U.S. Route 127 in Michigan

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U.S. Route 127
Maintained by MDOT
Length:	214.12 mi[1] (344.59 km)
Formed:	1926[2]
South end:	US 127 at Ohio state line
Major junctions:	US 223 near Somerset I-94 near Jackson I-96 near Lansing I-69 near East Lansing
North end:	I-75 near Grayling
Counties:	Lenawee, Jackson, Ingham, Clinton, Gratiot, Isabella, Clare, Roscommon, Crawford
Michigan highways < M-126 M-129 >

U.S. Route 127 (US 127), the section of the larger US highway, runs for 214.12 miles (344.59 km) in the U.S. state of Michigan. The highway enters Michigan from Ohio south of Hudson and ends at a partial interchange with I-75 south of Grayling. Prior to 2002, US 127 ended at I-69 north of East Lansing, a total of approximately 83 miles (134 km).

US 127 is the primary route connecting Lansing and Central Michigan to Northern Michigan and the Mackinac Bridge. From the south side of Jackson northerly, it is mostly a four-lane freeway, with the notable exception of a 16-mile (26 km) stretch from north of St. Johns to just south of Ithaca, where access to the road is not limited and speeds are restricted to 55 miles per hour (89 km/h).

Contents 1 Route description 2 History 3 Future 4 Major intersections 5 References

[edit] Route description

US 127 enters Michigan as a two-lane highway south of Hudson following the course (with minor deviations) of the Michigan Meridian used to survey Michigan in the early 19th century. That stretch is called Meridian Road north to Jackson. From the state line north, US 127 follows the Hillsdale–Lenawee county line north to Hudson and curves east into Addison. North of Addison is the intersection with US 223 at the northern/western terminus of US 223, and about two miles farther north, US 12 in rural northwest Lenawee County, east of Somerset. US 127 continues northward to the Jackson area where it becomes a full freeway along the east side of Jackson. When US 127 and I-94 meet on the city's northeast side, they join together westward before US 127 splits off northward. The US 127 freeway continues northward through Leslie and Mason to the Lansing area.^[3]

In the Lansing area, US 127 follows the I-496/Ransom E. Olds Freeway around the city's east side north of I-96. Right near the Red Cedar River, just west of the Michigan State University campus, I-496 and US 127 separate with US 127 continuing north and I-496 turning west. US-127 meets I-69 at the 1998–2002 terminus of the highway. From here north, US 127 follows the former US 27 north to Grayling. The freeway ends north of St. Johns. From here north to near Ithaca, US 127 is a four-lane highway with an interchange at M-57 in southern Gratiot County. South of Ithaca, the highway becomes a freeway again for the remainder of its routing. US 127 crosses the Pine River in Alma and runs near the campus of Central Michigan University, crossing the Chippewa River in Mt. Pleasant. Mt. Pleasant is also home to the Saginaw Band of Chippewa Indians and their tribal reservation.^[3]

There is a welcome center in the median of US 127/US 10 in Clare. US 127 continues north through the community of Harrison, county seat of Clare County. The freeway serves the resort areas of Houghton Lake and Higgins Lake in Roscommon County before ending 4 miles (6 km) south of Grayling at a partial interchange with I-75. Traffic along US 127 northbound has access to northbound I-75 and southbound traffic on I-75 can access US 127 southbound.^[3]

[edit] History

US 127 debuted with the rest of the U.S. Highways in 1926. This new designation replaced part or all of M-14, M-23, M-34 and M-80.^[2][4] US 127 originally ran from the Toledo, Ohio area through Adrian to Jackson and Lansing. The southern end of US 127 was rerouted in 1930 from Somerset south to Hudson and on to Cincinnati, Ohio. The section of former US 127 between Somerset and Toledo became US 223.^[5] The city of Mason was bypassed in 1954. The former route through town was designated BUS US 127 at the time.^[6] The US 127 expressway was first started in 1957 with an extension south of Mason to Leslie.^[7] A further extension to Jackson was opened in 1958.^[8] By 1964 this expressway was converted to full freeway, complete with interchanges and the BUS US 127.^[9] The US 127 freeway was extended north to the Lansing area by 1968. Near Lansing, it is routed along I-496 to the north side of Lansing and East Lansing to connect with US 27.^[10] The last extension of US 127 for another 11 years was completed in 1973 when the freeway was completed north to DeWitt.^[11] Two changes took place in the routing of US 127 in the 1980s as the I-69 freeway was completed. The northern Lansing bypass was completed in 1984^[12] and I-69 was built through Clinton County in 1987.^[13] These changes routed I-69 along a portion of US 127 near DeWitt and removed a TEMP I-69 routing from US 127 on the east side of Lansing. The opening of the St. John's Bypass on 1998-08-31 shortened US 127 by almost 2 miles (3 km) while US 27 was routed along the I-69 freeway between exits 87 and 89 to connect with the new freeway northward.^[14]

