M-48 (Michigan highway)

M-48 is an east–west state trunkline highway in the Upper Peninsula (UP) of the US state of Michigan. It connects Rudyard with Pickford and continues to the far eastern end of the UP. The highway runs for 43.723 miles (70.365 km) through rural parts of Chippewa County, including along the county line with Mackinac County. Between 580 and 1,800 vehicles a day use the roadway daily.

M-48
M-48 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MDOT
Length43.723 mi[1] (70.365 km)
Existedc. July 1, 1919[2]–present
Tourist
routes		 Lake Huron Circle Tour
Major junctions
West end I-75 near Rudyard
  M-129 near Pickford
East end M-134 near Goetzville
Location
CountiesChippewa, Mackinac
Highway system
← M-47→ M-49

The highway was designated by 1919 along a route that ran much farther west in the UP. Within its first decade, M-48 was extended to end at a point north of Newberry. Since the 1960s, it has had its current configuration. A section of roadway that was previously used as part of the western end of the highway was redesignated as a section H-40 in the 1970s.

Route description

M-48 currently starts at an interchange with Interstate 75 (I-75) in the Rudyard area. The highway runs west from the interchange into Rudyard where it turns south, running concurrently with county road H-63. M-48 turns eastward south of town along 22 Mile Road through fields. At Meridian Road, M-48 turns south along M-129 through the community of Pickford. South of town, M-48/M-129 runs long the Chippewa–Mackinac county line and crosses the Munuscong River. M-48 turns east at 26 Mile Road into Chippewa County. The highway zig-zags through rural areas in the southeast of the county. It follows Hanna and 28 Mile roads to Stalwart. In that community, M-48 runs south on Reynolds Road to a corner on the Chippewa–Mackinac county line where the highway turns back east toward the Goetzville area running through the Lake Superior State Forest. After one last north–south segment, M-48 terminates at a junction with M-134 west of DeTour Village near Albany Harbor.[3][4]

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) maintains M-48 like all other parts of the state trunkline highway system under its jurisdiction. As a part of these responsibilities, the department tracks the volume of traffic along its roads using a metric called average annual daily traffic (AADT). This measurement is a calculation of the average traffic levels for a roadway segment on any average day of the year. In 2009, MDOT figured that between 580 and 1,800 vehicles a day used sections of M-48.[5] In addition, the department has added the portion of M-48 between the northern M-129 junction and M-134 to the Lake Huron Circle Tour, a scenic drive that loops around the lake.[3] No part of the highway has been added to the National Highway System,[6] a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.[7]

History

On July 1, 1919, M-48 ran from Rexton to Trout Lake and eastward on to Rudyard. The highway continued to Goetzville and ran to DeTour Village at the eastern tip of the UP.[2] By 1927, the western end was moved to a point north of Newberry. M-48 was extended along US Highway 2 (US 2) to Garnet. From there, M-48 ran north to M-28 east of Newberry. It turned west along M-28 into Newberry and then north to Four Mile Corner.[8] In the mid-1930s, M-28's routing through the Newberry area was shifted. As a result of this shift, the section of M-28/M-48 in downtown was renumbered M-28A/M-48.[9][10] In the early 1940s, US 2 was moved to a new routing along the Lake Michigan shoreline. In the process, the US 2/M-48 concurrency was eliminated. By the same time, M-48 was truncated when M-134 was designated east to the DeTour area.[11][12] By the end of the decade, M-48 was truncated and rerouted on its western end, replacing the contemporary M-117 south of Rexton to US 2 in Epoufette.[13][14] All of M-48 west of US 2 was turned over to local jurisdiction and removed from the state highway system, save a section made part of M-123 in late 1960 or early 1961.[15][16] A few years later, M-48 was extended along a former section of US 2 into Rudyard to connect to the newly opened I-75/US 2 freeway in 1963.[17][18] After October 1970,[19] the former M-48 west of the current highway was designated as a part of the County-Designated Highway System.[20]

Major intersections
CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
ChippewaRudyard Township0.0000.000 I-75 – St. Ignace, Sault Ste. MarieExit 373 on I-75
Rudyard1.6602.672 H-63 north (Mackinac Trail)
H-40 west – Trout Lake		Northern end of H-63 concurrency; eastern terminus of H-40
Rudyard Township4.5717.356 H-63 south (Mackinac Trail)Southern end of H-63 concurrency
Pickford Township15.70325.272 M-129 north / LHCT north – Sault Ste. MarieNorthern end of M-129/LHCT concurrency
Chippewa–
Mackinac		Pickford Township –
Marquette Township		19.68431.678 M-129 south – CedarvilleSouthern end of M-129 concurrency on county line
ChippewaDeTour Township43.72370.365 M-134 / LHCT west – Cedarville, De Tour VillageSouthern end of LHCT concurrency
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also
  •  Michigan Highways portal

References
  1. Michigan Department of Transportation & Michigan Center for Shared Solutions and Technology Partnerships (2009). MDOT Physical Reference Finder Application (Map). Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
  2. Michigan State Highway Department (July 1, 1919). State of Michigan (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. Upper Peninsula sheet. OCLC 15607244. Retrieved December 18, 2016 – via Michigan State University Libraries.
  3. Michigan Department of Transportation (2010). Uniquely Michigan: Official Department of Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:975,000. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. §§ C11–D11. OCLC 42778335, 639960603.
  4. Google (February 26, 2011). "Overview Map of M-48" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  5. Michigan Department of Transportation (2007). Statewide AADT Map (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  6. Michigan Department of Transportation (April 23, 2006). National Highway System, Michigan (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 21, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  7. Natzke, Stefan; Neathery, Mike & Adderly, Kevin (June 20, 2012). "What is the National Highway System?". National Highway System. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  8. Michigan State Highway Department (December 1, 1927). Official Highway Service Map (Map). [c. 1:810,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. OCLC 12701195, 79754957.
  9. Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (September 15, 1935). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:850,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. § C9. OCLC 12701143.
  10. Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (June 1, 1936). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:850,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. § C9. OCLC 12701143.
  11. Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (December 1, 1940). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map) (Winter ed.). [c. 1:850,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ D9, D12. OCLC 12701143.
  12. Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (March 21, 1941). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map) (Spring ed.). [c. 1:850,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. § D9. OCLC 12701143.
  13. Michigan State Highway Department (July 1, 1949). Michigan Official Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:918,720]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ C9–D10. OCLC 12701120.
  14. Michigan State Highway Department (April 15, 1950). Michigan Official Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:918,720]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ C9–D10. OCLC 12701120.
  15. Michigan State Highway Department (1960). Official Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:918,720]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ D9–C11. OCLC 12701120, 81552576. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center. (Includes all changes through July 1, 1960)
  16. Michigan State Highway Department (1961). Official Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:918,720]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ D9–C11. OCLC 12701120, 51857665. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center. (Includes all changes through July 1, 1961)
  17. Michigan State Highway Department (1963). Official Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:918,720]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. § C11. OCLC 12701120. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  18. Michigan State Highway Department (1964). Official Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:918,720]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. § C11. OCLC 12701120, 81213707. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  19. "County Primary Road Marking System Okayed". The Holland Evening Sentinel. October 5, 1970. p. 6. ISSN 1050-4044. OCLC 13440201. Retrieved May 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. Michigan Department of State Highways (1971). Michigan, Great Lake State: Official Highway Map (Map). c. 1:918,720. Lansing: Michigan Department of State Highways. §§ C9–D11. OCLC 12701120, 77960415.

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