U.S. Route 33 in Michigan

From the AARoads Wiki: Read about the road before you go
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This article is about the section of highway in Michigan. For the entire length of highway, see U.S. Route 33.

US Highway 33

US 33 highlighted in bright red; greatest extent in gray
Route information
Maintained by MDOT
Length2.835 mi[1] (4.562 km)
ExistedJanuary 1, 1938 (1938-01-01)[2]–April 25, 1997 (1997-04-25)[3]
HistoryLast signage removed in April 1998[4]
Major junctions
South end US 33 near Niles
North end US 12 near Niles
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMichigan
CountiesBerrien
Highway system
← M-32→ M-33

US Highway 33 (US 33) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that was once located in Berrien County, Michigan. At the time it was removed from the state, it was only about 2.8 miles (4.5 km) long running north from the Indiana state line to an intersection with US 12 south of Niles. The highway was not originally part of the US Highway System in the state; it was added in 1938 as a second designation for part of US 31 between the state line and St. Joseph. It was later extended further north to the community of Lake Michigan Beach. This extension became the only section of US 33 that was routed independent of another highway until it was truncated to Niles. In 1997, US 33 was officially removed from the state.

Route description

At the time it last existed in Michigan, US 33 started at the Indiana state line at an intersection with State Line Road. From there it ran due north along 11th Street through a residential neighborhood parallel to the St. Joseph River. Just past an intersection with Fulkerson Road, the highway curved briefly to the northeast as it approached Bell Road. US 33 terminated at a five-ramp partial cloverleaf interchange with US 12 (Pulaski Highway) south of the city of Niles in Bertrand Township.[5][6] According to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), the agency that maintained the roadway, in 1998, the last year it was US 33, the highway carried between 17,192 and 24,669 vehicles on average, daily.[7] Additionally, the roadway that carried the highway designation is listed on the National Highway System,[8] a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.[9]

History

The State Trunkline Highway System was created on May 13, 1913, by an act of the Michigan Legislature; at the time, one of the system's divisions corresponded to US 33. Division 5 followed a course from Niles northward to Mackinaw City.[10] In 1919, the Michigan State Highway Department (MSHD)[a] signposted the highway system for the first time,[12] and the future US 33 corridor was assigned the original M-58 designation from the state line northward through Niles to St. Joseph.[13] When the United States Numbered Highway System was created on November 11, 1926,[14] the corridor received the US 31 designation.[15] The US 33 designation was later added to US 31 from the state line northward to St. Joseph on January 1, 1938,[2] ending at the intersection with US 12/US 31 at Main Street and Niles Avenue.[16] It was dedicated as part of the Blue and Gray Trail on May 2 of that year.[17]

Map
Pre-1960 terminus of US 33 in St. Joseph

In November 1960, the US 33 designation was extended northward along US 31 from St. Joseph through Benton Harbor to Hagar Shore Road in Lake Michigan Beach.[18] Three years later, a segment of the Interstate 96 (I-96, later I-196) freeway opened northeast of Benton Harbor,[19] and US 31 was rerouted to follow it, leaving US 33 to its own alignment between Scottdale and Lake Michigan Beach, now following 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) of Hagar Shore Road east to its I-96/US 31 interchange. This was the first time that US 33 had a section of its routing in Michigan that was not concurrent with another highway. Additional freeway for US 31 was built in the late 1970s into the 1980s. Called the St. Joseph Valley Parkway, the first section of this freeway through Berrien County was completed in 1979 and ran from the Indiana state line north to US 12; after its completion, US 33 had a second independent routing from the state line north to downtown Niles.[20][21]

Photograph of
Northern terminus of M-63 in 2016, the one-time terminus of US 33

US 33 was all but eliminated in Michigan on June 9, 1986, when the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) approved a request by MDOT to truncate the designation to the intersection with US 12 south of Niles.[22] Signage was updated in September 1986, renumbering the northern section to M-63[23] and the section between downtown Niles and US 12 as a rerouted Bus. US 12. The last segment of US 33 between US 12 and the state line was removed on April 25, 1997, when AASHTO approved a joint request by MDOT and its counterpart in Indiana to truncate the highway designation to an intersection with US 20 in Elkhart, Indiana.[3] This remaining segment in Michigan became part of an extended M-51 when the signage was changed a year later.[4]

On March 5, 2010, a segment of Bus. US 12 previously used by US 33 in downtown Niles was transferred back to city control.[24] Otherwise, except for a slight reroute at Scottdale,[25] all of US 33 at its greatest extent from 1963 through 1986 remains part of a state highway in Michigan. From the state line into Niles, it is M-51. From the west side of downtown Niles, it is M-139 to Scottdale, and from there north, it is M-63.[26]

Major intersections

The entire highway was in Bertrand Township, Berrien County.

mi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
0.0000.000
 US 33 south – South Bend		Continuation into Indiana; now State Road 933
2.8354.562 US 12 – New Buffalo, Sturgis, Three Rivers

