Route information | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Maintained by MDOT | ||||
Length | 16.141 mi[1] (25.976 km) | |||
Existed | 1986[2][3]–present | |||
Tourist routes | ||||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | M-139 at Scottdale | |||
I-94 / BL I-94 at St. Joseph | ||||
North end | I-196 / US 31 near Hagar Shores | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Michigan | |||
Counties | Berrien | |||
Highway system | ||||
|
M-63 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan that runs from M-139 at Scottdale through the cities of Benton Harbor and St. Joseph to Interstate 196/US Highway 31 (I-196/US 31) at exit 7 just outside Hagar Shores. The trunkline runs through residential areas south of St. Joseph and through the central business districts of the twin cities. Further north, M-63 runs along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
All of M-63's routing was part of US 33 before that highway's truncation south of Niles in 1986. A previous designation of M-63 was used farther north in Lake and Osceola counties from 1919 until 1961. Since the current designation was created, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has worked on reconfiguring parts of the roadway in the early part of the 21st century. The bridge M-63 uses to cross the St. Joseph River, the Blossomland Bridge, has been identified as an historic structure using a rare design. The bridge itself dates back to the late 1940s.