Jump to content

M-35 (Michigan highway)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Imzadi1979 (talk | contribs) at 20:42, 9 May 2008 (→‎After Ford: missing space). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

M-35 marker

M-35

Route information
Maintained by MDOT
Length127.99 mi[1] (205.98 km)
Existed1919-07-01[2]–present
Major junctions
Major intersections US 2/US 41 in Escanaba
US 2/US 41 in Gladstone
M-553 near Gwinn
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMichigan
CountiesMenominee, Delta, Marquette
Highway system
← M-34→ M-36

M-35 is a state trunkline highway in the Upper Peninsula (UP) of the U.S. state of Michigan. It runs for 127.99 miles (205.98 km) in an overall north–south direction connecting the cities of Menominee, Escanaba and Negaunee. The southern portion of M-35 in Menominee and Delta counties carries two additional designations. M-35 forms a portion of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour, and it is the UP Hidden Coast Recreational Heritage Trail, which is a part of the Michigan Heritage Routes system. Along the southern section of M-35, the highway is the closest trunkline to the Lake Michigan shoreline, while on the northern section the highway turns inland through wooded terrain connecting rural portions of Delta and Marquette counties.

M-35 is an original state trunkline that was first designated on 1919-07-01, and it was originally intended to run from Menominee in the south to near Big Bay in the north before turning toward L'Anse to eventually end at Ontonagon. The section through the Huron Mountains in northern Marquette and Baraga counties was never built. Automobile pioneer Henry Ford helped stop this construction to get membership in the exclusive Huron Mountain Club. Some portions constructed were turned over by the state to local county control. One portion between Ontonagon and Baraga was retained as a discontinuous portion of M-35 and eventually redesignated as another state trunkline. The northern end was moved out of the City of Negaunee into Negaunee Township to avoid mining activity near Palmer.

Route description

M-35 is primarily a two-lane roadway, except the section between Escanaba and Gladstone. This section is is a four-lane divided highway that runs concurrently with US Highway 2/US Highway 41 (US 2/US 41).[3] M-35 is also listed on the National Highway System along the US 2/US 41 concurrency.[4] The southern terminus is in the City of Menominee. From there, M-35 runs northeasterly to the Escanaba area before turning northwesterly to its northern terminus outside of the City of Negaunee in Negaunee Township.[3]

Menominee to Gladstone

M-35 is a part of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour from the southern terminus in Menominee to the northern junction with US 2/US 41 in Gladstone.[3] On 2007-08-26, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) announced that this section of M-35 was also designated the UP Hidden Coast Recreational Heritage Trail running for 64 miles (103 km) between Menominee and Gladstone.[5][6] MDOT's press release states:

The Heritage Route passes through both Delta and Menominee counties on the western shoreline of Lake Michigan in the central Upper Peninsula, and features parks, waterways, forests, trails, attractions, boat launches, harbors and campgrounds. Suggested stops range from cultural centers and modern entertainment, to historical sites and natural attractions.

— James Lake, MDOT[7]

M-35 is the shortest state trunkline highway routing between Menominee and Escanaba, running along a more direct alignment up the Lake Michigan shoreline. According to the 2008 MDOT State Highway Map, taking US 41 results in a distance of 65 miles (105 km) versus 55 miles (89 km) along M-35.[3]

The southern terminus of M-35 is at the corner of 10th Street (US 41) and North Shore Drive north of downtown Menominee. It is a Y-shaped intersection near John Henes Park. M-35 leads away from the intersection in a northeasterly direction before turning northerly to head out of town. The highway runs northeasterly along the wooded shoreline of the Bay of Green Bay passing the mouths of the Cedar and Bark rivers. Wells State Park is located on M-35 in Cedar River[3] and Fuller Park is at the mouth of the Bark River.[8]

