Skip to main content

Great Lakes Road Trip Day 3 Part 1; Brighton, MI to M-22

Given it was a Saturday when I was heading up to the Leelanau Peninsula I figured getting out early would be the best course of action.  Having not lived in Michigan for several decades I almost had forgotten how late in the day people really get going.  Out west people are out and moving around by 6 AM but in the Mid-West it still seems to be least 9-10 AM at least even on the weekends.  With that all said planned a central route through the state which took me up I-96 to US 127 in the outskirts of Lansing.






When I got my first driver's license I used to drive US 127 through downtown Lansing almost everyday.  At the time US 127 was a 55 MPH freeway, it still strikes me as odd that it is 70 MPH these days through the city.  I recall flying back from Arizona one year to go to a wedding in New Jersey that my Dad had rented a van to transport everyone in and somehow managed to hit a deer in downtown Lansing on US 127.  We kept the van for the duration of the trip but it had a large clump of hair that was sticking out of left front fender the entire time.  I still don't know how a deer would have gotten onto US 127, the freeway literally is in the heart of the city.  I still think that US 27 should have been swapped with US 127 when the former was decomissioned in Michigan.






I still remember when this was north terminus of US 127 at I-69.  US 27 ran on a expressway north through Dewitt Township before the new freeway was built.  The freeway ramps up to 75 MPH north of I-69 which I'm to understand is brand new this year before becoming a 65 MPH expressway north of St. Johns.


I made my way up to US 10 and cut west towards M-115.  After leaving US 10 for M-115 west there was no more freeways the rest of the day.






I took M-115 all the way to M-55 and continued west towards the coast of Lake Michigan.





At the western terminus of M-55 I picked up US 31 and headed north to M-22 to start my route clinch for the day.



Comments

Adam said…
This reminds me a lot of my trip eight years ago to Michigan!
http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2009/09/exploring-northwest-michigan.html

Popular posts from this blog

Bleriot Ferry - Alberta

  Alberta operates six ferries scattered throughout the province. Roughly twenty to twenty-five kilometers up the Red Deer River from the town of Drumheller is one of the most scenic ferry crossings in all of Wild Rose Country, the Bleriot Ferry. Using the North Dinosaur Trail (Alberta Highway 838, or AB 838), the Bleriot Ferry provides a scenic river cruise of sorts in the Canadian Badlands. The Bleriot Ferry started operating in 1913 as the Munson Ferry when a few bridges crossed the Red Deer River. The ferry was started by Andre Bleriot, the brother of famed early aviator Louis Bleriot, who became famous for being the first person to fly over the English Channel. At the time, the Alberta provincial government commissioned local residents to run the ferries. There were several ferries along the Red Deer River, and not only did they serve as vital transportation links, but they also served as local social hubs, since everyone had to take the ferries to go places. Over time, as the...

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

I-73/I-74 and NC Future Interstates Year in Review 2024

Welcome to another annual review of progress in constructing North Carolina's New and Future Interstate routes. While 2024 was not too exciting, with no new segments of major routes opening, there was 1 new interstate signing, another proposed new interstate route, and the near opening of a new segment for 2 routes. As tradition, I will start off with a review of what happened with I-73 and I-74 and then move on to the major news of the year about the other new and future routes. Work continued on the I-73/I-74 Rockingham Bypass through the year. The last few months have been hoping for news of its opening before 2025, without luck. Signs of its near completion included the placement of new signs, many with interstate shields uncovered, along the Bypass and intersecting roadways. For example, these went up along US 74 East: Overhead signage at Business 74 exit which contains the future ramp to I-73 North/I-74 West. Signage was also updated heading west on US 74 approaching the unop...