M-96 is a
state trunkline highway in the US state of
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
that runs between
Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropoli ...
and
Marshall
Marshall may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria
Canada
* Marshall, Saskatchewan
* The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia
Liberia
* Marshall, Liberia
Marshall Islands
* Marshall Islands, an i ...
. Its termini are both on
business routes of Interstate 94
There are 19 business routes of Interstate 94 (I-94) in the United States. These business routes connect the downtown business districts of cities to the freeway along I-94.
Montana
There are five business routes (two current and three fo ...
(I-94); the eastern one coincides with an intersection with
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 ...
. Between Kalamazoo and Marshall it passes through
Comstock,
Galesburg,
Augusta, and
Battle Creek
Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which en ...
intersecting
I-194/
M-66 in Battle Creek and I-94 in
Emmett Township.
The highway now known as M-96 was originally part of
M-17. Parts of M-17 that were not used for
US Highway 12 (US 12) in 1926 were given the M-96 number. Additional segments of trunkline were added to M-96, one of which was an Alternate US 12 in the years afterwards. Later, US 12 was moved after the completion of I-94 in southern Michigan. Additional US 12 segments were added to M-96 at that time. The last major changes to M-96 rerouted the highway through the Battle Creek area in late 1998.
Route description
M-96 starts at an intersection between King Highway and
Business Spur I-94 (BS I-94) east of downtown Kalamazoo. From this point, it follows King Highway over and then along the
Kalamazoo River
The Kalamazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is long from the junction of its North and South branches to its mouth at Lake Michigan, with a total length extending to when one includes the South Branch.U.S. Geologica ...
through a suburban residential area. The highway then follows Michigan Avenue east through Comstock and north of Morrow Lake. At Galesburg, M-96 turns northeast along Augusta Drive to
Augusta, running through rural farmland. It turns eastward again, skirting the
Fort Custer State Recreation Area and the
Fort Custer National Cemetery
Fort Custer National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located just outside the village of Augusta in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. It encompasses , and had 30,000 interments.
History
Named for General George Armstrong Custer, the ...
. In Augusta, M-96 turns to follow Dickman Road to Battle Creek, passing north and east of the
W. K. Kellogg Airport on Dickman and Helmer roads.
[
On the north side of the airport, M-96 runs concurrently with both Business Loop I-94 (BL I-94) and M-37. M-96 turns south on Helmer Road, separating from the other two trunklines, and then turns east crossing along Columbia Avenue. Here the highway runs along the edge of the city of Battle Creek through more residential areas and crosses the I-194/ M-66 freeway next to the Riverside County Club. Near Brownlee Park, M-96 (Columbia Avenue) merges with BL I-94 (Michigan Avenue). Together BL I-94/M-96 continues along Michigan Avenue to I-94 where BL I-94 ends. M-96 passes the FireKeepers Casino Hotel, which is located just east of the ending of BL I-94, between 11 and 12 Mile Roads. M-96 continues along Michigan Avenue through farmland from Emmett to ]Marshall
Marshall may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria
Canada
* Marshall, Saskatchewan
* The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia
Liberia
* Marshall, Liberia
Marshall Islands
* Marshall Islands, an i ...
ending at an interchange with 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 ...
/ BL I-94.
M-96 is maintained by 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) 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
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 ...
, which is a statistical calculation of the average daily number of vehicles on a segment of roadway. MDOT's surveys in 2010 showed that the highest traffic levels along M-96 were the 22,953 vehicles daily between Capitol Avenue and I-194 in Battle Creek; the lowest counts were the 5,167 vehicles per day at the western terminus in Kalamazoo. The only section of M-96 that has been listed on the National Highway System (NHS), is in the Battle Creek area between the western BL I-94/M-37 junction and the I-94 interchange. The NHS is a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.
History
M-96 was formed as a state trunkline in late 1926 from parts of M-17. The section of M-17 between Galesberg and Battle Creek was not utilized for US 12 and became M-96. In 1936, the Alternate US 12 trunkline was designated through the Battle Creek area along a section of highway that had previously been part of US 12. This highway was added to M-96 three years later in 1939.
A rerouting of trunklines in 1941 lead to the creation of a Business US 12 (Bus. US 12). M-96 ran concurrently with Bus. US 12 and M-37 was truncated to end at M-96. US 12 was rerouted between Galesburg and Kalamazoo in 1954, and M-96 was extended along the former US 12 routing to end in Kalamazoo. M-96 was rerouted in downtown Battle Creek to one-way streets in 1958, and Bus. US 12/M-96 was extended by the end of the decade when the I-94/US 12 freeway was completed in the area. Bus. US 12 was redesignated as BL I-94 in 1960 and M-96 was shortened to end at BL I-94/ M-78 running on Capital Avenue. M-37 was reextended in 1961 in Battle Creek to a concurrent routing with M-96 in 1961.
M-89 was extended along the roadway used by M-96 west of Battle Creek to M-37 in 1965, truncating M-96 in the process. M-96 was reextended back to Battle Creek along Dickman Road and Fort Custer Highway from Augusta east in 1971. Several changes in Battle Creek were made to the area trunklines in 1998. M-96 was extended along BL I-94 (Dickman Road) to M-37 (Helmer Road) and along M-37 to Columbia Avenue. At Columbia, M-96 then turned west and M-37 turned east. M-96 rejoined BL I-94 along Michigan Avenue to I-94 and on to Marshall.
Major intersections
See also
*
References
External links
M-96
at Michigan Highways
{{DEFAULTSORT:M096
096
U.S. Route 12
Transportation in Kalamazoo County, Michigan
Transportation in Calhoun County, Michigan