U.S. Route 23 in Michigan
US Highway 23 is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Jacksonville, Florida, to Mackinaw City, Michigan. In the US state of Michigan, it is a major,, north–south state trunkline highway that runs through the Lower Peninsula. The trunkline is a freeway from the Michigan–Ohio state line near Lambertville to the city of Standish, and it follows the Lake Huron shoreline from there to its northern terminus. Serving the cities of Ann Arbor and Flint, US 23 acts as a freeway bypass of the Metro Detroit area. Overall, the highway runs through rural areas of the state dominated by farm fields or woodlands; some segments are urban in character in the Ann Arbor, Flint and Tri-Cities areas. The section from Flint north to Standish also carries Interstate 75 along a concurrency that includes a segment that carries almost 70,000 vehicles on a daily basis.
The first transportation routes along what is now US 23 in the state were sections of two Indian trails. In the early 20th century, four different auto trail names were applied to roads now a part of the highway. These roads were included as part of two state highways in the initial state highway system in 1919. When the United States Numbered Highway System was first designated on November 11, 1926, the new US 23 replaced the other designations along its route. Since creation, the road has been moved and realigned several times. Through the 1930s and 1940s, the lakeshore routing was created to replace a path that ran further inland through the northern portion of the state. Starting in the early 1950s, various sections in the southeastern and central areas of the Lower Peninsula were upgraded to freeways, bypassing several major cities in the area. These improvements were completed by the end of the 1960s. Since then a new crossing of the Saginaw River at Zilwaukee was built to replace a drawbridge that carried the I-75/US 23 freeway over a shipping channel.
Various memorial or tourist route designations have been applied to US 23 in the state since the 1980s. The highway has been a part of the Lake Huron Circle Tour since the creation of the Great Lakes Circle Tours in 1986. The non-freeway section was designated the Sunrise Side Coastal Highway by the Michigan Department of Transportation in 2004 as a part of what is now the Pure Michigan Byway Program. Since 2009, it has been called the Huron Shores Heritage Route. The highway has also carried two memorial designations related to war veterans and a third related to local civic leaders since a 2001 consolidation of related legislation in the state. MDOT has listed two of the highway's bridges on its historic bridge list, one of which is also on the National Register of Historic Places. Future improvements to the route of US 23 include a proposed northerly extension of the freeway from Standish to one of several locations along the Lake Huron shoreline. Another freeway has been proposed in the Flint area that could connect US 23 directly to the south end of I-475.
Route description
US 23 runs for through the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, serving as a freeway bypass to the west of Metro Detroit and a scenic highway through the northern portion of the state along Lake Huron. Between Flint and Standish, US 23 runs concurrently with I-75; the combined freeway section from Flint to Bay City can contain between six and eight lanes total while the rest of the US 23 freeway is mostly four lanes. Non-freeway segments of US 23 in the state are two lanes. Like other state trunkline highways, it is maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation. All of US 23 in the state south of the M-32 junction in Alpena has been listed on the National Highway System, a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility. From the Standish area north, the highway is also a part of the Lake Huron Circle Tour and the Huron Shores Heritage Route, a Pure Michigan Byway.Southeastern Michigan
US 23 enters Michigan on a freeway northwest of Toledo, Ohio, concurrent with US 223. This freeway runs north through farm fields in rural western Monroe County near Lambertville. About north of the state line, US 223 leaves the freeway and turns west onto St. Anthony Road; US 23 continues northward on the freeway. South of Dundee, US 23 crosses the River Raisin before coming to an interchange with M-50 next to the Cabela's store west of town. North of town, the freeway passes near an industrial area. Farther north, it crosses a line of the Ann Arbor Railroad near Azalia as the trunkline runs to the east of Milan at the Monroe-Washtenaw county line. North of Milan, the freeway crosses a line of the Norfolk Southern Railway.The landscape takes on a more suburban residential character as the freeway approaches the Ann Arbor area. There are separate interchanges for US 12 and I-94 on the southeast side of the city. Between I-94 and Washtenaw Avenue, US 23 carries the Business Loop I-94 moniker as well. That secondary designation leaves the freeway and runs west on Washtenaw Avenue into downtown Ann Arbor and the campus of the University of Michigan. At the same interchange, a Business US 23 designation also follows Washtenaw Avenue to the west; east of US 23, M-17 follows Washtenaw Avenue and connects the freeway with Ypsilanti. North of this interchange, US 23 crosses the Huron River near the campus of the local community college and continues north to a junction with the M-14 freeway. The two merge and run westward along the north side of the city before US 23 turns north and M-14 curves south.
North of Ann Arbor, the freeway runs through woodlands and near several lakes and features a flex route system allowing traffic to use the inner shoulder during peak times. In the community of Whitmore Lake, US 23 crosses into Livingston County near the city's namesake body of water. East of Brighton, the freeway intersects I-96 and continues north to an intersection with M-59 south of Hartland. The highway turns northeasterly by Runyon Lake and runs toward the city of Fenton. The trunkline passes through town and bends back toward the northwest, running between lakes Ponemah and Fenton. Continuing north, the environment around US 23 transitions to rural farm fields as the freeway approaches the south side of the Flint area.
