M-54 is a north–south state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan that bypasses the city of Flint. It is named Dort Highway for much of its length, in honor of Flint carriage and automobile pioneer Josiah Dallas Dort. The portion from the north end of Dort Highway to Clio Road is part of the historic Saginaw Trail, and was also part of the old Dixie Highway. The modern highway runs for 30.276 miles (48.724 km) through Genesee and Saginaw counties from connections with Interstate 75 (I-75) near Grand Blanc on the south to Birch Run on the north. The highway serves mostly suburban and urban sections of the Flint area. Outside of the city, it also passes through agricultural areas in northern Genesee County and southeastern Saginaw County. It also shares a short east–west section with M-83 near Birch Run.
The first state highway along the general route of M-54 was M-10, one of the original state trunklines signed in 1919. Later, it was redesignated as part of US Highway 10 (US 10) in the 1920s. After a series of realignments in the 1940s and 1960s, the roadway was given the M-54 designation in 1962. A segment of Saginaw Road through Flint was redesignated a business route in the 1940s that became Business M-54 (Bus. M-54) as well in 1962. That business loop was decommissioned in 1974. Previously, two other highways in Michigan bore the M-54 designation: a roadway that is now part of M-37 and one that is Bus. US 2 in Ironwood.
Route description
M-54 starts at exit 109 along I-75 and follows Dort Highway northward through suburban Grand Blanc Township. The area near the southern end is mostly residential, but north of Reid Road, there is the Grand Blanc Metal Center plant for General Motors to the east of the highway. M-54 intersects Hill and Saginaw roads in the unincorporated community of Whigville as the trunkline passes out of the industrial area surrounding the plant. North of the Maple Road intersection, Dort Highway crosses into Burton, and the suburban residential neighborhoods give way to commercial properties along the roadway.[4][5] There is a rail line leased by Lake State Railway that runs parallel to the highway about a half mile (0.8 km) to the east.[6][7] North of Atherton Road, M-54 crosses into Flint and runs through the city's east side. The trunkline intersects I-69 near the Amtrak station in the city,[4][5] and a viaduct with a line of the Canadian National Railway.[7] Between Robert T. Longway Boulevard and Davison Road, Dort Highway passes another industrial area. North of Leith Street, the highway turns to the northwest,[4][5] and the parallel railroad, still part of the Lake State line, follows suit.[7]
Dort Highway crosses the Flint River on the northeast side of the city near the interchange that connects the highway to I-475. This interchange uses the connection with Stewart Avenue on the western side of the river to provide all of the possible traffic movements between the freeway and the highway. M-54 turns due northerly past the interchange and crosses under the rail line as it heads out of Flint. The area north of the city line on Carpenter Road is dominated by industrial properties as far north as Coldwater Road.[4][5] Running northward through a more rural area, M-54 passes to the east of Mount Morris. Turning northwesterly, the trunkline is dotted with commercial businesses as it continues to the Clio area.[4][8] The highway runs parallel to east of the railroad.[7] It passes the Flint Memorial Park cemetery and the Auto City Speedway, a motorsports race track in an area that is otherwise agricultural in nature away from the main highway. The Dort Highway name ends at the intersection with Saginaw Road, and the highway takes on the latter name. East of Clio, M-54 intersects M-57 in the unincorporated community of Pine Run.[4][8]
Wrong-way concurrency looking eastward along Birch Run Road
Past the town, M-54 turns due north on Clio Road before crossing into southern Saginaw County. Over the county line, the name changes to Gera Road, and the trunkline runs through farm fields to an intersection with Birch Run Road. At that intersection, M-54 northbound turns westward and joins M-83 to run concurrently to Birch Run while M-83 continues north to Frankenmuth on Gera Road. Birch Run Road carries opposing directions of the two highways, a phenomenon called a wrong-way concurrency. Running westward, the road is signed as both M-54 northbound or M-83 southbound. About two miles (3.2 km) west of the intersection between Gera and Birch Run roads, the two highways meet a common terminus at exit 136 on I-75/US 23 in a commercial district that includes a large outlet mall bordering that freeway.[4][8]
M-54 is maintained by MDOT like other state highways in Michigan. As a part of these maintenance responsibilities, the department tracks the volume of traffic that uses the roadways under its jurisdiction. These volumes are expressed using a metric called annual average daily traffic, which is a statistical calculation of the average daily number of vehicles on a segment of roadway. MDOT's surveys in 2010 showed that the highest traffic levels along M-54 were the 30,145 vehicles daily north of the I-69 interchange in Flint; the lowest counts were the 2,880 vehicles per day along the M-83 concurrency.[9] M-54 between I-75 in Grand Blanc Township and M-57 near Clio has been listed on the National Highway System,[10] a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.[11]
History
Previous designations
The first version of M-54 began at M-16 (later US 16) near Grand Rapids and ran northerly along the current M-37 corridor to M-20 (later US 10).[12] This version of M-54 was replaced by an extension of M-37 by 1927.[13] The second incarnation of M-54 was designated in Ironwood along the former US 2 routing through downtown in 1934.[14][15] This was replaced by the current Bus. US 2 in August 1942.[16]
Current designation
Originally, Saginaw Road in the Flint area was a part of the Saginaw Trail, a Native American footpath in the area.[17] In the early 20th century, the highway was a part of the Dixie Highway through the area.[18] When the state signed its highway system in 1919,[19] Saginaw Road was part of M-10;[12] later it was used as a section of US 10 in 1926.[20] In August 1926, the Flint City Council renamed the former Western Road after Josiah Dallas Dort, a partner in GM.[21] In 1941, the highway was moved eastward to follow Dort Highway, and the route through the city was designated Bus. US 10.[22][23]
