M-66 (Michigan highway)

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M-66 marker

M-66

Map
M-66 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MDOT
Length266.399 mi[1] (428.728 km)
Existedc. July 1, 1919[2]–present
Major junctions
South end SR 9 near Sturgis
Major intersections
North end US 31 at Charlevoix
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMichigan
CountiesSt. Joseph, Branch, Calhoun, Barry, Eaton, Ionia, Montcalm, Mecosta, Osceola, Missaukee, Kalkaska, Antrim, Charlevoix
Highway system
← M-65→ M-67

M-66 is a north–south

freeway; otherwise M-66 is a two-lane rural highway. Two sections are listed on the National Highway System
.

The first usage of the M-66 designation dates back to around July 1, 1919 with the rest of the original state highway system. At the time, the highway only extended between

Six Lakes
, the change that spawned M-91. The last big extension in 1965 resulted in the modern trans-peninsular highway route. The last modifications were shorter reroutings in the 1970s.

Route description

M-66 runs for 266.399 miles (428.728 km) as an almost entirely a north–south

U.S. Highway 131 (US 131) in Kalkaska or Antrim counties.[5]

Indiana to Ionia

M-66 is a four-lane highway that connects with

Leonidas running parallel to Nottawa Creek and crossing into the northwest corner of Branch County. M-60 and M-66 separate west of Union City, and M-66 turns north into Calhoun County.[6][8]

Running through woodland terrain in southern Calhoun County, M-66 passes through

at-grade intersection with Hamblin Avenue. I-194 ends, and M-66 continues northeast out of the Cereal City on Division Street and then northeast on Capital Avenue along the Battle Creek River.[6][8]

M-66 continues northward through

Woodbury, and M-43 turns east leaving M-66 in favor of a concurrency with M-50. M-66 crosses a rail line of CSX Transportation and the county line on State Road. It meets I-96 in a rural southern part of the Ionia County south of Ionia. On the south edge of town, the highway passes the county airport and curves to the northeast becoming Dexter Street. While entering downtown Ionia, the trunkline crosses the Grand River and the abandoned mainline of the Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad near the county fairgrounds. M-66 turns west along M-21 (Lincoln Avenue) for two blocks before turning back to the north along State Street. The trunkline runs through the northern part of the county and meets M-44's eastern terminus near Woodard Lake.[6][8]

Montcalm County and northward

In

Remus. This area of rural Mecosta County is more heavily forested with rolling hills and sporadic farms. In Barryton, the roadway crosses the Chippewa River. M-66 continues north passing Merrill Lake before crossing into rural eastern Osceola County at Mesceola Road.[6][8]

The highway meets US 10 near Sears after crossing the Pere Marquette State Trail. M-66 crosses the Muskegon River near a separate 9 Mile Road in Osceola County. It meets both M-115 and M-61 (16 Mile Road) south of Marion.[6][8] The highway continues north and crosses the Great Lakes Central Railroad for the first time in Marion,[7] before entering Missaukee County. The trunkline then turns westward on Stoney Corners Road toward McBain through farm land. In town it runs along Maple Street and then runs north toward Lake City on Morey Road. South of the Lake City, M-55 runs concurrently with M-66 by Missaukee Golf Course and into town along the eastern shore of Lake Missaukee. North of town, M-55 splits off to the east on Houghton Lake Road, and M-66 continues north to an intersection with the eastern terminus of M-42 in a rural forest. M-66 leaves Morey Road and follows Pioneer Road to the county line.[6][8]

As the highway crosses into

C-38 at the intersection with State Street in Mancelona. M-66 separates from US 131 and follows Mancelona–East Jordan Road out of town.[6][8]

Northern terminus of M-66 at US 31 in Charlevoix

The section of M-66 north of the US 131 split had the highway's lowest AADT levels in the 2009 survey. MDOT reported that only 1,500 vehicles use this stretch of road in 2009.

Green River to East Jordan. M-66 follows Lake Street and turns to follow the western shore of the South Arm of Lake Charlevoix. The roadway turns inland through Ironton before returning to the lakeshore the rest of the way to Charlevoix. M-66 ends at an intersection with US 31 south of downtown next to Lake Michigan.[6][8]

Services

MDOT provides a number of different services to motorists traveling along the state trunkline highway system. Along M-66, there are six different carpool lots located near Nashville, Woodland, Belding, Sheridan, Sears and Marion. There are additional services provided to travelers in the form of roadside parks and rest areas. There are two roadside parks along the highway, one is between Woodland and Woodbury, and the second is in Sheridan.[6] The roadway also provides access to the Ionia State Recreation Area and a state harbor on Lake Charlevoix.[16]

History

A characteristic view of M-66 in rural Michigan just south of the M-46 junction

M-66 was first signed along a roadway by July 1, 1919 between

Michigan State Highway Department (MSHD) rerouted US 131 along a new road between South Boardman and Kalkaska.[24]

