U.S. Route 27 in Michigan

and the new US 27 replaced M-29 from the state line northward to Lansing; from Lansing northward, US 27 replaced M-14 to Cheboygan. By the end of the next year, M-78 was extended from Charlotte along US 27 to run north and east of Lansing to a junction with M-47 near Pittsburg. In 1929, the route of US 27/M-18 was realigned south of Roscommon on the east side of Higgins Lake. The same year, another realignment moved US 27 to run due north from the Clinton–Gratiot county line to M-43 at Ithaca, and a third change rounded a corner near Shepherd in Isabella County.

When a new roadway was built in the St. Louis area in 1930, the former routing into Alma was redesignated US 27A; another US 27A was created in Shepherd around the same time. By the middle of 1936, the US 27/M-78 routing through Lansing was split into two. The mainline was restricted to cars only and moved to run along Capitol Avenue. The former routing was restricted to trucks only and designated as a truck route. The following year, US 27 was extended to follow US 23 between Cheboygan and Mackinaw City. That year, the last section of the highway was also paved southwest of Houghton Lake. In 1938, the route of US 27 on the north side of downtown Lansing was realigned on an extended Larch Street. The US 27A loop into Shepherd was removed the next year.

In the latter half of 1940, US 23 was rerouted to follow the Lake Huron shoreline northwest of Alpena; after this change was completed, US 27's concurrency with US 23 was shortened to start in downtown Cheboygan instead of south of town.

Later in the decade, US 27 was rerouted to run to the west of Houghton and Higgins lakes in 1949. The next year, the truck route designation in Lansing was decommissioned when the mainline was rerouted to replace it. By the end of 1952, a four-lane divided highway segment opened southwest of Lansing to bypass Millett.

Conversion to freeways

thumb|left|upright|US 27 before relocation and conversion to a freeway near Clare

The first planning maps from 1947 for what later became the Interstate Highway System did not include a highway along US 27's route; instead a highway further west connecting South Bend, Indiana, with Kalamazoo was included. This alternative highway was maintained on the 1955 plan for the "National System of Interstate and Defense Highways", and numbered I-67 in August 1957. By June 1958, this freeway had been shifted further east and renumbered I-69, connecting Indianapolis, Indiana, with Marshall; no connections north and east to Lansing were planned as part of the Interstate Highway System.

The Mackinac Bridge was opened to traffic on November 1, 1957; a new section of freeway and an interchange connected US 2 to the bridge on the northern end, and a new approach road connected to U.S. Route 31 in Michigan and US 27 in Mackinaw City on the southern end. The US 27 designation was initially extended across the bridge from Mackinaw City to St. Ignace. In November 1960, sections of I-75 freeway opened from Indian River north to the southern Mackinac Bridge approaches in Mackinaw City, and US 27 was removed from the bridge. the testing for such a roadway was ultimately done at Ohio State University instead. That October, the first segment of I-75 near Grayling opened, connecting M-18 with the city. By the end of the year, the former segment of US 27 between Grayling and Gaylord was turned back to local control, and the section of highway between Indian River and Cheboygan was redesignated M-27. After this individual segment of freeway was completed, there was a gap between Gaylord and Indian River that was designated "TO I-75" on maps along the former segment of US 27, and US 27 was truncated to about south of Grayling. Also by the end of the same year, the highway was shifted to follow a new freeway routing from the southwest of Ithaca to Grayling, bypassing Ithaca, St. Louis, Mount Pleasant, Clare and Harrison. The old route was turned over to local control except through the aforementioned cities where it was reused for business loops. The US 27A through Alma was also bypassed by the new freeway, and it was redesignated Bus. US 27 as well. Another non-freeway bypass was built around Charlotte, and the former route was redesignated Bus. US 27.

In August 1962, the section of I-75 between Gaylord and Vanderbilt was completed. On December 12, 1962, I-96 was completed around the Lansing area, and M-78 was rerouted to follow it. The route of US 27/M-78 through downtown Lansing became US 27/Bus. M-78. On October 11, 1967, the first segment of I-69/US 27 was scheduled to open between the Indiana state line and Tekonsha. By the end of the year, the freeway was extended north to Marshall. The former route of US 27 in Coldwater was redesignated as a Business Loop I-69 (BL I-69) as well.

The MSHD requested additional Interstate Highway mileage in 1968 under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968 including an extension of I-69 from Marshall to Port Huron; this extension was approved as far as I-75/US 23 in Flint on December 13, 1968. This extension encompassed the US 27 corridor between Marshall and Lansing.

