A-2 (Michigan county highway)

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A-2 marker

A-2

Blue Star Highway
Map
A-2 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by BCRC, VBCRC, and ACRC
Length41.609 mi[1] (66.963 km)
Existedc. May 5, 1970[2]–present
Major junctions
South end M-63 near Lake Michigan Beach
Major intersections
North end
BL I-196 / US 31 in Holland
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMichigan
CountiesBerrien, Van Buren, Allegan
Highway system
←
A-37

A-2 is a

Business Loop Interstate 196/US Highway 31 (BL I-196/US 31) in Holland
.

In the early part of the 20th century, what is now Blue Star Highway was part of two auto trails before becoming a state trunkline highway. In 1926, it was designated as a part of US 31 and kept that status until I-196 bypassed the roadway in the early 1960s. Two local business owners spurred the efforts to get the older highway restored to the state highway map in 1970, and the A-2 designation was created as a result.

Route description

A-2 starts at an intersection with

Covert before coming into the southern edge of South Haven.[3][4]

In South Haven, A-2 bypasses downtown, rounding the district to the south and east. The county road intersects

BL I-196 at Le Grange Street due south of downtown and M-43 a block later. In this area, Blue Star Highway is bounded by a mix of mostly commercial and some residential properties. On the north side of the city, A-2 intersects BL I-196 a second time at Phoenix Street and then continues due north out of town, crossing the Black River. The landscape transitions over to a rural forest area with residential properties as A-2 continues across the county line into Allegan County and passes the South Haven Country Club and some vineyards.[3][4]

A-2 in Allegan County

A-2 turns northeasterly near

Ganges. North of the community, A-2 intersects M-89 about 1,400 feet (430 m) east of its terminus at I-196/US 31. North of here, the freeway turns to the northeast and crosses under A-2. Blue Star Highway continues due north into Douglas. In the city, the county road is bounded by businesses as it S-curves northeasterly to cross a narrow spot of Kalamazoo Lake (part of the Kalamazoo River) into Saugatuck. A-2 bypasses downtown Saugatuck to its east and continues north and northeasterly out of town. The county road crosses over the freeway again and out to farmlands before turning north along 58th Street, well inland of I-196/US 31.[3][4]

From here, A-2 runs due north and crosses I-196 one last time near the south side of the

BL I-196/US 31 on the south side of the city of Holland where it terminates. South Washington Street continues northward into downtown without the county highway designation.[3][4] As a county-designated highway, the 41.6-mile (66.9 km) length of A-2 is maintained by the Berrien, Van Buren, and Allegan county road commissions (BCRC, VBCRC, ACRC) in their respective counties.[1]

History

When

American Association of State Highway Officials approved the United States Numbered Highway System,[10] and the state designated US 31 in Michigan along M-11.[11] During World War II, the state highway department bypassed downtown South Haven, shifting US 31 out of downtown.[12][13] US 31 was given the Blue Star Highway designation on October 10, 1948.[14]

US 31 between the

Interstate Highway when that system debuted in the late 1950s.[15] The first freeway segment in the area opened in 1962 northward from I-94 to near the Berrien–Van Buren county line,[16][17] and an additional 35 miles (56 km) opened the next year from the northern end of the freeway near the county line to Holland as I-196; US 31 was removed from Blue Star Highway to run along the new freeway.[18]

Blue Star Highway was returned to county control, the US 31 highway signs were taken down, and the roadway was removed from the state highway maps with the completion of the freeway in the area.[19] The owners of a motel in Saugatuck, Mr. and Mrs. Howard "Gene" Temple, received a large number of cancellations because travelers could not find their business.[2] Mrs. Temple said that signage in the area was misleading,[19] and she contacted local officials to get better highway signage for the road. These meetings resulted in a test program for the 1970 state highway map that marked Blue Star Highway as A-2; the Allegan County Road Commission spent $2,000 (equivalent to $12,100 in 2023[20]) to erect about 50 markers along the road in their county.[2] At the time, the scheme was labeled "experimental".[21] Later that year, the system was expanded in scope to the rest of the state.[22] Mrs. Temple was credited as the first Michigan woman to secure a highway designation from the State Highway Commission.[2]

The next year in 1971, A-2 was extended south to the junction with

BL I-196 in South Haven was realigned and no longer overlapped A-2.[24][25] The South Washington Avenue section of A-2 on the south side of Holland was realigned in 2004 into a 885-foot-long (270 m) tunnel to make way for an expansion of the runway at Tulip City Airport (now West Michigan Regional Airport).[26] A roundabout was added at the intersection with North Shore Drive north of South Haven in 2010.[27]

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
LMCT – Benton Harbor, St. Joseph
BL I-196 – South Haven, Watervliet
South Haven Township line
12.51220.136 M-43 – South Haven, Kalamazoo
BL I-196 – South Haven
LMCT – Benton Harbor, Holland
Exit 30 on I-196/US 31
Ganges–Saugatuck township line27.59544.410 M-89
LMCT – Benton Harbor, Holland
Exit 36 on I-196/US 31
34.720–
34.740		55.876–
55.909
LMCT – Benton Harbor, Holland
Exit 41 on I-196/US 31
BL I-196 / US 31 – Holland, Niles, Muskegon
Exit 47 on BL I-196/US 31
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

  •  
    Michigan Highways portal

References

  1. ^ a b c Michigan Department of Transportation (2021). Next Generation PR Finder (Map). Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  2. ^
    Newspapers.com
    .
  3. ^ a b c d Michigan Department of Transportation (2020). Community Connections, Postcards from Home: Official 2020 Michigan Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:975,000. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. §§ L8–M7.
  4. ^ a b c d Google (October 1, 2020). "Overview Map of A-2" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  5. OCLC 57425393
    .
  6. ASIN B002AVU93U
    .
  7. OCLC 44724558
    – via Google Books.
  8. OCLC 9975013
    .
  9. OCLC 15607244
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  10. OCLC 63377558
    .
  11. OCLC 32889555. Retrieved November 7, 2013 – via Wikimedia Commons
    .
  12. OCLC 12701143
    .
  13. OCLC 554645076
    .
  14. ^ Barnett (2004), pp. 32–33.
  15. OCLC 4165975
    . Retrieved October 2, 2020 – via Wikimedia Commons.
  16. OCLC 12701120, 173191490
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  17. OCLC 12701120
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  18. OCLC 13440201
    . Retrieved May 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^
    OCLC 10117334
    . Retrieved October 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. Gross Domestic Product deflator
    figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
  21. OCLC 10117334
    . Retrieved October 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. OCLC 13440201
    . Retrieved May 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. OCLC 12701120, 77960415
    .
  24. ^
    OCLC 12701120
    .
  25. OCLC 12701120, 81679137
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  26. ISSN 0274-9742
    . Retrieved October 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. OCLC 34793533
    . Retrieved October 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

KML file (edit • help)
Template:Attached KML/A-2 (Michigan county highway)
KML is from Wikidata
  • A-2 at Michigan Highways
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