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M-119 (Michigan highway)

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"M-131" redirects here. For the U.S. Highway, see U.S. Route 131.

M-119 marker

M-119
290x172px
M-119 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MDOT
Length: 27.548 mi[5] (44.334 km)
Existed: 1979[lower-alpha 1] – present
Tourist
routes:		 Tunnel of Trees Scenic Heritage Route
Major junctions
South end: US 31 near Bay View
  C-77 in Harbor Springs
North end: C-66 / C-77 in Cross Village
Location
Counties: Emmet
Highway system
← M-117 M-120 →
← US 131 M-131 M-132 x20px →

M-119 is a 27.548-mile (44.334 km) state trunkline highway entirely within Emmet County in the US state of Michigan. The highway follows the shore of Lake Michigan and the Little Traverse Bay, with its southern terminus at US Highway 31 (US 31) near Bay View, about four miles (6.4 km) east of Petoskey; the northern terminus is at a junction with county roads C-66 and C-77 in Cross Village. North of Harbor Springs, the highway is known as the Tunnel of Trees Scenic Heritage Route. This section of highway lacks a centerline and is known for its scenic beauty. On an average day, between 2,000 and 15,000 vehicles use various parts of the highway.

The first highways along the route of the modern M-119 was a section of the original M-13 designated by July 1, 1919. This highway was later redesignated M-131 in late 1926, a designation it held until 1979. During this timeframe, another highway bore the M-119 moniker in the southern part of the state near Paw Paw from the 1930s until the early 1970s. In between 1926 and 1979, M-131 was extended and truncated on both its northern and southern ends at various times. Since the M-119 designation was applied to the current highway, no changes have been made to the routing.

Route description

A portion of the "Tunnel of Trees" section running between Harbor Springs and Good Hart; note the lack of a centerline.
A portion of the "Tunnel of Trees" section running between Good Hart and Cross Village.

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.[6][7]

From Harbor Springs on, M-119 is the Tunnel of Trees Scenic Heritage Route,[8] 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.[6][7] 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."[9] 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."[8] 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.[6][7]

As part of the state's maintenance of M-119, MDOT tracks the volume of traffic that uses the roadway. 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 2010 showed that the highest traffic levels along M-119 were the 14,647 vehicles daily near the southern terminus; the lowest counts were the 2,036 vehicles per day at the northern terminus.[10] None of M-119 has been listed on the National Highway System,[11] a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.[12] The Discovery Channel named the roadway as one of the "Top 10 Motorcycle Rides in North America".[13]

History

Previous designation

The first incarnation c. 1930 of the M-119 designation ran four miles (6.4 km) south from US 12 in Paw Paw south to Lawton in Van Buren County.[14] By the middle of 1936, it had been extended further south to US 112 near Mottville.[15] In 1971, all of M-119 was redesignated as M-40.[16][17]

Current designation

M-131
Location: Bay View–Cross Village
Length: 27.548 mi[5] (44.334 km)
Existed: 1926–1979

The current highway was designated in 1979, replacing the former route of M-131;[3][4] the routing has remained unchanged since.[6] This section of highway had been part of M-13 on July 1, 1919, when the state trunkline highway system debuted.[1][lower-alpha 2] Later on November 11, 1926, M-13 south of Fife Lake was redesignated as part of US 131,[19] and the remainder of M-131 was designated as M-131.[2]

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.[20][21] This section of highway would be stripped of its designation in 1937 and truncated back to Harbor Springs.[22][23] 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.[24][25] The MSHD re-extended M-131 back to Cross Village in 1945.[26] The highway remained as such until 1967 when a slight realignment was made in Emmet County along the lakeshore as M-131 is routed on to its final alignment.[27][28]

Major intersections

The entire highway is in Emmet County.

Location mi[5] km Destinations Notes
Bear Creek Township 0.000 0.000 US 31 / LMCT – Petoskey, Mackinaw City
3.196 5.143 C-81 north (Pleasantview Road) – Mackinaw City Southern terminus of C-81
Harbor Springs 7.200 11.587 C-77 north (State Road) – Cross Village Southern terminus of C-77
Cross Village 27.548 44.334 C-66 south / C-77 east – Cheboygan, Harbor Springs Western terminus of C-66 and northern terminus of C-77
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Sections of M-119 have been a state highway since c. July 1, 1919;[1] it was part of M-13 until 1926[2] and then M-131 until 1979.[3][4]
  2. ↑ The first state highways in Michigan were signposted in 1919.[18]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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