In 1970, the I-69/US 27 freeway was extended from Marshall to just south of Olivet. The next year, the freeway was extended north to, and incorporated, the previous Charlotte bypass. Bus. US 27 through Charlotte remains unchanged. In 1973, the M-78 concurrency from Olivet northeasterly along US 27 was removed, and the connection along US 27 northeast of the existing I-69 freeway was designated TEMP I-69. The following year, Bus. US 27 in Charlotte was renumbered as a BL I-69. In the middle of 1974, Indiana and Michigan petitioned AASHTO to decommission the US 27 designation north of Fort Wayne, Indiana, including the entire length in Michigan; this request was denied.

A northern freeway bypass of the Lansing area opened in 1984. MDOT rerouted US 27 to follow I-96 around the west side of the city and over the new freeway to reconnect with the exiting routing north of Lansing. The former US 27 through downtown Lansing was redesignated Bus. US 27 at that time. Three years later in January 1987, MDOT dropped a proposal to reroute US 27 south of Lansing to the Jackson area, and from there west along M-60 to reconnect with I-69/US 27 at Tekonsha. Another segment of freeway opened later that year in Clinton County between US 127 near DeWitt and TEMP I-69 near Bath.

In 1991, MDOT and the Indiana Department of Transportation petitioned AASHTO to remove the US 27 designation from its concurrency with I-69 in the two states; this request was denied by the association's Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering at its October 11, 1991, meeting because it would have resulted in a section of US 27 north of Lansing disconnected from the remainder of the highway south of Fort Wayne. The final segment of I-69/US 27 to be completed was located southwest of Lansing. It opened on October 17, 1992, when the ribbon was cut by Governor John Engler. This Interstate Highway segment was the last in the state and completed Michigan's portion of the Interstate Highway System. At the time it was complete, I-69 was concurrent with US 27 from the state line north to the DeWitt area (exit 87) and then concurrent with US 127 to exit 89.

A few years later, the statutory definition of the I-73 corridor was amended in 1995 to have a branch that would encompass the section of US 27 north of Lansing. This new Interstate was to follow US 223 and US 127 between Toledo, Ohio, and Lansing before continuing north to I-75 near Grayling. From Grayling northward, the I-73 corridor was defined to follow I-75 to Sault Ste. Marie.

The St. Johns Bypass on US 27 opened on August 31, 1998; US 27 was extended along I-69 about to connect to the bypass, and US 127 was removed from its short concurrency with I-69. After this opening, US 27 was a full freeway in Michigan from the state line north to St. Johns and from Ithaca to the Grayling area. The last signalized intersection on US 27 in the state was removed in 2000 when the junction with M-57 was converted to an interchange in southern Gratiot County.

Decommissioning in Michigan

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The previous year, MDOT petitioned AASHTO to decommission the US 27 designation in the state; the change was approved by AASHTO on April 16, 1999. The department considered three options to build the southern segments of I-73 in 2000; MDOT abandoned further study of these southern alignments after June 12, 2001, diverting remaining funding to safety improvement projects along the corridor. The department stated there was a "lack of need" for sections of the proposed freeway, and the project website was closed down in 2002.

The approved removal of US 27 was finally done in the middle of 2002. MDOT's stated reason for the modification was to "reduce confusion along the US 27/US 127 corridor". All of the business loops were updated to reflect their new parent highway.

On August 19, 2010, the Michigan House of Representatives passed a resolution recognizing "Old US 27" as a historic road in the state. According to press reports in 2011, a group advocating on behalf of I-73 is working to revive the freeway project in Michigan. According to an MDOT spokesman, "to my knowledge, we’re not taking that issue up again."

Exit list

At the time the US 27 designation was decommissioned in Michigan, only the interchanges along the section concurrent with I-69 used exit numbers.

Over its history, US 27 had several business loops associated with it. Since the conversion of the highway into a freeway starting in the 1950s, these business loops served Marshall, Charlotte, Lansing, St. Johns, Ithaca, Alma, St. Louis, Mount Pleasant, Clare and Harrison. The business loops north of Lansing were redesignated as business loops of US 127 in 2002 while the Charlotte loop had been reassigned BL I-69 with the completion of I-69 through the area. In addition, Michigan had a US 27A designation through Alma and a Truck US 27 in Lansing.

Marshall business route

Business US Highway 27 (Bus. US 27) was a business route running through downtown Marshall. The designation ran concurrently with BL I-94 from I-69/US 27 on Michigan Avenue easterly from that freeway into downtown. At the intersection with Kalamazoo Avenue, Bus. US 27 turned northward, separating from BL I-94. The business route ended north of downtown at an interchange with I-94 after running for about .

|formed= In 1950, the bridge for Main Street over the Grand River was completed and mainline US 27/M-78 was rerouted to use it to connect to Larch Street. From there north, US 27/M-78 followed Larch Street supplanting the truck route, which was decommissioned at that time.

Notes

References

External links

Historic US 27 at Michigan Highways
Historic US 27 Timeline at Michigan Highways
US 27 in Michigan—A tribute