M-35 (Michigan highway)

The bridge is still in place over the Dead River and previously carried CR 510 as the successor to M-35 in northern Marquette County. The Marquette County Road Commission had announced plans in 2006 to bypass the Steel Bridge with a modern replacement, leaving the existing bridge as a footpath or bike path. Construction on the bypass road and replacement bridge was begun 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 above river level compared to the for the 1921 span. The total budget for bridge construction was $4.5 million (equivalent to $ in ) with an additional $1.7 million (equivalent to $ in ) for the approach work; the project had an 80 percent federal, 15 percent state and 5 percent county funding split. 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.

Henry Ford

Records of the Huron Mountain Club, an exclusive private organization with large land holdings in northern Michigan, show that Henry Ford visited the Upper Peninsula many times, including at least once with Harvey Firestone and Thomas Edison on Ford's yacht, Sialia. Many of these trips involved research to keep his operations supplied. His UP land provided wood for the manufacture of Ford automobiles such as the Model T, which required of lumber per car. Constructed portions were turned over to local control, becoming Skanee Road in Baraga County and CR 510 in Marquette County. This left a discontinuous routing for 13 years. The southern segment of M-35 ran from Menominee to Negaunee, and the northern segment ran from Baraga to Ontonagon along the modern M-38. The two segments were rejoined in 1953, closing the gap left by the cancelled Huron Mountain route. M-35 signs were added to existing highway signs westward from the end of the southern segment at Negaunee along US 41/M-28 and US 41 to Baraga, to connect with the northern segment westward to Ontonagon.

In 1964, several abandoned underground mine shafts collapsed underneath the roadway, forcing a rerouting of M-35 out of the City of Negaunee. Before the rerouting, M-35 was routed from Palmer north to Negaunee using a portion of County Road near Lucy Hill. It also followed Silver Street connecting with part of Business M-28, a business loop of M-28, through downtown Negaunee to US 41 north of town. This former segment is still shown on some maps (such as Google Maps) as "Old M-35". Since this rerouting, M-35 runs from Palmer past Goose Lake to end in Negaunee Township. The only naturbahn, or natural track, luge run in North America crosses the former routing of M-35 in Negaunee. This luge run crosses over the abandoned street at the end of County Road at Lucy Hill. Since then, sections of the roadway were realigned in Richmond Township south of Palmer to straighten some of the many curves between Palmer and Gwinn in 1989. MDOT constructed a new 20-space commuter parking lot at the southern terminus of M-553 at M-35 in August 2008 as part of an effort to offer expanded ride-sharing opportunities in Marquette County.

Tourist routes

The southern section of M-35 is a part of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour (LMCT). On August 26, 2007, MDOT designated the southern section of M-35 along Lake Michigan as the UP Hidden Coast Recreational Heritage Trail running for between Menominee and Gladstone. As a part of the Pure Michigan Byways Program, M-35 passes the mouths of the Cedar and Bark rivers. Wells State Park is located on M-35 in Cedar River

In a press release, MDOT's James Lake states:

Major intersections

Notes

References

External links

M-35 at Michigan Highways
UP Hidden Coast Recreational Heritage Route (Central Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Regional Commission)

M-35: The Highway Henry Ford Stopped at Michigan Highways
CR 510 Bridge at Historic Bridges.org