

The highway passes through rural farmland north to just south of Constantine, where US 131 turns northwestward to bypass the downtown business district, crosses the St. The trunkline enters Michigan about three miles (4.8 km) south of White Pigeon, crossing a branch of the Michigan Southern Railroad before meeting US 12 on the west side of the village. The highway is an important link between Grand Rapids and the tourist areas of Northern Michigan. Joseph River in ConstantineĪs a state trunkline highway, US 131 runs approximately 266 miles (428 km) in Michigan, from the Indiana state line north to Petoskey. Southwest Michigan īridge on the former route over the St. The 2007 survey reported average daily traffic of 7,949 cars and 2,068 trucks. These traffic counts are expressed in terms of annual average daily traffic (AADT), a calculation of the average daily number of vehicles on a segment of roadway. INDOT surveys the roads under its control on a regular basis to measure the amount of traffic using the state's highways. State Road 13 (SR 13) runs concurrently with US 131 in this section but is not signposted. US 131 extends 0.643 miles (1.0 km) through Elkhart County, Indiana, between the entrance to the Indiana Toll Road, a few hundred feet north of the Toll Road overpass, and the state line to the north. The Michigan section includes approximately 172 miles (277 km) of freeway between Kalamazoo and Wexford counties. As a state highway in both states, the roadway is maintained by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) and MDOT. Running 269.98 miles (434.49 km) in Indiana and Michigan, US 131 in its entirety is listed as a part of the National Highway System, a system of roads crucial to the nation's economy, defense and mobility.

The preferred alternative in 2008 was a two-lane bypass of Constantine that opened in October 2013.
#Car jumps 131 overpass full
One option for these upgrades is a full freeway, an option that was initially rejected. South of Three Rivers, MDOT is studying possible upgrades to US 131. Upgrades on the north end through Kalkaska ceased to be considered in 2000. Plans to further extend the freeway have either been canceled or placed back under study. Two bridges formerly used by US 131 have been labeled by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) as historic structures one of them has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Another large-scale construction project in 2000 rebuilt an unusual section of the freeway through Grand Rapids known as the S-Curve.

Cadillac and Manton were bypassed in the early part of the 21st century, resulting in the current freeway configuration. A third segment was built south of Cadillac and over subsequent years Michigan filled the gaps in the freeway. The state started this conversion simultaneously at two locations: heading north from Three Rivers, and heading both north and south from a point in southern Kent County. Further changes were made, starting in the 1950s, to convert segments of the road to a full freeway. Originally ending at Fife Lake on the north end, the highway was extended to Petoskey in the late 1930s. When the US Highway System was formed on November 11, 1926, US 131 was created along the route of M-13 in Michigan. The first state highways along the US 131 corridor were designated as early as 1919. An attempt to dedicate the highway to poet James Whitcomb Riley failed to gain official support in Michigan. The oldest, the Mackinaw Trail, originated from an Indian trail in the area while other names honored politicians. Various names have been applied to the roadway over the years. US 131 forms an important corridor along the western side of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, running through rural farm and forest lands as well as urban cityscapes. Part of this freeway runs concurrently with Interstate 296 (I-296) as an unsigned designation through Grand Rapids. US 131 runs as a freeway from south of Portage through to Manton in the north.

As the road crosses into Michigan it becomes a state trunkline highway that connects to the metropolitan areas of Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids before continuing north to its terminus at Petoskey. The highway starts in rural Indiana south of the state line as a state road connection to the Indiana Toll Road. US Highway 131 ( US 131) is a north–south United States Highway, of which all but 0.64 of its 269.96 miles (1.03 of 434.46 km) are within the state of Michigan. Michigan State Trunkline Highway System.Joseph, Kalamazoo, Allegan, Kent, Montcalm, Mecosta, Osceola, Wexford, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet
