Portal:Michigan highways/Selected article/March 2012
US Highway 23 (US 23) is a United States Numbered Highway that runs from Jacksonville, Florida to Mackinaw City, Michigan. In Michigan, it is a major 362.33-mile (583.11 km) north–south state trunkline highway that runs through the Lower Peninsula (LP). The trunkline is a freeway from the Michigan–Ohio state line near Lambertville to the city of Standish, and it follows the Lake Huron shoreline from there to its northern terminus. The non-freeway section was designated the Sunrise Side Coastal Highway as a part of the Michigan Heritage Route program. Serving the cities of Ann Arbor and Flint, US 23 acts as a freeway bypass of the Metro Detroit area.
The first transportation routes along US 23 in the state were sections of two Indian trails. When the US Highway System was first designated on November 11, 1926, the new highway replaced two previous designations along its route. Since creation, the road has been moved and realigned several times. Through the 1930s and 1940s, the lakeshore routing was created to replace a path that ran further inland through the northern portion of the state. Starting in the early 1950s, various sections in the southeastern and central areas of the LP were upgraded to freeways, bypassing several major cities in the area. These improvements were completed by the end of the 1960s. (more...)