West Michigan Pike Pure Michigan Byway

Last updated April 29, 2019

The West Michigan Pike Pure Michigan Byway is a Pure Michigan Byway on the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan that follows several different highways, most notably Interstate 94 (I-94), I-196 and US Highway 31 (US 31) and various business routes from the Indiana state line near New Buffalo to the Ludington area. The routing is also mostly part of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour, although it deviates from that tourist route in a few locations in Berrien County. From south to north, the byway specifically follows:

A Pure Michigan Byway is the designation for a segment of the State Trunkline Highway System in the US state of Michigan that is a "scenic, recreational, or historic route that is representative of Michigan's natural and cultural heritage." The designation was created with the name Michigan Heritage Route by the state legislature on June 22, 1993, and since then six historic, seven recreational and seven scenic byways have been designated by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), and another two have been proposed. These byways have been designated in both the Upper and Lower peninsulas of the state. The current name was adopted on December 30, 2014, and it references the Pure Michigan tourism marketing campaign.

Michigan is a state in the Great Lakes and Midwestern regions of the United States. The state's name, Michigan, originates from the Ojibwe word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake". With a population of about 10 million, Michigan is the tenth most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area, and is the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River. Its capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit. Metro Detroit is among the nation's most populous and largest metropolitan economies.

Interstate 94 (I-94) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Billings, Montana, to the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. In Michigan, it is a state trunkline highway that enters the state south of New Buffalo and runs eastward through several metropolitan areas in the southern section of the state. The highway serves Benton Harbor–St. Joseph near Lake Michigan before turning inland toward Kalamazoo and Battle Creek on the west side of the peninsula. Heading farther east, I-94 passes through rural areas in the middle of the southern Lower Peninsula, crossing I-69 in the process. I-94 then runs through Jackson, Ann Arbor, and portions of Metro Detroit, connecting Michigan's largest city to its main airport. Past the east side of Detroit, the Interstate angles northeasterly through farmlands in The Thumb to Port Huron, where the designation terminates on the Blue Water Bridge at the Canadian border.

I-94 from the Indiana state line at New Buffalo Township to M-63 in St. Joseph Township;
M-63 from I-94 in St. Joseph Township through Benton Harbor to I-196/US 31 in Lake Michigan Beach, including a segment that runs concurrently with Business Loop I-94 (BL I-94) in St. Joseph;
I-196/US 31 from M-63 in Lake Michigan Beach to BL I-196 in South Haven Township;
BL I-196 from I-196/US 31 in South Haven Township to I-196/US 31 in South Haven;
I-196/US 31 from BL I-196 in South Haven to BL I-196/US 31 in Laketown Township;
BL I-196/US 31 from I-196/US 31 in Laketown Township through Holland to US 31 in Holland Township;
US 31 from BL I-196/US 31 in Holland Township to Bus. US 31 in Norton Shores;
Business US 31 (Bus. US 31) from US 31 in Norton Shores through Muskegon to US 31 in Muskegon Township;
US 31 from Bus. US 31 in Muskegon Township to Bus. US 31 in Whitehall Township;
Bus. US 31 from US 31 in Whitehall Township through Whitehall and Montague to US 31 in Montague Township;
US 31 from Montague Township to Bus. US 31 in Weare Township;
Bus. US 31 from US 31 in Weare Township through Pentwater to US 31 on the Weare–Pentwater township line;
US 31 from the Weare–Pentwater township line to Pere Marquette Township;
Bus. US 31 from US 31 to US 10 in Pere Marquette Township near Ludington; and
US 10 from Bus. US 31 in Pere Marquette Township to US 31 in Amber Township.^[1]

New Buffalo Township is a civil township of Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 2,386. It is the southwesternmost township on the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

M-63 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan that runs from M-139 at Scottdale through the cities of Benton Harbor and St. Joseph to Interstate 196/US Highway 31 (I-196/US 31) at exit 7 just outside Hagar Shores. The trunkline runs through residential areas south of St. Joseph and through the central business districts of the twin cities. Further north, M-63 runs along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan which is located southwest of Kalamazoo, and northwest of South Bend, Indiana. In 2010, the population was 10,038 according to the census. It is the smaller, by population, of the two principal cities in the Niles–Benton Harbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, an area with 156,813 people.

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Oceana County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 26,570. The county seat is Hart. Long known as part of the large Ojibwe territory, the county was founded by European Americans in 1840 and organized in 1855.

Muskegon County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2018, the population was 173,588. The county seat is Muskegon.

Allegan County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2010 United States Census, the population was 111,408. The county seat is Allegan. The name was coined by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft to sound like a Native American word.

Ludington is a city in the state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,076. It is the county seat of Mason County.

Montague is a city in Muskegon County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,361 at the 2010 census. The city is located within Montague Township, but is politically independent.

The Pere Marquette Railway operated in the Great Lakes region of the United States and southern parts of Ontario in Canada. It had trackage in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and the Canadian province of Ontario. Its primary connections included Buffalo; Toledo; and Chicago. The company was named after Père Jacques Marquette S.J. (1637–1675), a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste Marie.

U.S. Route 31 or U.S. Highway 31 (US 31) is a major north–south U.S. highway connecting southern Alabama to northern Michigan. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with US 90/US 98 in Spanish Fort, Alabama. Its northern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 75 (I-75) south of Mackinaw City, Michigan.

