M-25 (Michigan highway)

M-25 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan. The route follows an arc-like shape closely along the Lake Huron shore of the Thumb in the eastern Lower Peninsula between Port Huron and Bay City. It serves the lakeshore resorts along Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay and generally lies within sight of the lake and the bay. All is surface road and generally scenic, except for the freeway segment near the junction with Interstate 75 (I-75) and connection into the US Highway 10 (US 10) freeway.

M-25
M-25 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MDOT
Length	147.638 mi[1] (237.600 km)
Existed	1933[2][3]–present
Tourist routes	Lake Huron Circle Tour Center Avenue Heritage Route
Major junctions
South end	BL I-69 / BL I-94 at Port Huron
	M-90 at Lexington M-46 at Port Sanilac M-142 at Harbor Beach M-53 at Port Austin M-142 at Bay Port M-24 at Unionville M-15 near Bay City
West end	I-75 / US 23 / US 10 / BS I-75 at Bay City
Location
Counties	St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Bay
Highway system
Michigan State Trunkline Highway System Interstate US State Byways ← US 25 → M-26

Between Port Huron and Port Austin it is the north–south highway was formerly US 25 before the designation was removed. Between Port Austin and Bay City it is an east–west route that appeared on some maps as US 25 and on some maps as M-25. Since the 1970s, when all of US 25 was deleted north of Cincinnati, Ohio, it is entirely signed as M-25.

Route description

North to Port Austin

The starting point of M-25 at a junction with Business Loop I-69/Business Loop I-94 (BL I-69/BL I-94) in Port Huron. M-25 is part of the Lake Huron Circle Tour for its entire length.[4] From here M-25 heads north on Pine Grove Avenue until meeting M-136. At this intersection, M-25 turns north on 24th Avenue to Lakeshore Road then runs parallel to the Lake Huron shoreline.[5]

In the community of Lakeport, M-25 passes through Lakeport State Park. Past the park, M-25 changes names from Lakeshore Road to Kimball Road temporarily. M-25 intersects the east end of M-90 blocks from Lake Huron in Lexington. There are public beaches in Lexington and in Port Sanilac. M-25's street name changes after the M-46 intersection to that of North Lakeshore Road. The Huron Shores Golf Club is located off the highway north of Port Sanilac at the intersection of Snover Road. Sanilac County has established the Sanilac County Park at the intersection of Downington Road and M-25 south of Richmondville. North of Forestville M-25 is once again called South Lakeshore Road as the highway crosses into Huron County.[4][5]

An M-25 north reassurance marker

Wagener County Park is located off M-25 in the community of Helena. M-25 begins to curve to the northwest in Sand Beach near the Rock Falls Cemetery. In the city of Harbor Beach, M-25 is called Huron Avenue and meets M-142 for the first of two occasions. Here is the Harbor Beach Golf Course on the south side of town as M-25 moves inland through town. North of town, the trunkline parallels an old routing of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway as it is once again renamed Lakeshore Road. The highway moves farther inland north of Rubicon and Port Hope as it begins to round the tip of the Thumb. In Grindstone City, M-25 loses the Lakeshore Road name in favor of Grindstone Road all the way to Port Austin.[4][5]

West to Bay City

Port Austin is the location of the historical northern terminus of US 25. Through town, M-25 turns north along Lake Street and runs concurrently with the northern end of M-53; this is also the point where the M-25 signage changes from northbound to westbound. The highway turns westward on Port Austin Road along the lake where M-53 terminates. West of town, M-25 turns south along the Saginaw Bay and meets Port Crescent State Park. From here south west, M-25 hugs the bay and its miles of beaches. North of Caseville is the Albert E. Sleeper State Park. Through Caseville, M-25 uses Main Street and passes the city beach off State Street. McKinley is home to the Scenic Golf & Country Club and Wild Fowl Bay. M-25 follows the shore of Wild Fowl Bay, a smaller bay off Saginaw Bay, to the city of Bay Port and the western terminus of M-142 on Fairhaven a smaller community south of Bay Port. From here south, the road is called Unionville Road and turns inland to Sebewaing.[4][5]

At Unionville, M-25 turns more westerly to round the bottom of Saginaw Bay into Bay City along Bay City-Forestville Road in Tuscola County. In the community of Quanicassee, it transitions to Center Road and crosses into Bay County. M-25 is routed the one-way street pair of 7th Street and McKinley Street before crossing the Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Saginaw River. West of the bridge, the one-way pairing of Jenny Street and Thomas Street are used before the two merge into Thomas Street west of the M-13 intersections.[4][5]

The western terminus is at the junction of I-75/US 23 and US 10. As the roadway crosses the I-75/US 23 freeway it feeds into the eastern end of US 10 freeway.[4]

History

Previous designation

The M-25 designation was first used by July 1, 1919. in the Upper Peninsula. The highway ran from Skandia along what is today M-94 to Munising. From there it used today's routing of M-28 eastward to Newberry and Sault Ste. Marie.[6] This designation was replaced by M-28 in 1927.[7]

