M-45 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

that is also called Lake Michigan Drive. The highway runs from Agnew near

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

to the west side of

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

in the western

Lower Peninsula The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

. Lake Michigan Drive continues in each direction from M-45's termini, extending west of

US Highway 31 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. It ...

(US 31) and east of Interstate 196 (I-196). In between, the road runs through rural and suburban areas of

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

counties, including the main campus of

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale, Michigan. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on approximately west of Grand Rapids. The universit ...

in Allendale. Lake Michigan Drive was originally part of M-50 until the mid-1960s. Previously in the 1920s and 1930s, the M-45 number was designated along a highway in the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

(UP).

Route description

Lake Michigan Drive starts near Lake Michigan at an intersection with Lakeshore Drive near the Grand Rapids water filtration plant. The road runs east to an intersection with US 31 in Agnew, where the M-45 designation begins. The area is marked by a mix of woodland and agricultural properties. The road runs through rural Ottawa County to Allendale. Through town, Lake Michigan Drive widens to a four-lane divided boulevard with a median. East of the main part of town, M-45 passes the main campus of Grand Valley State University before crossing the Grand River. At 24th Avenue, the highway loses its median and gains a central turn lane. The landscape becomes more suburban as the highway crosses into Kent County near the M-11 intersection in

Walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People * Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) * Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California ...

. From here east to the terminus in Grand Rapids, the road is lined with residential subdivisions and commercial properties. At Bridge Street, Lake Michigan Drive turns to the southeast and approaches John Ball Zoological Garden. M-45 ends at the interchange with I-196. Lake Michigan Drive continues east to its end where it becomes Pearl Street near the Grand River downtown. The

Michigan Department of Transportation The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is a constitutional government principal department of the US state of Michigan. The primary purpose of MDOT is to maintain the Michigan State Trunkline Highway System which includes all Interstat ...

(MDOT) maintains M-45 like all other parts of the state trunkline highway system. As part of these responsibilities, the department tracks the volume of the traffic using its roadways which is expressed using a metric called

average annual daily traffic Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a ...

(AADT). This is a calculation of the traffic levels for a segment of roadway for any average day of the year. In 2009, 4,910 vehicles used the section of M-45 near the western terminus daily. Near the interchange with I-196, 32,376 vehicles were observed along Lake Michigan Drive each day. No segment of the highway is listed on the National Highway System, a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.

History

Previous designation

M-45 was originally designated in the UP on what is now M-95 by July 1, 1919. The highway ran between M-12 in Sagola and

M-15 M15 or M-15 may refer to: In science * Messier 15 (M15), a globular cluster in the constellation Pegasus In firearms and military equipment * M15 mine, a United States anti-tank mine * M15 rifle, a variant of the M14, a United States military r ...

in Humboldt Township. When the

United States Numbered Highway System The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

was created on November 11, 1926, US 2 replaced most of M-12 through the UP. M-45 was extended south of Sagola to the north side of Iron Mountain. Along with this change, M-69 replaced another previous section of M-12 and all of M-90. M-69 ran concurrently with M-45 between Sagola and Randville to connect these two highway segments. By 1933, M-45 was extended concurrently along US 2/ US 141 into Iron Mountain and then as an independent routing through Kingsford to the

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

state line. Before the next year, the M-95 replaced M-45 in the UP.

Current designation

The current designation of M-45 dates back to 1964. M-50 was truncated to end near Lowell at

I-96 Interstate 96 (I-96) is an east–west Interstate Highway that runs for approximately entirely within the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The western terminus is at an interchange with US Highway 31 (US 31) and Bu ...

. The remainder of M-50 on Cascade Road, Fulton Street and Lake Michigan Drive was redesignated as M-45. The eastern section from Business US 131 (Division Avenue) to I-96 was turned over to local control in 1972, shortening the route. The east end would be shortened again by 1995, removing the M-45 designation east of I-196. Jurisdiction was only transferred to the City of Grand Rapids on the portion from Division Avenue west to the Grand River, leaving part of West Fulton Street under state maintenance as an unsigned trunkline. M-45 was upgraded to a four-lane divided highway in 2001–02 between Walker and the Grand Valley State campus in Allendale. The new alignment bypassed a section of road between 24th and 40th avenues. That section was renamed River Hill Drive, but retained as an unsigned state trunkline (Old M-45).

Major intersections

References

External links

M-45
at Michigan Highways {{DEFAULTSORT:M045 045 Transportation in Ottawa County, Michigan Transportation in Kent County, Michigan