M-77 (Michigan highway)

M-77
M-77 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MDOT
Length:	42.602 mi[2] (68.561 km)
Existed:	c. July 1, 1919[1] – present
Tourist routes:	Lake Superior Circle Tour Scenic Spur
Major junctions
South end:	US 2 near Blaney Park
	M-28 in Seney
North end:	North of H-58 in Grand Marais
Location
Counties:	Schoolcraft, Alger
Highway system
Michigan State Trunkline Highway System Interstate • US • State ← M-76 M-78 →

M-77 is a state trunkline highway in the Upper Peninsula (UP) of the US state of Michigan. It runs from US Highway 2 (US 2) near Blaney Park in the south to Grand Marais in the north. The highway borders the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. The northern half has been designated as a Scenic Spur of the Lake Superior Circle Tour. Originally designated by 1919, the highway has not been changed much in its history. By the late 1950s, the highway was paved, completing the modern M-77 highway.

Route description

From US 2 near Blaney Park going north, M-77 runs past the former Blaney Park Resort and out of town by a small private airport next to Lake Ann Louise. The highway continues through rural woodlands past Chip Lake. The road crosses the Manistique River as it runs through Germfask. From just south of Germfask to just south of Seney, the road forms the eastern boundary of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge.^[3][4]

The refuge is a managed wetland in Schoolcraft County in Michigan. Established in 1935, it has an area of 95,212 acres (38,531 ha) bordered by M-28 and M-77 that is the remains of the Great Manistique Swamp, a perched sand wetland located in the central UP. The refuge contains the Strangmoor Bog National Natural Landmark within its boundaries. During the 1930s, work crews employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) rebuilt, restored, and expanded the wetland drains, this time for active wetlands management purposes. These CCC ponds and drains are still used by the wetlands managers that staff the current National Wildlife Refuge.^[5]

At Seney, M-77 crosses a line of the Canadian National Railway^[6] and turns east along M-28. Both run concurrently for less than half a mile (0.8 km) over a crossing of the Fox River before M-77 turns back northward. About 11 miles (18 km) north of Seney, the road turns sharply to the west, near Snyder Lake. The trunkline continues along several other lakes before turning northeasterly and then northward. The road marks the westernmost extent of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore around 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of Grand Marais. M-77 intersects H-58 in town and ends north of there by the Grand Marais harbor.^[3][4]

Heading north on M-77 midway between Seney and Grand Marais in autumn

Grand Marais is situated on the shores of Lake Superior some 25 miles (40 km) north of the mainline of the Lake Superior Circle Tour. Since the Tour runs only along state trunklines in Michigan, a Scenic Spur of the tour was created to route traffic north from Seney to Grand Marais. The scenic spur also terminates in Grand Marais with M-77 north of the junction with H-58.^[7]

M-77 is maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation (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 2009 showed that the highest traffic levels along M-77 were the 1,924 vehicles daily between Floodwood and Ten Curves roads in Schoolcraft county; the lowest counts were the 799 vehicles per day north of M-28 in Seney.^[8] No section of M-77 has been listed on the National Highway System,^[9] a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.^[10]

History

The route was first designated by July 1, 1919, with a route very close to its present course.^[1] A pair of sharp turns were straightened 11 miles (18 km) north of Seney at Lavender Corner around 1950.^[11][12] The last segments of gravel road were paved in 1958–59.^[13][14]

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile[2]	Destinations	Notes
Schoolcraft	Blaney Park	0.000	US 2 – Rapid River, St. Ignace
	Seney	17.310	M-28 west – Marquette	Western end of M-28 concurrency to cross the Fox River
		17.670	M-28 east – Newberry	Eastern end of M-28 concurrency
Alger	Grand Marais	42.373	H-58 (Canal Street) – Munising
		42.602	Lake Avenue
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

References

Michigan Highways portal

1. ^ ^{a b} Michigan State Highway Department (July 1, 1919). State of Michigan: Upper Peninsula (Map). Cartography by MSHD. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "MDOT Physical Reference Finder Application". Michigan Department of Transportation. 2009. http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/prfinder/. Retrieved April 9, 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Michigan Department of Transportation (2010). Official Department of Transportation Map (Map). 1 in:15 mi/1 cm:9 km. Section B8–D8. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Google, Inc. Google Maps – Overview Map of M-77 (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=M-77+N&daddr=M-77+N%2FLake+Ave&hl=en&geocode=FXRxvwIdENvg-g%3BFZYryAIdDvnf-g&mra=ls&sll=46.667786,-85.990334&sspn=0.027624,0.029097&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=10. Retrieved May 3, 2011. 
5. ^ Rosentreter, Roger L. (May–June 1986). "Roosevelt's Tree Army: Michigan's Civilian Conservation Corps". Michigan History. Archived from the original on November 1, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071101015836/http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17451_18670_18793-53515--,00.html. Retrieved December 3, 2007. 
6. ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (April 2009) (PDF). Michigan's Railroad System (Map). http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MDOT_Official_Rail_130897_7.pdf. Retrieved September 14, 2010. 
7. ^ "Lake Superior Circle Tour". Great Lakes Information Network. http://www.great-lakes.net/tourism/circletour/superior/. Retrieved May 3, 2011. 
8. ^ Bureau of Transportation Planning‎ (2008). "Traffic Monitoring Information System". Michigan Department of Transportation. http://mdotnetpublic.state.mi.us/tmispublic/. Retrieved May 3, 2011. 
9. ^ Michigan Department of Transportation (2005) (PDF). National Highway System: Bay City Urbanized Area (Map). http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MDOT_NHS_Bay_City_150607_7.pdf. Retrieved January 1, 2011. 
10. ^ "The National Highway System". Federal Highway Administration. August 26, 2010. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/nhs/. Retrieved January 1, 2011. 
11. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (April 15, 1950). Michigan Official Highway Map (Map). Section B8–C8. 
12. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (April 15, 1951). 1951 Official Highway Map (Map). Section B8–C8. 
13. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (1958). Official Highway Map (Map). Section B8–C8.  (Includes all changes through July 1, 1958)
14. ^ Michigan State Highway Department (1960). Official Highway Map (Map). Section B8–C8.  (Includes all changes through July 1, 1960)

External links

• M-77 at Michigan Highways
• M-77 at Michigan Highway Ends
• Seney National Wildlife Refuge