking up to the dangers of more and more expressways. At some point we've got to say enough. And I think we've reached it." The United States Department of the Interior reviewed the state's environmental impact study of the project and stated the project "will cause irreparable damages on recreation lands, wetlands, surface waters and wildlife habitat." The total project to link Farmington Hills with Davisburg with the {{convert|24|mi|km|adj=on}} freeway would have cost $69.5 million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US-GDP|69500000|1977|r=0}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|name-list-style=amp}}) and saved drivers an estimated eight minutes off travel time around the city of Detroit. Other freeway projects cancelled during the 1970s included an extension of the US 131 freeway northward to Petoskey, an extension of the US 23 freeway from Standish to Alpena, and a freeway running across the southern Lower Peninsula toward Chicago. These ventures, along with the I-275 extension, were dropped over concerns related to rising construction costs, the environment and the Arab Oil Embargo. Even with these cancelled highways, several proposals were left to be completed.{{cite news |last = Johnson |first = Malcolm |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yB8vAAAAIBAJ&sjid=y9wFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3519,8347509&dq=us+131+freeway&hl=en |title = Why Michigan Is Curbing Freeways |work = Ludington Daily News |agency = Associated Press |page = 4 |date = December 23, 1977 |access-date = December 5, 2010 |via = Google News |oclc = 27033604 }}

At the end of the 1970s, MDOT took part in a FHWA-backed initiative called the Positive Guidance Demonstration Project, and the two agencies audited signage practices in the vicinity of the I-96/M-37 and I-296/US 131 interchange in Walker near Grand Rapids. MDOT determined that usage of the I-296 designation was "a potential source of confusion for motorists."{{cite letter |last = Conner |first = Robert E |recipient = Donald E. Trull |date = April 11, 1979 |title = Removing I-296 Signs in Grand Rapids |url = https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Removing_I-296_Signs_in_Grand_Rapids |location = Washington, DC |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |access-date = June 3, 2019 |via = Wikisource }} FHWA agreed with the department's proposal to eliminate all signage and public map references to the designation in April 1979. MDOT then received permission from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) on October 13,{{AASHTO minutes |year = 1979A |page= 1 |access-date= August 2, 2014 }} and from the FHWA on December 3, 1979, on the condition that MDOT would continue to use the designation on official documents. The approval explicitly retained the highway in the Interstate system for funding and other purposes.{{cite letter |last = Merchant |first = David A. |date = December 3, 1979 |title = Removal of I-296 Designation, Grand Rapids |url = https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Removal_of_I-296_Designation,_Grand_Rapids |recipient = John P. Woodford |location = Lansing, Michigan |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |access-date = June 3, 2019 |via = Wikisource }} The last state map to show the I-296 designation was published in 1979, as the 1980 map lacks any reference to the designation.{{cite MDOT map |year = 1979 |link = yes |inset = Grand Rapids }}{{cite MDOT map |year = 1980 |inset = Grand Rapids }}

Following this program, the Reflective Systems Unit at MDOT reviewed the state of two- and three-way concurrencies along the highway system in Michigan. They approached the department's Trunkline Numbering Committee and the district traffic and safety engineers on October 19, 1982, for proposals to reduce or eliminate the various overlapping designations to "avoid driver confusion and save funds".{{cite letter |first = John J. |last = Kanillopoolos |date = October 19, 1982 |subject = Dual and Triple Routing on State Trunklines |url = https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dual_and_Triple_Routing_on_State_Trunklines_1982-10-19 |recipient = Trunkline Numbering Committee |location = Lansing |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |access-date = June 3, 2019 |via = Wikisource }} When the unit released its final recommendations on March 17, 1983, the memo recommended 19 changes to eliminate various concurrent routings, including the truncation of US 2 to St. Ignace, changes to the routing of US 10, and the removal of US 33 from the state.{{cite letter |first = John J. |last = Kanillopoolos |date = March 17, 1983 |subject = Dual and Triple Routing on State Trunklines |url = https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dual_and_Triple_Routing_on_State_Trunklines_1983-03-17 |recipient = Trunkline Numbering Committee |location = Lansing |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |access-date = June 3, 2019 |via = Wikisource }} These changes were implemented October 1983,{{AASHTO minutes |year = 1983A |page= 1 |access-date= December 3, 2014 }} 1985,{{AASHTO minutes |year = 1985A |page= 2 |access-date= December 3, 2014 }} and 1986,{{AASHTO minutes |year = 1986S |page= 2 |access-date= December 3, 2014 }} respectively. Other changes recommended at the time, like the truncation of M-54 to remove it from the wrong-way concurrency with M-83 near Birch Run, has never been implemented.{{cite MDOT map |year = 2014 |section = K12 }}