Interstate 196 (I-196) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway that runs for 80.6 miles (129.7 km) in the US state of Michigan. It is a state trunkline highway that links Benton Harbor, South Haven, Holland, and Grand Rapids together. In Kent, Ottawa, and Allegan counties, I-196 is known as the Gerald R. Ford Freeway, or simply the Ford Freeway, after the 38th President of the United States, Gerald Ford, who was raised in Grand Rapids and served Michigan in the House of Representatives. This name generally refers only to the section between Holland and Grand Rapids. I-196 changes direction; it is signed as a north–south highway from its southern terminus to the junction with US Highway 31 (US 31) just south of Holland, and as an east–west trunkline from this point to its eastern terminus at an interchange with I-96, its parent highway. There are currently three business routes related to the main freeway. There are two business loops and one business spur that serve South Haven, Holland and the Grand Rapids areas. Another business spur for Muskegon had been designated relative to the I-196 number.

West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland area, or more broadly to most of the region along the Lake Michigan shoreline of the Lower Peninsula, but there is no official definition for it.

Pere Marquette or Jacques Marquette (1637–1675) was a French Jesuit missionary and namesake of Marquette University.

The Grand Trunk Milwaukee Car Ferry Company was the Grand Trunk Western Railroad's subsidiary company operating its Lake Michigan railroad car ferry operations between Muskegon, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1905 to 1978. Major railroad companies in Michigan used rail ferry vessels to transport rail cars across Lake Michigan from Michigan's western shore to eastern Wisconsin to avoid rail traffic congestion in Chicago.

US Highway 31 (US 31) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Alabama to the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. In Michigan, it is a state trunkline highway that runs from the Indiana–Michigan state line at Bertrand Township north to its terminus at Interstate 75 (I-75) south of Mackinaw City. Along its 356.5-mile-long (573.7 km) route, US 31 follows the Michigan section of the St. Joseph Valley Parkway as well as other freeways and divided highways northward to Ludington. North of there, the trunkline is a rural undivided highway through the Northern Michigan tourist destinations of Traverse City and Petoskey before terminating south of Mackinaw City. Along its route, US 31 has been dedicated in memory of a few different organizations, and sections of it carry the Lake Michigan Circle Tour (LMCT) moniker. Four bridges used by the highway have been recognized for their historic character as well.

There are currently eight business routes of Interstate 94 (I-94) in the US state of Michigan. These business routes connect I-94 to the downtown business districts of neighboring cities. These eight routes are all business loops which bear the Business Loop I-94 designation. These loops are former routings of I-94's two predecessors in Michigan: US Highway 12 (US 12) or US 25. The westernmost BL I-94 runs through the twin cities of Benton Harbor and St. Joseph along the former routing of US 12 and US 31/US 33 that now includes a section of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour in the state. The loops in Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Marshall, Albion, and Jackson were also formerly segments of US 12 which were later designated as separate version of Business US Highway 12 through their respective cities before becoming BL I-94s in 1960. The route of the business loop through Ann Arbor was previously US 12 and then later M-14 before receiving its current moniker. The BL I-94 through Port Huron was previously US 25 and then Business US Highway 25.

The Chicago and West Michigan Railway (C&WM) is a defunct railroad which operated in the state of Michigan between 1881 and 1899. It was one of the three companies which merged to become the Pere Marquette Railway.

The Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Railroad (C&MLS) is a defunct railroad which operated in Michigan between 1869 and 1878, and as the Chicago and West Michigan Railroad until 1881.

US Highway 10 (US 10) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from West Fargo, North Dakota, to the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The highway enters Michigan on the SS Badger, which crosses Lake Michigan between Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and Ludington. As the highway crosses the state, it is a two-lane undivided highway between Ludington and Farwell and a freeway from Farwell east to the highway's terminus in Bay City. US 10 runs concurrently with US 127 in the Clare area along a section of freeway that includes a welcome center in the median. Outside of the Clare and Midland areas, US 10 runs through rural areas of Western and Central Michigan in a section of the Manistee National Forest as well as farm fields.

The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. It consists of routes for circumnavigating the lakes, either individually or collectively.

The SS Spartan is a railroad car ferry on Lake Michigan owned by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) from 1952 through 1979. It alternated routes from Ludington, Michigan, to Milwaukee, Kewaunee, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

There have been seven business routes of US Highway 31 in the state of Michigan. All of the business routes are former sections of US Highway 31 (US 31). They connect the freeway mainline of US 31 to the various downtowns of cities bypassed by US 31. Two of the current business routes, for Hart and Ludington, are business spurs, connecting to US 31 on only one end, while the remainder for Muskegon, Whitehall–Montague and Pentwater, are business loops. The two former routes, for Niles and Holland were a business spur and loop, respectively.

References

↑ Witt, Jeremy (July 22, 2016). "State's Newest Michigan Byway to be Designated on Monday". West Michigan Tourist Association. Retrieved July 23, 2016.

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[WMTA-1] Witt, Jeremy (July 22, 2016). "State's Newest Michigan Byway to be Designated on Monday". West Michigan Tourist Association. Retrieved July 23, 2016.