US Highway 131 is a north–south United States Highway. It runs 269. 98 miles in Indiana and Michigan. US 131 runs as a freeway from south of Portage through to Manton in the north. Part of this freeway runs concurrently with Interstate 296 as an unsigned designation through Grand Rapids.
About U.S. Route 131 in brief
US Highway 131 is a north–south United States Highway. It runs 269. 98 miles in Indiana and Michigan. All but 0. 64 of its 269. 96 miles are within the state of Michigan. US 131 runs as a freeway from south of Portage through to Manton in the north. Part of this freeway runs concurrently with Interstate 296 as an unsigned designation through Grand Rapids. The highway is an important link between Grand Rapids and the tourist areas of Northern Michigan. It is listed as a part of the National Highway System, a system of roads crucial to the nation’s economy, defense and mobility. The Michigan section includes approximately 172 miles of freeway between Kalamazoo and Wexford counties. As a state highway in both states, the roadway is maintained by the Indiana Department of Transportation and MDOT. The 2007 survey reported average daily traffic of 7,949 cars and 2,068 trucks on a segment of roadway. The trunkline enters Michigan about three miles south of Pigeon Creek, crossing a branch of the Michigan Southern Railroad before meeting US 12 on the west side of the village of White White. It passes through rural farmland north of St. Joseph, where it turns northwestward and continues to Three Rivers north to Petoskey. M-60 runs along this part of US 131 until the two highways meet the main loop through the main town of Constantine. The two highways run concurrently until the end of the business loop, where they meet the two main loops of US-131 through the town of Three Rivers south of the St.Joseph River.
The business loop runs through a business corridor along the west side of Three rivers north of the river, where US-60 turns northwest and continues north to St. Joe, where the highway crosses the St Joseph River. It ends at Petos Key, a few miles from the Indiana state line. The oldest name on the highway is the Mackinaw Trail, originated from an Indian trail in the area while other names honored politicians. The first state highways along the US 130 corridor were designated as early as 1919. The US Highway System was formed on November 11, 1926, along the route of M-13 in Michigan. Originally ending at Fife Lake on the north end, the highway was extended to Peto’s Lake in the late 1930s. In the 1950s, the state started this conversion simultaneously at two locations: heading north from Three Rivers, and heading both north and south from a point in southern Kent County. A third segment was built south of Cadillac and over subsequent years Michigan filled the gaps in the freeway. Plans to further extend the freeway have either been canceled or placed back under study. One option for these upgrades is a full freeway, an option that was initially rejected. The preferred alternative in 2008 was a two-lane bypass of Constantine that opened in October 2013. In 2000, MDOT is studying possible upgrades to US 131. One of them has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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This page is based on the article U.S. Route 131 published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 07, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
