M-115 (Michigan highway)
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| M-115 | |||||||||
 M=115 highlighted in red |
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| Length: | 96.76 mi[1] (155.72 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1930 | ||||||||
| South end: |      BUS US 127 / BUS US 10 at Clare |
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| Major junctions: |
US 10 near Farwell
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| North end: |  M-22 at Frankfort |
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| Counties: | Clare, Osceola, Wexford, Manistee, Benzie | ||||||||
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>M-115 is a state trunkline highway in the northwestern part of the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan, taking a generally northwest-to-southeast direction between Frankfort on Lake Michigan, and an intersection with US 10 to the east of Clare. All of M-115 is undivided surface road.
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[edit] Route description
M-115 starts in downtown Clare, following the former routing of US 10 to Farwell. Northwest of Farwell, M-115 meats the end of the US 10 freeway and continues northwest into northern Osceola County. It meets M-66 and M-61 south of Marion and subsequently crosses into southern Wexford County. South of Cadillac, M-115 junctions with U.S. Route 131/M-55. M-55 leaves US 131 and joins M-115, and the two run along the southern shore of Lake Cadillac. They separate near Lake Mitchell, and M-115 turns north between the two lakes. It joins M-37 through the community of Mesick. From there, the trunkline continues to the northwest, crossing the northeastern Manistee County of Copemish on the way to Benzonia. It runs concurrent with US 31 before running along the south shore of Crystal Lake and connecting to M-22 in Frankfort.
[edit] History
Despite its regional importance M-115 is not an original Michigan state highway. Until 1935, the only stretch of M-115 in place before 1935 was from Beulah to Frankfort, and that had been part of an older M-42 which has now been truncated at Mesick. Beginning in the mid-1930s, construction of M-115 began in order to create a more direct highway from central to northwestern Lower Michigan. By 1938, M-115 from M-66 south of Marion to M-55 in Cadillac was built, and in 1941, M-115 was completed from US 10 west of Farwell to M-66. The next stretch of the highway to be built was from the M-37/M-42 junction near Mesick to US 31 south of Beulah. In 1957, the last portion of M-115 between Cadillac and Mesick was completed. Originally, M-115 went through downtown Cadillac when it was cosigned with US 131 (Mackinaw Trail) to Boon Road, then west on Boon Road before it was later routed to again pass by Lake Cadillac and then pass Mitchell State Park. In the 1960s, M-115 was extended to Clare from west of Farwell when it was cosigned with US 10 and stopping at the intersection with Business US 27 (now BUS US 127). When the US 10 freeway extension was completed to west of Farwell in 1975, M-115 was cosigned with US 10 on the freeway to the US 27 (now US 127) freeway, but M-115 has since been returned to the 2-lane Old US 10 from Clare through Farwell to its original southeastern starting point near the US 10 overpass and continuing northwesterly.[1]
[edit] Major intersections
| County | Location | Mile[2] | Roads intersected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clare | Clare | 0.00 | BUS US 10 / BUS US 127 |
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| Surrey Township | US 10 – Clare, Ludington |
Freeway begins on US 10 | ||
| Osceola | Middle Branch Township |  M-66 – Marion |
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 M-61 east – Harrison |
Western terminus of M-61 | |||
| Wexford | Clam Lake Township |   US 131 / M-55 east – Kalkaska, Grand Rapids |
Exit 176 on US 131; eastern end of M-55 concurrency | |
| Cadillac | M-55 west (Lake Mitchell Drive) – Manistee |
Western end of M-55 concurrency | ||
| Springville Township |  M-37 north – Traverse City |
Southern end of M-37 concurrency; begin wrong-way concurrency | ||
| Mesick | M-37 south – Baldwin |
Northern end of M-37 concurrency; end wrong-way concurrency | ||
| Benzie | Joyfield Township |  US 31 south – Manistee |
Southern end of US 31 concurrency | |
| Benzonia | US 31 north – Traverse City, Petoskey |
Northern end of US 31 concurrency | ||
| Frankfort | M-22 – Manistee, Empire |
[edit] References
- ^ a b Michigan Highways: Highways 100 through 119 Christopher J. Bessert. URL Accessed October 29, 2006.
- ^ "Control Section/Physical Reference Atlas". Michigan Department of Transportation. 2001. http://mdotwas1.mdot.state.mi.us/public/maps/pr/. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
