M-24 is a north–south state trunkline highway in the U.S. 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 the ...

that extends through

Southeast Michigan Southeast Michigan, also called southeastern Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan that is home to a majority of the state's businesses and industries as well as slightly over half of the state's population, most of whom are c ...

and

The Thumb The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of the Tri-Cities and north of M ...

, from northeast

Auburn Hills Auburn Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 21,412 at the 2010 census. Before incorporating as a city in 1983, the area was part of the now-defunct Pontiac Township. It is home to Oakland University ...

to Unionville. It starts at an interchange with

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

(I-75) and ends where it merges with

M-25 M25 or M-25 may be: Aerospace * M-25 Dromader Mikro, a variant of the Polish PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader agricultural aircraft * Cors-Air M25Y Black Devil, an Italian aircraft engine * Shvetsov M-25, an aircraft radial engine produced in the Soviet ...

. While the M-24 designation is similar to that of

US Highway 24 U.S. Route 24 (US 24) is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Missouri, in the west. Today, the highway's eastern terminus is in Independence Township, M ...

(US 24) which has a northern terminus located only a few miles from the southern terminus of M-24, M-24 was never part of US 24. The first M-24 in Michigan was replaced by M-20 when US 10 replaced the original M-20 in 1926. A 1936 bypass of downtown

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

resulted in the creation of M-24A which later became BUS M-24 in 1940. An extension in 1997 moved the northern end of M-24 northward from

Caro Caro may refer to: Places * Caro, Michigan, United States * Caro, Morbihan, France * Çaro, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France Other uses * Caro (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Caro (surname), including a list of peo ...

to Unionville, replacing a section of M-138 in the process.

Route description

M-24 begins a hundred feet south of an overpass that is part of a double

trumpet interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...

with I-75 in Auburn Hills. The interchange also connects with an entrance into

The Palace of Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills, commonly referred to as the Palace, was a multi-purpose arena built in 1988 and located in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It was the home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Detroit Shoc ...

, former home of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

, and a variety of electronic signs are contained in the area to indicate the status of access to the entrance. The roadway is a continuation of Business Loop I-75 (BL I-75) that travels through

. This section of the highway dedicated to

William Davidson William or Bill Davidson may refer to: Businessmen * Bill Davidson (businessman) (1922–2009), Michigan businessman and sports team owner ** William Davidson Institute, University of Michigan, named in honor of Bill Davidson * William Davidson ...

, former owner of the Pistons, in legislation signed by

Michigan Governor The governor of Michigan, is the head of government of Michigan and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws; the power to either approve or veto appropriation bills passed b ...

Rick Snyder Richard Dale Snyder (born August 19, 1958) is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Snyder previ ...

in May 2011. The section of M-24 from its southern terminus in

north to the village of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

is one of the busiest stretches of road in the state in terms of

annual average 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 y ...

(AADT). Near The Palace of Auburn Hills, 50,600 vehicles used the roadway on average in 2007. The road is a standard Michigan

expressway Expressway may refer to: * Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. * Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road. *Expressway, the fictional s ...

design, with at-grade intersections, traffic signals, and

Michigan Left A Michigan left or P-turn is an at-grade intersection design that replaces each left (farside) turn at an intersection between a (major) divided roadway and a secondary (minor) roadway with the combination of a right (nearside) turn followe ...

s. M-24 continues north through the

Bald Mountain Recreation Area Bald Mountain State Recreation Area is a state park located near Lake Orion, Michigan off M-24. It consists of some of the most rugged terrain in southeastern Michigan. The recreation area is composed of a North Unit and a South Unit, which are ...

and along the eastern shore of

Lake Orion Lake Orion ( ) is a village in the northern outskirts of Metro Detroit in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. The population was 2,973 at the 2010 census. "Lake Orion" can refer to either the village or the much larger Orion Township, of w ...

in the village of

. This expressway continues a few miles north of the

Lapeer County Lapeer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 88,619. The county seat is Lapeer. The county was created on September 18, 1822, and was fully organized on February 2, 1835. The name ...

line, where the highway becomes a two-lane highway for a few miles, before returning to expressway from Metamora to

I-69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of 10 unconnected segments with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, at ...

. South of Metamora, M-24 runs parallel to the former

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

for the

Michigan Central Railroad The Michigan Central Railroad (reporting mark MC) was originally incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in ...

north into the city of Lapeer. M-24 continues north from Lapeer running west of Barnes Lake and east of the community of Columbiaville just south of the M-90 junction. South of the Tuscola County line, the trunkline passes the Greenbriar Golf Club and crosses the

Pere Marquette Railroad 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 in ...

before turning west along Saginaw Road into the community of Mayville and turning north along Mertz Road. South of

, M-24 meets M-46. Once past Frank Street in Caro, M-24 becomes Ellington Street. M-24 then comes to meet M-81 in Caro, where the highway becomes Cleaver Road. M-24 then jogs west along Biebel Road and then north along Unionville Road past a junction with M-138 to end in Unionville at

. M-24 is also known locally as Lapeer Road in several areas, including Orion Township, Oxford Township, and Metamora. In the Village of

, it is also known as Washington Street. In downtown Lapeer, it is known as Main Street, and north of Mayville as Mertz Rd. In the Unionville area, it is also known as Unionville Road.

History

Original designation

In 1919, the first M-24 was designated along today's M-20. From Midland east, M-24 continued along today's M-47. When the

U.S. 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,

US 10 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

replaced M-20 and M-20 in turn replaced the first M-24. The M-24 designation was then applied to the current routing.

Current designation

The current designation was assigned in two pieces, Pontiac to Lapeer and Vassar to Bay City. The two sections would be joined in 1927 by a concurrency along

M-21 M21 or M-21 may refer to: Transportation * M21 (New York City bus), a New York City Bus route in Manhattan * M-21 highway (Michigan), a road connecting Flint and Grand Rapids * M21 (East London), a Metropolitan Route in East London, South Africa ...

and M-15. This arrangement lasted until a permanent solo routing was created in 1930. The Pontiac area saw a rerouting of M-24 to an eastern bypass of town in 1936. The former routing in town became M-24A. It would be redesignated as BUS M-24 in 1940 when the State Highway Department debuted

business routes A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route connected to a ''parent'' numbered highway at its beginning, then routed through the central business district of a nearby city or ...

in Michigan. The northern terminus was moved to M-81 in Caro in 1942, and the southern terminus was shifted to the present location in 1963. Prior to a 1997 extension, M-24 ended at M-81 in

; now it continues up to M-25 in Unionville. From 2006 to 2008, M-24 was expanded to a boulevard between Metamora and Lapeer. There is still a two lane section between the Lapeer/Oakland County Line and Metamora that is planned to be upgraded in the near future. The construction has been delayed because of development close to the highway near Metamora.

Major intersections

References

External links

M-24
at Michigan Highways {{DEFAULTSORT:M024

024 4 (four) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is tetraphobia, considered unlucky in many East Asian c ...

Transportation in Oakland County, Michigan Transportation in Lapeer County, Michigan Transportation in Tuscola County, Michigan