At the Menominee/Delta county line, M-35 passes from the Central to Eastern Time Zone en route to Escanaba.[3] On the south side of Escanaba, M-35 runs into town on Lake Shore Drive, passing the Delta County Airport before turning onto Lincoln Road. Just west of downtown, US 2/US 41 join M-35 at the intersection of Ludington Street and Lincoln Road. Ludington and Lincoln form the east-west and north-south axes respectively of the Escanaba street numbering grid. From these two streets, the east-west avenues and north-south streets are numbered in a grid in the City of Escanaba.[9] US 2/US 41 enter Escanaba from the west along Ludington Street, turning north along Lincoln Road, joining M-35. Here, M-35 joins the National Highway System.[4] The NHS is a system of roads which are important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility.[10]

From Escanaba, M-35 runs concurrently with US 2 and US 41 to Gladstone. Between the two cities, US 2/US 41/M-35 crosses the Escanaba River near the mouth just south of the NewPage Paper Mill.[11][12] North of the Escanaba, the highway follows the shoreline of Little Bay de Noc to Gladstone. M-35 separates from US 2/US 41 at an intersection with 4th Avenue North in Gladstone. This also marks the end of the National Highway System, Lake Michigan Circle Tour and Michigan Heritage Route designations on M-35.[4][3][7]

Gladstone to Negaunee

Waste rock piles from the Empire Mine along M-35 southbound approaching Palmer

M-35 turns northwesterly in Gladstone through northern Delta County and southern Marquette County. M-35 crosses the Days River in Brampton. From Perkins north, M-35 runs parallel to the Lake Superior & Ishpeming rail line between the iron mines of Marquette County and Escanaba. The station of Maple Ridge was located in the community of Rock along this line. M-35 crosses into Marquette County in the unincorporated location of McFarland and crosses the rail line before reaching the Little Lake in the community of the same name. It is an east-west highway through Little Lake west to Gwinn.[3]

Built as a company town by the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, Gwinn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the "Gwinn Model Town Historic District, Forsyth Township, Marquette County, Michigan".[13] M-35 follows Stephenson Avenue through the neighborhood of New Swanzy westward to the community of Gwinn. Inside Gwinn, the highway follows Pine Street northwest, passing through the downtown of the community and out to residential areas along Pine and Iron streets.[14]

M-35 runs northwest of Gwinn to Palmer along the outskirts of Cleveland-Cliffs' Empire Mine where large piles of waste rock from the mining operations tower over the roadway. North of Palmer, M-35 runs past Goose Lake to end in Negaunee Township. The northern terminus is 3.6 miles (5.8 km) east of Negaunee near the former Marquette County Airport and studios of WLUC-TV6 on US 41/M-28 in Negaunee Township.[15]

History

A section of the 1932 Michigan State Dept. of Highways road map showing M-35 in northern Marquette and Baraga counties[16]

When the highway was first created on 1919-07-01, M-35 was designated to run from M-12/M-15 (modern US 2/US 41) at Gladstone in the south to Palmer before terminating in Negaunee at M-15 (modern US 41). M-35 on maps was shown as continuing north and looping to L'Anse. The M-91 designation was first created for a highway running from Menominee northward to Cedar River.[2] By 1930, M-35 was extended southerly along US 2/US 41 from Gladstone to Escanaba. From there, M-35 continued as a new highway along the Bay of Green Bay shoreline to Cedar River and supplanted the M-91 designation to Menominee.[17]

The Huron Mountains

In 1919, the State Department of Highways, forerunner to today's MDOT, determined a scenic shoreline trunkline to run north from Negaunee to Big Bay and then turn towards Skanee and L'Anse. The highway would continue from the L'Anse and Baraga area to eventually end at Ontonagon at an intersection with M-64.[17] Local Upper Peninsula historian Fred Rydolm summarized the routing planned in 1925 as extending "...in a northwesterly direction, across the Dead River, over the Panorama Hills, then west past the Elm Creek swamp, along the south side of Burnt Mountain, across the Cedar Creek, the Cliff Stream and out past Cliff Lake to Skanee and L'Anse."[18] This highway was designated as an extension of M-35, which then ended in downtown Negaunee. Work was completed on a significant portion of the routing in Marquette County by 1926. M-35 was routed east along M-15 toward Marquette before turning north-northwesterly toward Big Bay. This section of roadway follows the modern Marquette County Road 510 (CR 510). Similar work was completed in Baraga County connecting L'Anse and Skanee by 1932.[16]