File:I-96 and M-231 interchange construction.jpg

The final section of the controversial I-696 opened at a cost of $436 million{{cite news |last = Brown |first = Warren |date = February 4, 1990 |title = Home of the American Auto Finds Reuther Freeway a Mixed Blessing |work = The Washington Post |page = H2 |issn = 0740-5421 |oclc = 9965758 |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1990/02/04/home-of-the-american-auto-finds-reuther-freeway-a-mixed-blessing/997dfa26-761c-4c85-91b6-4762bc3902e0/ |access-date = November 3, 2023 }} (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US-GDP|436000000|1989|r=-4}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP|name-list-style=amp}}) on December 15, 1989; the freeway's central segment was delayed over concerns related to its routing through Detroit's northern suburbs.{{cite news |last = Schmidt |first = William E. |title = Pleasant Ridge Journal: The Freeway It Took A Generation to Build |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/15/us/pleasant-ridge-journal-the-freeway-it-took-a-generation-to-build.html |work = The New York Times |date = December 15, 1989 |page = A20 |access-date = January 7, 2011 |issn = 0362-4331 |oclc = 1645522 }} The {{convert|1241|mi|km|0|adj=on}} Interstate Highway network in Michigan was completed in 1992 with the last {{convert|4|mi|km|spell=in}} of I-69 near the Lansing area.{{cite news |title = A Brief History of Paving |work = The Grand Rapids Press |date = March 1, 2010 |page = A8 |oclc = 9975013 }} Since the completion of these freeways, a handful of major projects have added to the trunkline system and the end of the 20th and the start of the 21st centuries. A bypass of St. Johns along US 27 (now US 127{{cite news |first = Mark |last = Ranzenberger |date = April 27, 2008 |title = US 127 Signs Getting Updated |work = The Morning Sun |location = Mount Pleasant, Michigan |pages = 1A, 6A |oclc = 22378715 }}) opened on August 31, 1998.{{cite press release |first = John |last = Truscott |title = Governor Engler Opens US 27 Freeway |url = http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9620_11057-94897--,00.html |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |date = August 31, 1998 |access-date = May 24, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070315000246/http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0%2C1607%2C7-151-9620_11057-94897--%2C00.html |archive-date = March 15, 2007 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }} M-6, a southern freeway bypass of Grand Rapids first proposed in the 1960s,{{cite news |last = Van Kolken |first = Paul |title = Decision Near, but Work on US 31 Is Years Away: MDOT Says It Will Take Six Years—At Least—To Break Ground after Monday's Announcement |work = Holland Sentinel |date = June 19, 1999 |pages = A1, A5 |issn = 1050-4044 |oclc = 49995441 }} was built between 1997 and 2004;{{cite news |title = Building the South Beltline |work = The Grand Rapids Press |date = November 16, 2004 |page = A2 |oclc = 9975013 }} that freeway was controversial based on the choice of a minority-owned subcontractor{{cite news |last = Roelofs |first = Ted |title = Planner Faults Choice of Beltline Consultant |work = The Grand Rapids Press |pages = 1A, 2A |date = January 3, 1981 |oclc = 9975013 }} and route location.{{cite news |last = Roelofs |first = Ted |title = South Belt's Future is Tied to Study |work = The Grand Rapids Press |pages = 1F, 2F |date = January 18, 1981 |oclc = 9975013 }} Bypasses of Cadillac and Manton opened in 2001 and 2003, extending the US 131 freeway northward.{{cite news |last = Bornheimer |first = Hank |title = Temporary Recreation Trail Ready for Traffic—You Can Walk, Run, Skate or Bike the Cadillac Bypass—until Tuesday |work = The Grand Rapids Press |date = October 27, 2001 |page = A1 |oclc = 9975013 }} The final segment of the M-5 Haggerty Connector opened to traffic on November 1, 2002.{{cite news |first= Tom |last= Greenwood |title= Ribbon Cutting Opens New Road |work= The Detroit News |date = November 1, 2002 |issn= 1055-2715 |id= {{oclc|137348716|473153198}} |page= 6C }} Another venture was the construction of a new bridge over the Grand River in Ottawa County for a highway designated M-231;{{cite press release |first = John |last = Richard |date = January 4, 2013 |title = Work Progresses on the New M-231 Route in Ottawa County |url = http://michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9620-292260--,00.html |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |access-date = January 11, 2013 }} that highway opened in October 2015.{{cite news |url = http://fox17online.com/2015/10/30/m-231-is-now-open-for-traffic/ |title = M-231 Is Now Open for Traffic |first = Bob |last = Brenzing |first2 = Darren |last2 = Cunningham |name-list-style = amp |date = October 30, 2015 |location = Grand Rapids, Michigan |publisher = WXMI-TV |access-date = March 24, 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170208042124/http://fox17online.com/2015/10/30/m-231-is-now-open-for-traffic/ |archive-date = February 8, 2017 |url-status = live }}