The current M-54 was designated in 1962 for a former routing of US 10 through the Flint area; US 10 was moved after the completion of the I-75 freeway, and the M-54 designation was applied to the Saginaw Road-Dort Highway routing of US 10 from I-75 in Grand Blanc to M-83 in Birch Run. At the same time, Bus. US 10 became Bus. M-54 through Flint.[2][3] An extension of Dort Highway in 1987 relocated the southern end of M-54 in Grand Blanc to end at exit 109 on I-75.[24][25]
Business M-54 (Bus. M-54) was a business loop in the Flint area. It ran for about 14.8 miles (23.8 km) along Saginaw Road, which was also called Saginaw Street in the city of Flint. The highway connected to its parent, M-54, in Grand Blanc Township on the south end and ran through suburban Burton northwesterly into Flint. There it ran through downtown, passing under I-475 without an interchange. Bus. M-54 ran parallel to that freeway and met I-69/M-21 at an interchange near downtown. There were intersections with both directions of M-56. The highway crossed the Flint River and turned northward. Saginaw Street continued parallel to what is now I-475 before passing out of town. In Mount Morris Township north of Flint, the business loop terminated at the intersection with M-54 (Dort Highway).[26][28]
Originally, Saginaw Road in the Flint area was a part of the Saginaw Trail, a Native American footpath in the area.[17] When the state signed its highway system in 1919,[19] Saginaw Road was part of M-10.[12] Later it was used as a section of US 10 in 1926.[20] In 1929, the highway was moved eastward to follow Dort Highway, and the route through the city was designated M-10 again.[29][30] In 1941, this was renumbered to Bus. US 10.[22][23] Later, in 1962, US 10 was moved again to follow the recently completed I-75 freeway; the former route of US 10 was redesignated M-54 and its business loop was renumbered to match.[2][3] This business route lasted until 1974; at the same time that I-475 was completed, Bus. M-54 was decommissioned and turned over to local control.[26][27]
^ abcdMichigan State Highway Department (1963). Official Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:918,720]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ K12–L12. OCLC12701120. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
^ abcdMichigan Department of Transportation (2011). Pure Michigan: State Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:221,760. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Flint inset. OCLC42778335, 786008212.
^ abcdMichigan Department of Transportation (January 2011). Michigan's Railroad System(PDF) (Map). Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
^ abcMichigan Department of Transportation (2011). Pure Michigan: State Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:975,000. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. §§ K12–L12. OCLC42778335, 786008212.
^Michigan Department of Transportation (April 23, 2006). National Highway System, Michigan(PDF) (Map). Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Archived from the original(PDF) on October 4, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
^ abcMichigan State Highway Department (July 1, 1919). State of Michigan (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. Lower Peninsula sheet. OCLC15607244. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
^Michigan State Highway Department (December 1, 1927). Official Highway Service Map (Map). [c. 1:810,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. OCLC12701195, 79754957.
^Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (September 1, 1933). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:840,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. § C1. OCLC12701053.
^Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (September 1, 1934). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:850,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. § C1. OCLC12701143.
^ abBarnett, LeRoy (2004). A Drive Down Memory Lane: The Named State and Federal Highways of Michigan. Allegan Forest, MI: Priscilla Press. pp. 192–3. ISBN1-886167-24-9.
^Rand McNally (1921). "District 3: Southern Peninsula of Michigan, Northern Indiana, Northwestern Ohio" (Map). Official Auto Trails Map. Scale not given. Chicago: Rand McNally.
^ ab"Michigan May Do Well Following Wisconsin's Road Marking System". The Grand Rapids Press. September 20, 1919. p. 10.
^Barnett, LeRoy (2004). A Drive Down Memory Lane: The Named State and Federal Highways of Michigan. Allegan Forest, MI: Priscilla Press. pp. 75–6. ISBN1-886167-24-9.
^ abMichigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (March 21, 1941). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map) (Spring ed.). [c. 1:850,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. § K12. OCLC12701143.
^ abMichigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (July 1, 1941). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map) (Summer ed.). [c. 1:850,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. § K12. OCLC12701143. Archived from the original on April 22, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2017 – via Archives of Michigan.
^Michigan Department of Transportation (1987). Yes Michigan: Official Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:918,720. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. § L12. OCLC12701177. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
^Michigan Department of Transportation (1988). Yes Michigan: Department of Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:918,720. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. § K12. OCLC42778335. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
^Michigan State Highway Department (May 1, 1929). Official Highway Service Map (Map). [c. 1:810,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. OCLC12701195, 79754957.
^Michigan State Highway Department & H.M. Gousha (January 1, 1930). Official Highway Service Map (Map). [c. 1:810,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. OCLC12701195, 79754957.
I-75 near Grand Blanc
I-69 at Flint
M-83 near Birch Run
I-75 / US 23 in Birch Run