This construction left the portion through the Huron Mountains uncompleted. As this was the most difficult section to build, it was left for last, to be built from each side, meeting in the middle. This section of the routing was shown on state maps as a dashed line marked "impassable".[16] The section not included in CR 510, "the few miles of the road going to the Salmon Trout River, complete with guard rails and cement culverts, has been known as 'Dead End 35' ever since," according to Rydholm.[18]

The Steel Bridge

The Steel Bridge carrying Marquette County Road 510 over the Dead River

One of the first major tasks for the State Highway Department was bridging the Dead River in Negaunee Township, located 3 miles (5 km) north of US 41.[19] The description of the bridge used from the MDOT website says,

The bridge is a rare Pennsylvania through truss highway bridge, particularly because of the length [271 feet (83 m)] of this single span. It was purchased by the State Highway Department in 1919, moved from an unspecified Allegheny River site, probably considerably upstream from Pittsburgh, an then erected on this site in 1921.[20]

Bridges of this design were common in Pennsylvania at the time, but not in Michigan.[19]

The bridge is still in place and carries CR 510 over the Dead River as the successor to M-35 in northern Marquette County. The bridge survived the 2003-05-15 flooding of the Dead River caused by the breaching of the Silver Lake Dam upstream.[20][21][22]

This bridge is known to locals as "The Steel Bridge". Plans are in the works by the Marquette County Road Commission to bypass the Steel Bridge with a modern replacement, but the plans would leave the existing bridge as a foot or bike path.[23]

Henry Ford

The Huron Mountain Club recounts that Henry Ford had visited the Upper Peninsula many times. At least once he visited the Club with Harvey Firestone and Thomas Edison on Ford's yacht, the Sialia. Many of these trips were used as research trips looking to keep his productions supplied.[24] His land in the UP provided wood used in the manufacture of Ford automobiles of the era. Each Model T used 250 board feet (1 m3) of lumber.[18] Ford researched the idea of being the "owner–producer–handler" of the resources needed to build his cars. Ford had saw mills set up in Alberta and Kingsford and Dan Hebard's 14–room bungalow at Pequaming along the shores of the Keweenaw Bay. In addition to the Hebard cottage, he obtained a saw mill, the town and tug boats in the purchase as well as land in and around the Huron Mountain Club. Hebard sold these holdings to Ford and retired to spend his summers at a new white pine cabin on the Pine River in the Club, a new friend of Ford through all of the business deals.[18]

Ford built a hydroelectric dam along the Menominee River to supply power to the Kingsford mill. Ford even purchased the Imperial Mine and opened the Blueberry Mine near Ishpeming to supply iron ore to his plants. The Ford Railroad was constructed between L'Anse and the Cliff River for his logging operations. He also had purchased 300,000 acres (100,000 ha) of timberland in 1922. All of these activities had Ford visiting the Upper Peninsula on a regular basis. He could not wait to travel up north to enjoy the clean air and wilderness in the Central Upper Peninsula. Ford desired entry into the exclusive Huron Mountain Club in northern Marquette County as early as 1917, the year he ran for the U.S. Senate. With limited membership, Ford sought to "stack the deck" in his favor should a membership spot in the club open. Ford's membership would ultimately come with the cancellation of M-35 in the Huron Mountains.[18]

Hunters, campers, hikers, fishermen and some landowners opposed highway construction near the Huron Mountains. In fact, Rydholm said, "...there seemed to be no groundswell of sentiment in favor of it, but it looked as the though the die was cast and nothing could be done to stop it."[18] The Huron Mountain Club was not in favor of the highway either. The highway would open vast reaches of the back country, leading to the Club's fear that it would destroy the wilderness aspects of the Huron Mountains. The construction of the highway brought the possibility of a resort hotel in the area. William C. Weber of Detroit, a real estate developer, owned property along Mountain Lake. Only a Michigan Attorney General's opinion provided a way for the road to be stopped. This opinion stated that construction could be stopped if two-thirds of the property was owned by objectors to the project. The proposed highway would not cross much Club property, only two 40-acre (16 ha) parcels. This property would not be enough to ensure the requisite ownership needed to halt road construction.[24]