The MSHD completed a major rerouting of M-66 around 1944–45. The M-14 designation of the time was decommissioned and replaced with M-66. Starting at Six Lakes, M-66 turned west along M-46 instead of east and then turned south through Stanton and Ionia ending north of Battle Creek. The highway between Lowell and Lakeview was redesignated as M-91.[25] A minor realignment in late 1950 removed two 90° curves near the Osceola–Missaukee county line and replaced them with a pair of sweeping curves.[26][27]

The MSHD rerouted M-66 between

M-214 to Hastings. M-66 was shifted off Assyria Road which was turned back to local control.[28][29] Another realignment in 1954 shifted M-66 to the modern routing between the M-43 concurrency termini, removing M-43/M-66 from a section of M-50 in the process.[30][31] The final section gravel section of M-66, approximately 11 miles (18 km) in length, was paved near Nashville in 1957.[32][33] M-32 was extended along the northernmost section of M-66 in 1963.[34]

M-66 was extended southerly from

Assyria through Battle Creek to the Indiana state line replacing sections of M-78 in 1965. M-66 turned south and west along M-60 and new highway to Colon. The segment of former M-78 not used by M-66 was transferred to local control. The final section of M-78's roadway given to M-66 extended it all the way to the state line, resulting in a north–south trans-peninsular highway from Lake Michigan near Charlevoix to Indiana.[35][36] M-66 is the only such highway to run the length of the Lower Peninsula.[6] The extension allowed the Green Arrow Association to promote the whole length of the Green Arrow Route with a single highway number.[37] The next year, M-66 was rerouted through Battle Creek to use the completed I-194 freeway.[38][39]

A 90° turn in Missaukee County was removed north of Lake City in 1972.[40][41] In late 1973 or early 1974, M-66 and M-72 were shifted around the south side of Kalkaska.[41][42] Later in 1974, the M-32 concurrency was removed when M-32 was scaled back to its former terminus.[42][43] A project in 1981 furthered the 1972 realignment in Missaukee County. About 4 miles (6.4 km) were shortened from the routing when the new alignment was built between Smithville and Phelps Road.[44][45]

Memorial designations

To capitalize on the opening of the Mackinac Bridge in 1957, local leaders in Battle Creek wanted to promote M-66 as a route north from Indiana to the bridge. They named the highway the Green Arrow Route as part of this marketing strategy. The color was to evoke the forests in the area, and arrow was meant to play on several historical connections. One of these was the Pennsylvania Railroad's Northern Arrow passenger train that once operated in the area. The official explanation was to tie into the history of Native Americans in the area, but the route was also "straight as an arrow".[9] The backers also promoted the highway as a direct and scenic route to vacation country in the northern Lower Peninsula, avoiding most of the larger cities in the area. M-66 was given the Green Arrow Route name in Public Act 170 of 1959 between the Indiana state line and Kalkaska. Despite these efforts, M-66 failed to attract much traffic. When the Michigan Legislature recodified the memorial highway names in Public Act 142 of 2001, the Green Arrow Route was truncated to the northern border of Calhoun County, a change confirmed by Public Act 138 of 2004.[9]

Born Isabella Baumfree in 1797,

Midwest and New England speaking against slavery and for women's rights. She lived in the area until her death in 1883. Her connection to the state of Michigan was honored by the state American Revolution Bicentennial Commission in 1976 which urged the Michigan Legislature to name a highway in her honor. Public Act 93 of 1976 named all of M-66 in Calhoun County, including the segment that runs concurrently with I-194, as the Sojourner Truth Memorial Highway. The highway was dedicated to her on May 21, 1976.[9]

The Cereal City Development Corporation (CCDC) asked the Legislature to amend the memorial designation in 1993. They felt that I-194/M-66 was better known to locals as The Penetrator, and they wished to restore emphasis to Truth. They asked for the "Sojourner Truth Downtown Parkway" name to be applied to "M-66 between Interstate 94 and Hamblin".[9] The Legislature passed Public Act 208 of 1993 to affect the change, restoring "the link between Sojourner Truth and the City of Battle Creek, which was once the center of abolitionist sentiment in the state."[9]