Another project completed the St. Joseph Valley Parkway, a section of US 31 in Berrien County. The original plan for the freeway would have routed US 31 to connect directly into the I-196/US 31 interchange on I-94. Concerns over the habitat of the Mitchell's satyr butterfly{{cite news |first = Scott |last = Aiken |date = October 20, 2013 |title = When, Oh When, Will 31 Be Done? MDOT Says Linking the Freeway to I-94 East of Benton Harbor Is Years Away |url = http://www.heraldpalladium.com/news/local/when-oh-when-will-be-done/article_9f00c358-d14f-5715-b296-f5b77fb7bf2c.html |work = The Herald-Palladium |location = Benton Harbor, Michigan |access-date = November 13, 2013 }} meant this routing would need to be redesigned with a set of bridges to cross the habitat unobtrusively in the Blue Creek Fen.{{cite news |title = Bridge OK Could Save a Butterfly |work = Chicago Tribune |agency = Knight-Ridder |url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/1994/04/24/bridge-ok-could-save-a-butterfly/ |date = April 24, 1994 |access-date = December 8, 2013 }} In 2001, MDOT began a study of a new design alternative to route the US 31 freeway to connect with I-94 at the BL I-94 interchange just south of the I-196/US 31 interchange.{{cite book |author = Project Planning Division |chapter-url = http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Executive_Summary_96035_7.pdf |chapter = Executive Summary |url = http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9621_11058_53088_53099-96829--,00.html |title = Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to the 1981 Final Environmental Impact Statement, Proposed US 31 Freeway Connection to I-94 |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |date = April 2004 |page = iii |format = PDF |access-date = December 8, 2013 }} In the interim, MDOT built a {{convert|9.1|mi|km|adj=on}} freeway segment north to Napier Avenue that was opened on August 27, 2003, at a cost of $97 million (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US-GDP|97000000|2003|r=0}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation-fn|US-GDP|name-list-style=amp}}).{{cite news |first = Scott |last = Aiken |title = Better Late than Never: US 31 Freeway Finally Reaches Twin Cities |url = http://www.heraldpalladium.com/localnews/better-late-than-never-u-s-freeway-finally-reaches-twin/article_b1fb88d1-f1ff-5b1f-9639-2c59bb709d05.html |work = The Herald-Palladium |location = St. Joseph, Michigan |pages = 1A, 6A |date = August 23, 2003 |access-date = November 25, 2008 |oclc = 34793533 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181120051548/https://www.heraldpalladium.com/localnews/better-late-than-never-u-s-freeway-finally-reaches-twin/article_b1fb88d1-f1ff-5b1f-9639-2c59bb709d05.html |archive-date = November 20, 2018 |url-status = live }}{{cite press release |url = http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9620_11057-74161--,00.html |title = US 31 in Berrien County Opens Today! |publisher = Michigan Department of Transportation |first = Julie A. |last = Martin |date = August 27, 2003 |access-date = March 26, 2013 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111225204007/https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0%2C4616%2C7-151-9620_11057-74161--%2C00.html |archive-date = December 25, 2011 }} In 2020, work began on the final link to connect the US 31 freeway to I-94 east of Benton Harbor. The project cost $121.5 million dollars and involved relocating the interchange with the eastern terminus of BL I-94 and reconstructing {{convert|3.5|mi|km}} of I-94 in the area. Work on that interchange started in September 2020.{{cite news |url = https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/michigan/after-nearly-20-years-us-31-freeway-will-get-connected-to-i-94 |title = After Nearly 20 Years, US 31 Freeway Will Get Connected to I-94 |location = Grand Rapids, Michigan |publisher = WXMI-TV |date = September 28, 2020 |access-date = April 26, 2021 |first = Robb |last = Westaby }} US 31 was rerouted to follow its new freeway section for {{convert|1.8|mi|km}} from the previous end of the freeway at Napier Avenue that opened in 2003 to I-94 at BL I-94, where US 31 then followed I-94 to the I-196 interchange as before.{{cite news |last = Swidwa |first = Julie |date = November 5, 2022 |title = Final Leg of US 31 Freeway in Berrien County to Open Next Week |url = https://www.heraldpalladium.com/communities/benton_harbor/final-leg-of-u-s-31-freeway-in-berrien-county-to-open-next-week/article_6ea89a42-8957-5670-bf7a-b96c80d15e43.html |work=The Herald Palladium |location = St. Joseph, Michigan |access-date=November 9, 2022 |language=en}} This new routing opened on November 9, 2022.{{cite news |last = Springgate |first = Jack |date=November 9, 2022 |title = New US 31 Route Opens to Warm Receptions |url = https://www.wndu.com/2022/11/10/new-us-31-route-opens-warm-receptions/ |work = 16 News Now |location=South Bend, Indiana |publisher=WNDU-TV |access-date=November 10, 2022 |language=en}}