In 1926, Hebard was elected the new president at the Huron Mountain Club,[18] and the admission rules were changed.[24] Before the changes, a vote was taken of all the members, with four blackballs denying election to the membership. After the changes, only club directors would vote, with one objection necessary to block election.[24] In 1927, the road grading was up to the Salmon Trout River. The same year, Ford purchased land near Mountain Lake in northern Marquette County in addition to his previous holdings. This property would encompass more than the requisite two-thirds necessary to stop further construction of the road. In 1928, the road was moved to connect with the Big Bay Road (CR 550) leaving the stub of "Blind 35" behind.[18] According to the Club, "by 1929, M-35 [in the Huron Mountains] was dead in its tracks and Henry Ford was a member."[24] To commemorate his membership, Ford built a white pine log cabin at the Club costing between $80-100,000 (1929, $993,000-1,200,000 in 2007).[18][25]

After Ford

In 1939, M-35 from Negaunee to Big Bay to L'Anse was officially canceled as a state highway. 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 thirteen 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 of M-35 were joined by 1958, closing the gap left by the cancelled Huron Mountain routing. M-35 was continued westward from the end of the southern segment at Negaunee, cosigned along US 41/M-28 and US 41 to Baraga, to connect with the northern segment westward to Ontonagon.[26]

In 1964, several abandoned underground mine shafts collapsed underneath the roadway, forcing a rerouting of M-35 out of the City of Negaunee.[27] Previous to 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 BUS 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".[15] Since this rerouting, M-35 runs from Palmer past Goose Lake to end in Negaunee Township.

The last major changes to M-35 came by 1972 when the section from Baraga to Ontonagon was given the M-38 designation. The M-35 concurrencies were removed along US 41/M-28 and US 41 in Marquette and Baraga counties. This change shortened the highway designation and moved the northern terminus to the present location in Negaunee Township.[28] Since then, sections of the roadway were realigned in Richmond Township south of Palmer to straighten some of the many curves in the roadway between Palmer and Gwinn after 1987.[29]


Major intersections

The following table shows the major intersections along the routing of M-35. Included are intersections with county-designated highways and other primary county roads, other state trunklines and U.S. Highways.