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi[1]kmExitDestinationsNotes
St. JosephSturgis Township0.0000.000
 SR 9 south – LaGrange		Southern terminus at Indiana state line
Sturgis2.6594.279
 US 12 west – Niles		Western end of US 12 concurrency
3.1695.100
 US 12 east – Coldwater		Eastern end of US 12 concurrency
Nottawa–Colon township line11.58818.649
 M-86 west – Centreville		Southern end of M-86 concurrency
13.325–
13.446		21.445–
21.639
 M-86 east – Colon		Northern end of M-86 concurrency
Mendon–Leonidas township line17.87628.769
 M-60 west – Three Rivers		Western end of M-60 concurrency
BranchSherwood Township28.10245.226
 M-60 east – Jackson		Eastern end of M-60 concurrency
Chicago
Signed as 1A (east) and 1B (west); M-66 joins the southern end of I-194 freeway; exit 98 on I-94
45.08872.5622 M-96 (East Columbia Avenue)
46.11074.2073
BL I-94
(Dickman Road)
46.40174.675
 I-194 south		At-grade intersection; I-194 freeway ends and highway continues as M-66
Pennfield Township
53.571–
53.598		86.214–
86.258
 M-78 east – Bellevue		Western terminus of M-78
BarryMaple Grove Township65.988106.197
 M-79 east – Charlotte		Southern end of M-79 concurrency
Nashville68.219109.788
 M-79 west – Hastings		Northern end of M-79 concurrency
Woodland Township77.019123.950
 M-43 west – Hastings		Western end of M-43 concurrency
Barry–Eaton county lineWoodland–Sunfield township line79.426127.824
 M-43 east / M-50 – Lansing, Lake Odessa		Eastern end of M-43 concurrency on county line
IoniaBerlin–Orange township line87.938141.522 I-96 – Grand Rapids, LansingExit 67 on I-96
Ionia95.489153.675
 M-21 east – Flint		Western end of M-21 concurrency
95.689153.997
 M-21 west – Grand Rapids		Eastern end of M-21 concurrency
Orleans–Ronald township line101.541163.414
 M-44 west – Grand Rapids		Eastern terminus of M-44
MontcalmFairplain–Bushnell township line108.867175.204 M-57 – Greenville, Carson City
Belvidere–Home township line125.313201.672
 M-46 east – St. Louis		Eastern end of M-46 concurrency
Six Lakes
128.962207.544
 M-46 west – Howard City		Western end of M-46 concurrency
Remus
138.303222.577 M-20 – Big Rapids, Mount Pleasant
OsceolaOrient–Sylvan township line145.290233.822 US 10 – Reed City, Clare
Middle Branch Township168.300270.853 M-115 – Cadillac, Clare
169.206272.311 M-61 – Harrison
MissaukeeLake–Reeder township line187.477301.715
 M-55 west – Cadillac		Southern end of M-55 concurrency
Lake City192.541309.865
 M-55 east – Houghton Lake		Northern end of M-55 concurrency
Caldwell–Forest township line194.544313.088
 M-42 west – Manton		Eastern terminus of M-42
KalkaskaKalkaska Township219.257352.860
 M-72 east – Grayling		Southern end of M-72 concurrency
Kalkaska220.038354.117
 US 131 south – Cadillac		Southern end of US 131 concurrency
222.042357.342
 M-72 west – Traverse City		Northern end of US 131/M-72 concurrency
C-38 east – Waters
Southern terminus of M-88; western terminus of C-38
Mancelona Township235.442378.907
 US 131 north – Petoskey		Northern end of US 131
C-48 – Boyne Falls, Ellsworth
Western terminus of M-32
LMCT – Traverse City, Petoskey
Northern terminus on the shore of Lake Michigan
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

  •  
    Michigan Highways portal

Notes

  1. auxiliary Interstate Highways "Penetrator" when planning the freeway network in the state.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c Michigan Department of Transportation (2021). Next Generation PR Finder (Map). Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  2. ^
    OCLC 15607244
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  3. ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (April 23, 2006). National Highway System, Battle Creek, Michigan (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  4. ^ Natzke, Stefan; Neathery, Mike & Adderly, Kevin (August 26, 2010). "What is the National Highway System?". National Highway System. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
  5. ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (2005). National Highway System, Michigan (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 4, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  6. ^
    OCLC 42778335, 639960603
    .
  7. ^ a b c Michigan Department of Transportation (April 2009). Michigan's Railroad System (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Google (September 14, 2010). "Overview Map of M-66" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
  9. ^
    OCLC 57425393
    .
  10. OCLC 22646576
    .
  11. Newspapers.com
    .
  12. ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (2009). AADT Map for Battle Creek (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
  13. ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (2009). Commercial AADT Map for Battle Creek (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
  14. ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (2009). Statewide AADT Map (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
  15. ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (2009). Statewide Commercial AADT Map (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
  16. OCLC 226315010
    .
  17. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (September 1, 1925). Official Highway Condition Map (Map). [c. 1:823,680]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. Archived from the original on May 10, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2016 – via Archives of Michigan.
  18. OCLC 12701195, 79754957
    .
  19. OCLC 12701053
    .
  20. OCLC 12701053
    .
  21. OCLC 12701143
    .
  22. OCLC 12701143, 317396365
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  23. OCLC 12701143
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  24. OCLC 12701143
    .
  25. OCLC 554645076
    .
  26. OCLC 12701120
    .
  27. OCLC 12701120
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  28. OCLC 12701120
    .
  29. OCLC 12701120
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  30. OCLC 12701120
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  31. OCLC 12701120
    .
  32. OCLC 12701120
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  33. OCLC 12701120, 367386492
    .
  34. OCLC 12701120
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  35. OCLC 12701120
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  36. OCLC 12701120
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  37. Newspapers.com
    .
  38. OCLC 12701120
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  39. OCLC 12701120
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  40. OCLC 12701120
    .
  41. ^
    OCLC 12701120, 81679137
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  42. ^
    OCLC 12701177, 83138602
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  43. OCLC 12701177, 320798754
    . Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  44. OCLC 12701177, 606211521
    .
  45. OCLC 12701177, 320798736. Archived from the original
    on August 27, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019 – via Archives of Michigan.

External links

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