There are several future highway projects current in stages of planning or construction. One is looking at improvements to US 131 in St. Joseph County,{{cite news |last = Riestma |first = Jeff |url = http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/05/michigan_department_of_transpo.html |title = Michigan Department of Transportation Updates US 131 Plans |work = Kalamazoo Gazette |date = May 21, 2008 |access-date = February 5, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121012060818/http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/05/michigan_department_of_transpo.html |archive-date = October 12, 2012 |oclc = 9940379 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }} which includes the bypass of Constantine that opened in October 2013.{{cite news |first = Robb |last = Westaby |date = October 30, 2013 |title = New US 131 Bypass Opens |url = http://fox17online.com/2013/10/18/new-us-131-bypass-opens/#axzz2jFPLGDMw |location = Grand Rapids, Michigan |publisher = WXMI-TV |access-date = October 30, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131103172730/http://fox17online.com/2013/10/18/new-us-131-bypass-opens/ |archive-date = November 3, 2013 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }} MDOT continues to purchase parcels for right-of-way to be used for future upgrades of US 127 along the expressway section between Ithaca and St. Johns.{{cite news |first = Christine |last = Rook |title = Finishing US 127 Still Has Support |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21841671/finishing_us_127_still_has_support/ |work = Lansing State Journal |pages = 1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21841704/finishing_us_127_still_has_support/ 4A] |date = July 12, 2009 |issn = 0274-9742 |oclc = 6678181 |access-date = July 13, 2018 |via = Newspapers.com }}

The United States Congress legislated a highway proposal in 1991 known as I-73. Originally set to run along I-75 to Detroit,{{cite web |author = United States Congress |title = Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 |url = http://ntl.bts.gov/DOCS/istea.html |location = Washington, DC |publisher = Government Printing Office |at = §1105(c)(5) |date = December 18, 1991 |access-date = September 28, 2010 |via = Bureau of Transportation Statistics }} the definition was amended in 1995 to include a branch that would run along US 223 and US 127 to Grayling, then on a continuation along I-75 to Sault Ste. Marie.{{cite web |author = United States Congress |title = The National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/legsregs/title3.html#332 |location = Washington, DC |publisher = Government Printing Office |date = November 28, 1995 |access-date = September 28, 2010 |at = §1105(c)(5) |via = Federal Highway Administration }} MDOT examined three options to build the freeway,{{cite news |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=38wpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wQMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6389,4543775&dq=us+223+michigan+%7C+toledo+%7C+ohio&hl=en |title = Michigan Settles on 3 Options for I-73: State Still May Decide not to Build Highway |work = The Blade |location = Toledo, Ohio |date = December 14, 2000 |page = B2 |access-date = December 19, 2010 |via = Google News |oclc = 12962717 }} but abandoned further study after June 12, 2001, diverting remaining funds to improvement of safety along the corridor.{{cite news |first = Linda |last = Stiles |title = Funds for I-73 Instead Will Be Used to Repair Routes 127, 223 |date = June 13, 2001 |work = Jackson Citizen Patriot |page = A1 |oclc = 9939307 }} The department stated there was a "lack of need" for sections of the proposed freeway, and the project's website was taken offline in 2002.{{cite news |first = JoAnne |last = Hickey |title = South Takes the Lead: I-73 Will Push from South to North |url = http://www.i73.com/pdf/South%20takes%20the%20lead%20I-73%2008.24.07.pdf |work = Marion Star & Mullins Enterprise |location = Marion, South Carolina |date = August 22, 2007 |page = 5A |access-date = January 4, 2011 |format = PDF |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111006002520/http://www.i73.com/pdf/South%20takes%20the%20lead%20I-73%2008.24.07.pdf |archive-date = October 6, 2011 |url-status = dead |oclc = 761993706 |df = mdy-all }} According to 2011 press reports, a group advocating on behalf of the freeway is working to revive the I-73 proposal in Michigan, but state and local governments continue to express disinterest in resurrecting the freeway.{{cite news |last = Pelham |first = Dennis |title = Group Seeks to Revive I-73 Interest in Michigan |url = http://www.lenconnect.com/news/x121480165/Group-seeks-to-revive-I-73-interest-in-Michigan |access-date = September 6, 2011 |newspaper = The Daily Telegram |location = Adrian, Michigan |date = July 16, 2011 |page = A8 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120401024535/http://www.lenconnect.com/news/x121480165/Group-seeks-to-revive-I-73-interest-in-Michigan |archive-date = April 1, 2012 |url-status = dead |oclc = 33972687 }}

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