Template:MIintbtm

References

  1. ^ a b "MiGDL - Center for Geographic Information - Geographic Data Library". Michigan Department of Information Technology. May 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
  2. ^ a b State of Michigan (Map). Cartography by MSHD. Michigan State Highway Department. 1919. Retrieved 2008-03-02. {{cite map}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Official 2008 Department of Transportation Map (Map). 1 in.:15 mi./1 cm.:9 km. Cartography by MDOT. Michigan Department of Transportation. 2008. § E5-F6. {{cite map}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
  4. ^ a b c "National Highway System, Michigan" (pdf). Michigan Department of Transportation. 2006-04-23. Retrieved 2008-02-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "M-35 along the Green Bay shore - Michigan's Upper Peninsula". Hunt's Guide to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "MDOT Declares U.P. Road As Heritage Route". WLUC-TV6. 2007-08-28. Retrieved 2007-08-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b Lake, James (2007-08-26). "M-35 named U.P. Hidden Coast Recreation Heritage Route". Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2007-08-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "M-35 along the Green Bay shore - Michigan's Upper Peninsula". Hunt's Guide to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Escanaba, MI 49721 (Map). Cartography by NAVTEQ. Google Maps. 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  10. ^ Slater, Rodney E. (1996). "The National Highway System: A Commitment To America's Future". Public Roads. 59:4. Federal Highway Administration. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  11. ^ "Escanaba - Michigan's Upper Peninsula". Hunt's Guide to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "MeadWestvaco Completes Sale of Papers Assets for $2.3 Billion". PaperAge. 2005-05-02. Retrieved 2007-08-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "National Register of Historic Places - MICHIGAN (MI), Marquette County". National Register of Historic Places. 2002-06-24. Retrieved 2007-08-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Gwinn, MI 49841 (Map). Cartography by NAVTEQ. Google Maps. 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
  15. ^ a b Negaunee, MI 49866 (Map). Cartography by NAVTEQ. Google Maps. 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
  16. ^ a b c Michigan State Department of Highways Map (Map). Cartography by MSHD. Michigan State Highway Department. 1932. {{cite map}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |year= (help)
  17. ^ a b Automobile Legal Association (1930). "Route Log of State Highway Systems". Automobile Green Book (1930/31 edition ed.). Boston: Scarborough Motor Guide Co. p. 45. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rydholm, C. Fred (1989). Superior Heartland: A Backwoods History (Vol. I ed.). Ann Arbor, Michigan: Braun-Brumfield. pp. pp.508–515. ISBN 0963994824. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  19. ^ a b Hyde, Charles K. (1993). Historic Highway Bridges of Michigan. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. pp. pp.70-2. ISBN 0-8143-2448-7. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  20. ^ a b "MDOT- County Rd. 510/Dead River (Bypass)" (html). Michigan Department of Transportation. 2002-04-19. Retrieved 2008-02-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ "2 Dams Burst In Michigan" (html). CBS News. 2003-05-16. Retrieved 2008-02-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ Egan, Dan (2003-06-08). "Dike 'safety valve' went terribly awry" (html). Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2008-02-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ "Plans to Replace Historic Bridge Underway". WLUC-TV6. 2006-05-02. Retrieved 2006-10-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  24. ^ a b c d e Mayor, Archer (1988). Dodge, Murray, ed. (ed.). Huron Mountain Club: The First Hundred Years. Dykema, Rosemary, photography ed. Dexter, Michigan: Thompson-Shore. pp. pp.88-9. ASIN B0007BJB02. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help); |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  25. ^ "CPI Inflation Calculator" (html). Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
  26. ^ Michigan State Department of Highways Map (Map). 1.5 in./20 mi. Cartography by MSHD. Michigan State Highway Department. 1958-07-01. § B4–B5. {{cite map}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
  27. ^ Right of Way for the M-35 Relocation was purchased between 1964-03-20 and 1964-10-12 according to Right Of Way Maps for Marquette County (Map). Michigan Department of Transportation. Sheets 73–76 inset. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  28. ^ Michigan State Highways Commission Map (Map). 1 in./14.5 mi. Cartography by MSHC. Michigan State Highway Commission. 1972. § B3–B5.
  29. ^ Right of Way for the M-35 Relocation was purchased between 1986-01-13 and 1987-02-24 according to Right Of Way Maps for Marquette County (Map). Michigan Department of Transportation. Sheets 78 inset. Retrieved 2008-05-08.

External links

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
MenomineeMenominee0.000.00 US 41Southern terminus
Cedar River23.0737.13 G-12Western terminus of G-12; To Stephenson
DeltaEscanaba52.2484.07 US 2/US 41South end of US 2/US 41 concurrency
Gladstone55.4089.16 CR 426Western terminus of CR 426; To Arnold
60.6697.62 US 2/US 41North end of US 2/US 41 concurrency
Brampton67.55108.71Brampton RoadWestern terminus of OLD M-186; To Rapid River
MarquetteLittle Lake96.90155.95 CR 456Eastern terminus of CR 456; To Skandia
Gwinn100.72162.09 M-553Southern terminus of M-553; To Marquette
105.62169.98 CR 557Northern terminus of CR 557; To Arnold
Palmer118.23190.27 CR 565Eastern terminus of CR 565; To National Mine via CR 476
Negaunee Township124.38200.17 CR 480West to Negaunee, East to Sands Township
126.31-126.36Error: mi is not a number CR 492A concurrency of 286 feet (87 m) to cross railroad tracks; M-35 traffic yields to CR 492
127.99205.98 US 41/M-28Northern terminus
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=M-35_(Michigan_highway)&oldid=211332577"