The Michigan Department of Transportation petitioned the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) for approval to remove US 27 from Michigan in 1999. This would remove the 88-mile (142 km) concurrency of I-69 and US 27 south of the Lansing area. MDOT proposed that US 127 be extended north over the former US 27 to Grayling. AASHTO approved this change on 1999-04-16^[15] nearly tripling the highway from 83 miles (134 km) to 214 miles (344 km). The highway markers were changed over in 2002, converting US 27 and the BUS US 27 routes to US 127 and BUS US 127 routes.^[16]

[edit] Future

A proposed I-73 would incorporate US 127 between Jackson and Grayling.^[17]

[edit] Major intersections

US 127 is being updated with exit numbers on the freeway sections as of 2008. The only exits numbered are north of Jackson County.^[3]

County	Location	Mile	#	Roads	Notes
Lenawee	Medina Township	0.000		US 127	Southern terminus at Michigan–Ohio state line
	Hudson			M-34
	Woodstock Township			US 223
				US 12
Jackson	Summit Township			BUS US 127/M-50	Freeway Begins
	Leoni Township			South Road
				Page Road
				BL I-94 Michigan Avenue
			142	I-94	East end of I-94/US 127 concurrency; Freeway uses I-94 exit numbers
	Blackman Charter Township		141	Elm Avenue
			139	M-106 Cooper Street
			138	I-94 BUS US 127/M-50	West end of I-94/US 127 concurrency; south end of M-50 concurrency
				Springport Road Shirley Road
				M-50 Parnall Road	Partial Exit: Northbound exit, Southbound entry. North end of M-50 concurrency
	Rives Township			Berry Road
Ingham	Leslie		56	Bellevue Street
	Vevay Township		61	Barnes Road
			64	Kipp Road
	Mason		66	M-36 Cedar Street
	Alaiedon Township		70	Holt Road
	Delhi Charter Township		73	I-96 I-496	Numbered as 73 A&B; south end of I-496 concurrency, freeway uses I-496 exit numbers
	Lansing		11	Jolly Road
			9	Trowbridge Road	Marked as Exit 75 on Southbound US 127
			76	I-496	North end of I-496 concurrency; exit 8 on I-496
			77	Kalamazoo Street, Michigan Avenue.
			78	BL-69 M-43 East Saginaw Street, East Grand River Avenue
Clinton	East Lansing		79	Lake Lansing Road
	DeWitt Charter Township		82	I-69	Numbered as 82 A&B
	Olive Township		86	Round Lake Road
			91	BUS US 127 Price Road
	Bingham Township		96	M-21
			99	BUS US 127 OLD US 27	End of freeway
Gratiot	Washington Township			M-57 Cleveland Avenue	Diamond interchange
	Ithaca		117	BUS US 127 Center Street Washington Road	Freeway begins
			119	BUS US 127 Polk Road
	Emerson Township		123	BUS US 127 Lincoln Road	Business loop for Alma
			124	BUS US 127 State Road	Business loop for St. Louis
	Pine River Township		127	BUS US 127/M-46 BUS US 127	Exit 127 A is northern terminus of BUS US 127 for St. Louis Exit 127 B is northern terminus of BUS US 127 for Alma
Isabella	Shepherd		135	Wright Avenue Blanchard Road
	Mt. Pleasant		139	BUS US 127 Mission Street
			143	M-20 Pickard Street
			144	BUS US 127 Mission Street
	Rosebush		149	Rosebush Road
	Clare		156	BUS US 127
Clare			158	US 10	South end of US 127/US 10 concurrency Partial interchange: southbound access to US 10; northbound US 10 merges into US 127 Concurrency uses US 127 exit numbers
			160	BUS US 127/BUS US 10 Clare Avenue
			162	US 10 M-115	Northern end of US 127/US 10 concurrency
	Hayes Township		168	Mannsiding Road
	Harrison		170	BUS US 127/M-61 Clare Avenue
	Hayes Township		176	BUS US 127 Clare Avenue
Roscommon	Roscommon Township		189	Snow Bowl Road
	Houghton Lake		194	M-55 Lake City Road
	Lyon Township		201	West Higgins Lake Road
Crawford	Beaver Creek Township		206	Military Road, North Higgins Lake Road
				I-75	Exit 249 on I-75; northern terminus of US 127

Legend
Crossing, no access	Concurrency terminus	Deleted	Unconstructed	Closed

[edit] References

U.S. Route 127
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