County Road 510 (Marquette County, Michigan)
Route information | |
---|---|
Maintained by MCRC | |
Length | 26.103 mi[1] (42.009 km) |
Existed | 1939[2][3]–present |
Major junctions | |
South end | CR 502 in Negaunee Township |
Co. Rd. AAA near Big Bay | |
North end | CR 550 near Big Bay |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Michigan |
County | Marquette |
Highway system | |
|
County Road 510 (CR 510, Co. Rd. 510) is a primary
The road was originally part of the State Trunkline Highway System as M-35. In 1919, the highway was to run through the Huron Mountains in northern Marquette County. A bridge was moved from rural Pennsylvania in 1921 to carry the road over the Dead River. The Huron Mountain Club opposed the highway, and with the aid of Henry Ford, the road's construction was stopped during the 1920s, leaving a gap in the routing through the mountains. In 1939, the state transferred control of M-35 to local authorities, and the Marquette County Road Commission (MCRC) designated it CR 510. Since that time, the bridge over the Dead River has survived a flood in 2003, and it was bypassed in 2010 by a new section of road with another bridge over the river.
Route description
Starting at an intersection with CR 502 (Midway Drive) in Negaunee Township, CR 510 runs northwesterly through the forest as paved road toward the
History
Background
In 1919, the
Construction on the two ends left the center portion through the Huron Mountains unfinished and shown on state maps as a dashed line marked "impassable".[7] The section not included in CR 510, with guard rails and cement culverts[9] has been called "Blind 35" since.[10]
One of the first tasks for the MSHD was bridging the Dead River in Negaunee Township, three miles (4.8 km) north of US 41.[11] The state solved the problem by buying a bridge in Pennsylvania, where bridges of this design were more common.[11] MDOT describes the bridge as:
... a rare Pennsylvania through truss highway bridge, particularly because of the length [271 feet (83 m)] of this single span. It was purchased by the State Highway Department in 1919, moved from an unspecified
Pittsburgh, and then erected on this site in 1921.[12]The structure has been known as the Steel Bridge to local residents since it was reassembled over the Dead River.[13]
Henry Ford
Records of the
Model T, which required 250 board feet (0.59 m3) of lumber per car.[9] Ford, who was considering becoming the "owner–producer–handler" of the resources he needed, invested in sawmills in Alberta and Kingsford. He also bought the entire town of Pequaming, along the shores of the Keweenaw Bay. The town belonged to Dan Hebard, who also sold Ford a sawmill, tugboats, a 14-room bungalow, and land near the Huron Mountain Club. Hebard retired to spend his summers at a cabin on the Pine River on land belonging to the club.[9]Ford built a
U.S. Senate, he sought entry into the Huron Mountain Club. Since the club limited its membership, Ford worked to improve his chances. His admission would ultimately come when M-35 construction was halted in the Huron Mountains.[9]Hunters, campers, hikers, fishermen and some landowners opposed highway construction near the Huron Mountains. Rydholm said, "... there seemed to be no groundswell of sentiment in favor of it, but it looked as the though the die was cast and nothing could be done to stop it".[9] The Huron Mountain Club members opposed the highway because it would open vast reaches of the back country and might harm the wilderness. Highway construction would also open the possibility of a resort hotel. William C. Weber, a real estate developer from Detroit, owned property along Mountain Lake, in northern Marquette County. A Michigan attorney general's opinion provided a way for blocking the road if two-thirds of the property over which the road would pass was owned by people opposed to the project. The proposed highway was to cross two 40-acre (16 ha) parcels of Huron Mountain Club property, but that was not enough to halt construction.[14]
In 1926, Hebard was elected the new president at the Huron Mountain Club[9] and changed its rules for admission.[14] Before the changes, all existing members voted on new admissions, and four "no" votes meant rejection. After Hebard's changes, only club directors could vote, and only one "no" was needed to block election.[14] In 1927, the road grading for M-35 had reached the Salmon Trout River. That same year, Ford bought more land near Mountain Lake. This property encompassed more than the requisite two-thirds necessary to stop construction of the road. In 1928, the road was moved to connect with the Big Bay Road (CR 550), leaving the stub of "Blind 35" behind.[9] According to club records, "by 1929, M-35 was dead in its tracks and Henry Ford was a member".[14] To commemorate his membership, Ford built a white pine log cabin on club property that cost between $80,000 and $100,000 in 1929 (equivalent to $1,118,000 to $1.4 million in 2023[15]).[9]
After Ford
In 1939, M-35 from Negaunee to Big Bay to L'Anse was officially canceled as a state trunkline highway.[2][3] Constructed portions were turned over to local control, becoming CR 510 in Marquette County.[10]
The Steel Bridge is still in place over the Dead River and previously carried CR 510 as the successor to M-35 in northern Marquette County.[16] It survived a May 15, 2003, flood caused by the breaching of the Silver Lake Dam.[12][13] The Marquette County Road Commission had announced plans in 2006 to bypass the structure with a modern replacement, leaving the existing bridge as a footpath or bike path.[17] Construction on the bypass road and replacement bridge began in October 2007. The concrete work for the replacement span was started in late 2009, with an original projected completion date of November 1, 2010. The new crossing is 100 feet (30 m) above river level compared to the 10 feet (3.0 m) for the 1921 span. The total budget for bridge construction was $4.5 million and an additional $1.7 million for the approach work, with an 80-percent federal, 15-percent state and 5-percent county funding split.[6] The new bridge opened to traffic in September 2010, diverting traffic from the Steel Bridge. Completion of the new span came after about a decade of planning.[16]
Major intersections
The entire road is in Marquette County.
Location mi[1] km Destinations Notes Negaunee Township 0.000 0.000 CR 502 (Midway Drive) – Negaunee, Marquette Powell Township 22.969 36.965 Co. Rd. KAA[a] (Triple A Road) Eastern terminus of Co. Rd. KAA 23.389 37.641 Blind 35 Roadway continuation formerly part of M-35 26.103 42.009 CR 550 – Big Bay, Marquette 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi See also
Michigan Highways portalNotes
- ^ The segments within Champion and Michigamme townships are Co. Rd. AAA and Co. Rd. IAA, respectively. The first letter is based upon the township where a local county road runs.[18]
References
- ^ a b Michigan Department of Transportation (2021). Next Generation PR Finder (Map). Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
- ^
OCLC 12701143.- ^
OCLC 12701143.- ^ .
- ^ a b Google (May 9, 2012). "Overview Map of CR 510" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
- ^
OCLC 9729223. Archived from the originalon July 18, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2012.- ^
OCLC 12701053. OCLC 24448978.- ^
OCLC 20652946.- ^
OCLC 41970440.- ^
Archive.org.- ^ a b Michigan Department of Transportation (April 19, 2002). "County Rd. 510–Dead River". Michigan's Historic Bridges. Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
- ^
OCLC 9729223.- ^
OCLC 608430314. Gross Domestic Product deflatorfigures follow the MeasuringWorth series.- ^ from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
- ^ "Plans to Replace Historic Bridge Underway". Negaunee, Michigan: WLUC-TV. May 2, 2006.
OCLC 310606345.External links
KML is from Wikidata
- Marquette County Road Commission
- M-35: The Highway Henry Ford Stopped at Michigan Highways