Flint and the Tri-Cities area
West of Grand Blanc, US 23 meets I-75, and the two freeways merge near the Bishop International Airport and continue along the west side of the Flint metro area. I-75/US 23 has an interchange with I-69 near the crossing with the Canadian National Railway line. Continuing northwards through suburban residential areas, the highway crosses the Flint River while running along the west side of the city. In Mount Morris Township, the freeway intersects the northern end of I-475 before meeting M-57 near Clio. The highest traffic totals along US 23 in the state of Michigan were recorded by MDOT near the M-57 interchange; in 2009 an average 68,800 vehicles used that section of freeway daily. These traffic counts are expressed in terms of annual average daily traffic, which is a statistical calculation of the average daily number of vehicles on a segment of roadway.Near Birch Run, the highway turns northwesterly next to a large outlet mall. Between here and the Saginaw area, the freeway runs through more wooded lands, crossing the Cass River near Bridgeport. I-75/US 23 enters the Tri-Cities when it bypasses Saginaw to the east. The freeway intersects M-46 in Buena Vista Township south of the junction with I-675. North of downtown Saginaw, the freeway crosses the Saginaw River on the Zilwaukee Bridge, a "post-tensioned, segmental, box girder bridge" that is "infamous" for a series of "construction mishaps, cost overruns, and government foibles."
Past the bridge, I-75/US 23 meets the northern end of I-675 and continues through fields and woods to the Bay City area. At exit 162, the freeway meets the eastern terminus of US 10 and the western terminus of M-25 west of downtown. The next interchange north is with the Connector M-13 freeway, which was the previous northern end of US 23's freeway in Michigan. The connector runs due northward, and I-75/US 23 turns northwesterly to bypass around Kawkawlin. The highway veers north, crosses the Kawkawlin River and the Pinconning Creek before coming to an interchange southwest of Standish. There, US 23 curves east, separating from I-75. US 23 continues for about as a freeway which ends at the intersection with M-13 south of Standish. The lowest AADT along any freeway section of US 23 in Michigan is the section immediately east of I-75; here the traffic levels drop from 20,763 to 4,466 vehicles per day after US 23 separates from I-75.
Northern Michigan
US 23 runs north from the end of its freeway along Huron Road through the community of Standish. The trunkline turns northeasterly through lakeshore woodlands after the intersection with Old M-76. Northeast of this intersection, the highest, non-freeway AADT level on US 23 was recorded by MDOT at 16,757 vehicles daily. Running through Omer, the highway crosses the Rifle River and a line of the Lake State Railway. In between the two crossings, it curves due east on its way out of town. At Hale Road, US 23 meets the southern end of M-65 before it continues east to Au Gres, where it runs along the Saginaw Bay and crosses the Au Gres River. Huron Road meanders northward along the lakeshore, staying inland near Point Lookout. US 23 runs through woods as it follows the Saginaw Bays shoreline northeasterly through Alabaster to Tawas City. The highway intersects the eastern terminus of M-55, runs north and east around Tawas Bay to East Tawas and follows the Lake Huron shoreline to Oscoda. Through this area, US 23 runs parallel to the Lake State Railway and crosses into the Huron National Forest.Oscoda is the location of the eastern termini of both the River Road National Scenic Byway and County Road F-41. In between those two junctions, the highway crosses the Au Sable River near its mouth, and the trunkline passes by the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base. Huron Road continues north, running next to Van Etten Lake as it leaves the national forest. Further north, it runs along Cedar Lake when it crosses into Alcona County. The highway meets the eastern termini of F-30 and M-72 in Greenbush and Harrisville respectively. It also passes Harrisville State Park in the latter community. The highway shifts a bit further inland north of Harrisville, continuing to parallel the railroad through the Mackinaw State Forest. Near Ossineke, the trunkline turns back toward the lake, running along the shoreline of Thunder Bay.
When US 23 enters Alpena, it follows State Avenue through town and turns northwesterly on Chisholm Street. The intersections of Chisholm Street with Second and Third avenues mark the eastern terminus of M-32. Chisholm Street runs along the Thunder Bay River and crosses the river near Lake Besser. The highway leaves town and runs through rural woodlands to the south shore of Long Lake, curving around the eastern side of the lake. Near the northern end of the lake, US 23 crosses into Presque Isle County and runs along the west shore of Grand Lake. At the north end of that lake, the highway turns west along the Lake Huron shoreline near Thompson's Harbor State Park. The trunkline continues to Rogers City where it bypasses town to the south and west, intersecting F-21 and M-68 in the process; Bus. US 23 runs through downtown. On the other side of Rogers City, US 23 runs along the lake past Hoeft State Park and along Hammond Bay before crossing into Cheboygan County. This area had the lowest AADT levels in 2009 at 1,097 vehicles per day.
US 23 follows the Lake Huron shoreline through Cheboygan County through woodlands past Cheboygan State Park and Duncan Bay. On the eastern edge of Cheboygan the highway intersects F-05 before following State Street through a commercial district. State Street crosses the Cheboygan River on the Cheboygan Bascule Bridge near the mouth of the river and the dock for the USCGC Mackinaw. On the west side of the river, US 23 meets the northern terminus of M-27 at the intersection with Main Street. State Street continues westerly as C-66 as US 23 turns north on Main Street for a block before resuming west on Mackinaw Avenue. The highway continues along the lake toward Mackinaw City. As it approaches the village, it passes Historic Mill Creek State Park and several motels. At Nicolet Street in town, the highway crosses into Emmet County for the short distance to the highway's national northern terminus at I-75's exit 338.