 M-51 north – Niles		Roadway continued north as M-51
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Notes

  1. ^ The Michigan State Highway Department was reorganized into the Michigan Department of State Highways and Transportation on August 23, 1973. The name was shortened to its current form in 1978.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b Michigan Department of Transportation (2021). Next Generation PR Finder (Map). Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Route 33 Boosters to Meet at Harrisonburg, Va". Logan Daily News. October 8, 1940. p. 6. OCLC 71196386. Retrieved November 5, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering (April 27, 1997). "Report of the Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering to the Standing Committee on Highways" (PDF) (Report). Washington, DC: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 16, 2017. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Portion of US 33 Is Now Indiana 933: Name Changes Along Lincoln Way, North to State Line". South Bend Tribune. April 18, 1998. p. A6. OCLC 8793233. Retrieved March 25, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (1998). Michigan Department of Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:918,720. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. § N7. OCLC 42778335.
  6. ^ Google (April 9, 2015). "Overview Map of Former US 33 in Michigan" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  7. ^ Bureau of Transportation Planning (2008). "Traffic Monitoring Information System". Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  8. ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (April 23, 2006). National Highway System, Michigan (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 4, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  9. ^ Natzke, Stefan; Neathery, Mike & Adderly, Kevin (June 20, 2012). "What is the National Highway System?". National Highway System. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  10. ^ Michigan Legislature (1915) [enacted May 13, 1913]. "Chapter 91: State Reward Trunk Line Highways". In Shields, Edmund C.; Black, Cyrenius P. & Broomfield, Archibald (eds.). The Compiled Laws of the State of Michigan. Vol. 1. Lansing, Michigan: Wynkoop, Hallenbeck, Crawford. pp. 1868–72. OCLC 44724558 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ Kulsea, Bill & Shawver, Tom (1980). Making Michigan Move: A History of Michigan Highways and the Michigan Department of Transportation. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. pp. 27, 30–31. OCLC 8169232. Retrieved January 18, 2021 – via Wikisource.
  12. ^ "Michigan May Do Well Following Wisconsin's Road Marking System". The Grand Rapids Press. September 20, 1919. p. 10. OCLC 9975013.
  13. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (July 1, 1919). State of Michigan (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. Lower Peninsula sheet. OCLC 15607244. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  14. ^ McNichol, Dan (2006). The Roads that Built America. New York: Sterling. p. 74. ISBN 1-4027-3468-9. OCLC 63377558.
  15. ^ Bureau of Public Roads & American Association of State Highway Officials (November 11, 1926). United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials (Map). 1:7,000,000. Washington, DC: United States Geological Survey. OCLC 32889555. Retrieved November 7, 2013 – via Wikimedia Commons.
  16. ^ Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (May 1, 1938). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map) (Spring ed.). [c. 1:850,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ N7–N8. OCLC 12701143. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  17. ^ "Queen Starts Journey Home: Blossom Envoy Helps Dedicate Blue & Gray Trail on Monday". The News-Palladium. Benton Harbor, Michigan. May 3, 1938. pp. 1, 3. OCLC 10117334. Retrieved November 5, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Route 31 to Become Route 33". The News-Palladium. Benton Harbor, Michigan. November 5, 1960. §2, p. 17. OCLC 10117334. Retrieved July 18, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Sees I-96 as Weekend Life-Saver". The News-Palladium. Benton Harbor, Michigan. August 31, 1963. p. 3. OCLC 10117334. Retrieved May 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Michigan Department of State Highways and Transportation (1979). Michigan, Great Lake State: Official Transportation Map (Map) (1978–1979 ed.). c. 1:918,720. Lansing: Michigan Department of State Highways and Transportation. § N7. OCLC 12701177. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Michigan History Center.
  21. ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (1980). Michigan, Great Lake State: Official Transportation Map (Map) (1980–1981 ed.). c. 1:918,720. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. § N7. OCLC 12701177, 606211521.
  22. ^ Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering (June 9, 1986). "Route Numbering Committee Agenda" (Report). Washington, DC: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Retrieved April 9, 2015 – via Wikisource.
  23. ^ "It'll Be M-63". The Herald-Palladium. St. Joseph, Michigan. August 25, 1986. p. 1. OCLC 34793533. Retrieved October 18, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (March 5, 2010). Contract Number 2010-0086. Michigan Department of Transportation.
  25. ^ "Scottdale Work". The Herald-Palladium. St. Joseph, Michigan. August 14, 1985. p. 3. OCLC 34793533. Retrieved May 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (2014). Pure Michigan: State Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:975,000. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. §§ M7–N7. OCLC 42778335, 900162490.

External links


U.S. Route 33
Previous state:
Indiana 		Michigan Next state:
Terminus
Retrieved from "https://wiki.aaroads.com/w/index.php?title=U.S._Route_33_in_Michigan&oldid=376317"