Current designation

In 1933, US 25 was extended north from Port Huron to Port Austin. along M-29. M-25 was designated along the portion of M-29 disconnected by the US 25 extension, from Bay City to Port Austin.[2][3] M-25 was extended along US 25 to Port Huron when the latter was removed from Michigan in 1973.[8][9] The southern terminus was placed at I-94 in Marysville, Michigan until it was moved northward to end at BL I-94 (now BL I-69/BL I-94) in 1987.[10][11]

The section of M-25 in the City of Bay City was named what is now called a Pure Michigan Historic Byway by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). This designation was created on October 23, 1997, for the section of M-25 along Center Avenue between Madison Avenue and the eastern city limits. Originally called the Bay City Historic Heritage Route",[12] it has been called the Center Avenue Heritage Route by its local stewardship committee.[13]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
St. Clair	Port Huron	0.000	0.000	BL I-69 / BL I-94 (Hancock Street)
		0.288– 0.355	0.463– 0.571	To I-69 west / I-94 west / LHCT south / Bridge to Canada	Southern end of LHCT concurrency
		1.593	2.564	M-136 west (Pine Grove Avenue)	Eastern terminus of M-136
Sanilac	Lexington	17.083	27.492	M-90 west (Huron Avenue) – Croswell	Eastern terminus of M-90
	Port Sanilac	28.449	45.784	M-46 west (Main Street) – Sandusky	Eastern terminus of M-46
Huron	Harbor Beach	57.980	93.310	M-142 west (State Street) – Bad Axe	Eastern terminus of M-142
	Port Austin	82.606	132.941	M-53 south (Lake Street) – Bad Axe	Southern end of M-53 concurrency
		82.944	133.485	M-53 south (Lake Street)	Northern end of M-53 concurrency; northern terminus of M-53; historic northern terminus of US 25; signage changes from north–south to east–west
	Fairhaven Township	111.566	179.548	M-142 east (Pigeon Road) – Bad Axe	Western terminus of M-142
Tuscola	Unionville	121.635	195.753	M-24 south (Center Street) – Caro	Northern terminus of M-24
Bay	Bay City	143.382	230.751	M-15 south (Trumbull Street)	Northern terminus of M-15
		144.536	232.608	M-84 south (Washington Avenue) BS I-75 west	Eastern end of BS I-75 concurrency; northern terminus of M-84; eastern terminus of BS I-75
		145.049	233.434	John F. Kennedy Drive	Westbound exit only
		145.948	234.881	M-13 / LHCT (Euclid Avenue)	Northern end of LHCT concurrency
	Bangor Township	146.332	235.499	Eastern end of freeway
	Monitor Township	147.624– 147.638	237.578– 237.600	I-75 / US 23 – Saginaw, Mackinac Bridge BS I-75 east US 10 west – Midland, Clare	Western terminus of M-25/BS I-75 and eastern terminus of US 10; road continues westward as US 10; exit 162 on I-75/US 23 and exit 140 on US 10
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

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 August 13, 2013.
2. Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (October 1, 1932). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:840,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ I13–K14. OCLC 12701053.
3. Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (September 1, 1933). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:840,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ I13–K14. OCLC 12701053.
4. Michigan Department of Transportation (2010). Uniquely Michigan: Official Department of Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:975,000. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. §§ I12–K14. OCLC 42778335, 639960603.
5. Google (March 24, 2015). "Overview Map of M-25" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
6. 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.
7. Michigan State Highway Department (December 1, 1927). Official Highway Service Map (Map). [c. 1:810,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. OCLC 12701195, 79754957.
8. Michigan Department of State Highways (1973). Michigan, Great Lake State: Official Highway Map (Map). c. 1:918,720. Lansing: Michigan Department of State Highways. §§ I13–K14. OCLC 12701120, 81679137. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
9. Michigan Department of State Highways and Transportation (1974). Michigan, Great Lake State: Official Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:918,720. Lansing: Michigan Department of State Highways and Transportation. §§ I13–K14. OCLC 12701177, 83138602. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
10. Michigan Department of Transportation (1987). Yes Michigan: Official Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:190,080. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Port Huron inset. OCLC 12701177. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
11. Michigan Department of Transportation (1988). Yes Michigan: Department of Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:190,080. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Port Huron inset. OCLC 42778335. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
12. Maxwell, Terrion (October 23, 1997). "Bay City Receives Historic Heritage Route Designation" (Press release). Michigan Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on December 12, 2008. Retrieved May 10, 2008.
13. Center Avenue Heritage Route Trust (n.d.). "Center Avenue Heritage Route (M-25)" (Map). Heritage Route Application, Appendix B: Regional and Route Location Maps. Scale not given. Bay City, MI: Center Avenue Heritage Route Trust.

External links

• M-25 at Michigan Highways
• M-25 at Michigan Highway Ends