M-72 (Michigan highway)

Runaway truck ramp near Traverse City

M-72 starts its trans-peninsular journey at M-22 in the community of Empire on the shores of Lake Michigan in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. From there it runs easterly uphill through mixed farmland and forest to cross the base of the Leelanau Peninsula. As the highway approaches the city of Traverse City, the roadway runs downhill and weaves back and forth across the Leelanau – Grand Traverse county line. M-72 merges with M-22 to run concurrently in the section of Traverse City in Leelanau County and immediately cross the county line into Grand Traverse County. The two highways run along Grandview Parkway, a four-lane boulevard on the shore of the West Arm of Grand Traverse Bay. At the intersection of Grandview Parkway and Division Street, M-22 ends. US 31/M-37 run north along Division Street and turn east onto Grandview Parkway to join M-72. These three highways stay merged in a triple concurrency along the length of Grandview Parkway and across the Boardman River along the bay, bypassing downtown. They then follow Front Street until reaching Garfield Avenue east of downtown. At Garfield, M-37 turns north to run up the Old Mission Peninsula which separates the west and east arms of Grand Traverse Bay. US 31/M-72 continues east along the shores of the East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay and northward to a junction in Acme. M-72 turns east to cross rural eastern Grand Traverse County along rolling hills through the communities of Williamsburg and Barker Creek.[3][4]

The highway crosses into Kalkaska County at Barker Creek and continues eastward to Kalkaska. There, M-72 meets US 131/M-66 (Cedar Street) on the north side of downtown, and M-72 turns south along Cedar Street and forms another triple concurrency through downtown. South of town, the highway crosses the Boardman River again, and M-72 turns east again headed toward the city of Grayling.[3][4] M-66 follows M-72 to cross a set of railroad tracks that belong to the Great Lakes Central Railroad[5] before leaving to follow its path to Lake City. M-72 crosses the Manistee River at the Kalkaska–Crawford county line and passes the northern shore of Lake Margrethe west of town in the Camp Grayling military reservation. North of the camp gate, M-72 joins M-93 into downtown Grayling. Together they meet James Street, which carries Business Loop I-75 (BL I-75). M-93 turns north to follow BL I-75 out of town, and M-72 turns south to follow it through downtown. At South Down River Road, M-72 turns east again to leave Grayling, crossing I-75 in the process. There is no direct access to I-75 from M-72. Instead traffic is directed to follow BL I-75 in either direction to get to the freeway.[3][4]

Junction of M-72 and M-93 west of Grayling, looking westbound

In eastern Crawford County, M-72 runs through the Au Sable State Forest and crosses the South Branch of the Au Sable River on the Wakeley Bridge. East of the river crossing, the trunkline intersects the northern terminus of M-18 before crossing into Oscoda County. M-72 continues east through Luzerne to Mio. M-72 merges with M-33 and turns north to cross the Au Sable River a second time in Mio. The highways pick up a concurrency with F-32 north of the river. The three roadways run together until F-32 turns west while M-33/M-72 continues east to Fairview. Fairview marks the northern and eastern end of the concurrency as M-33 turns north towards Atlanta, and M-72 continues easterly into Alcona County. North of Curran, M-72 merges southward with M-65 for approximately 7 miles (11 km) before heading due east through the Barton City and Lincoln areas to Harrisville. M-72 ends at an intersection with US 23 in Harrisville, on the shores of Lake Huron.[3][4]

M-72 is maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) like all other parts of the state trunkline highway system. As a part of its maintenance duties, the department tracks the traffic volumes along its roads using a metric called average annual daily traffic (AADT). This figure is a calculation of the traffic level along a segment of roadway for any average day of the year. In 2009, the MDOT surveys found that the highest traffic levels along M-72 were the 33,720 vehicles per day in Traverse City. The lowest AADT was 807 vehicles near Hubbard Lake Road in Alcona County near Lincoln. Commercial traffic varied between the 555 trucks a day in Graylling and the 72 trucks daily west of Harrisville.[6] M-72 has been listed on the National Highway System (NHS) between the intersection of Division Street and Grandview Parkway in Traverse City and the southern junction with BL I-75 in Grayling.[7] The NHS is a network of roads important to the country's defense, mobility and economy.[8] In addition to the NHS listing, M-72 has been included on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour along its segments concurrent with M-22 and US 31 in the Traverse City area.[3]

M-72 was first designated by July 1, 1919, and it ran from the middle of Alcona County near Barton City east to Harrisville and then south along Lake Huron shore to Greenbush.[2] Around 1927, the route was extended south to Oscoda and west through Luzerne to just east of Roscommon.[9] The section of M-72 along the shoreline between Oscoda and Harrisville became part of US 23. in 1936.[10][11] M-72 was extended westward on an earthen highway and then over the former M-208 to Grayling in 1940. From there M-72 was extended further to just south of Kalkaska along a section of highway previously designated M-76. A seven-mile (11 km) long discontinuous segment of highway some 45 miles (72 km) west of Kalkaska near Empire was also redesignated as part of M-72. The section of highway south to Roscommon became M-144.[12][13] By 1945, the western segment was extended east into Traverse City.[14][15] The two segments were joined when M-72 was routed along US 31 through Traverse City to Acme by early 1948. From there, M-72 was routed along existing roads through Williamsburg to US 131/M-66 north of Kalkaska where it followed the latter highways through downtown to bridge the gap. With this addition to the routing, the road extended "shore to shore" from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan.[16]

The Michigan State Highway Department rerouted M-33/M-72 near Fairview in late 1951 or early 1952, turning the former route back to local control.[17][18] In the middle of 1953, the section of M-65/M-72 in Alcona County was straightened and paved.[19][20] All but the western three miles (4.8 km) of the earthen highway section opened in 1940 were paved in 1957.[21][22] By the middle of 1961, the highway would be paved in its entirety.[23] A new section of highway was opened in 1973, rerouting M-66 and M-72 due west from their junction to US 131, bypassing a former routing north into Kalkaska.[24][25]

In 2008, M-72 within Alcona County was named the "Hazen Shirley 'Kiki' Cuyler Memorial Highway" in honor of the Michigan native and Hall of Fame baseball player.[26]

•  Michigan Highways portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to M-72 (Michigan highway).

• M-72 at Michigan Highways
• Former M-208 at Michigan Highways
• M-72 at Michigan Highway Ends