U.S. Route 2 in Michigan

This article is about the section of highway in Michigan. For the entire length of highway, see US Highway 2.

US Highway 2 marker
US Highway 2
Map
US 2 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MDOT
Length305.151 mi[1][a] (491.093 km)
ExistedNovember 11, 1926 (1926-11-11)[2]–present
Tourist
routes
Western segment
Length109.177 mi[1] (175.703 km)
West end US 2 at Ironwood
Major intersections
East end US 2 / US 141 near Crystal Falls
Eastern segment
Length195.974 mi[1] (315.390 km)
West end US 2 / US 141 near Iron Mountain
Major intersections
East end I-75 / BL I-75 at St. Ignace
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMichigan
CountiesGogebic, Iron; Dickinson, Menominee, Delta, Schoolcraft, Mackinac
Highway system
← M-1→ M-3

US Highway 2 (US 2) is a component of the United States Numbered Highway System that connects Everett, Washington, to the Upper Peninsula (UP) of the US state of Michigan, with a separate segment that runs from Rouses Point, New York, to Houlton, Maine. In Michigan, the highway runs through the UP in two segments as a part of the state trunkline highway system, entering the state at Ironwood and ending at St. Ignace; in between, US 2 briefly traverses the state of Wisconsin. As one of the major transportation arteries in the UP, US 2 is a major conduit for traffic through the state and neighboring northern Midwest states. Two sections of the roadway are included as part of the Great Lakes Circle Tours, and other segments are listed as state-designated Pure Michigan Byways. There are several memorial highway designations and historic bridges along US 2 that date to the 1910s and 1920s. The highway runs through rural sections of the UP, passing through two national and two state forests in the process.

The route of what became US 2 was used as part of two Indian trails before European settlers came to the UP, and as part of the Michigan segments of the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway and the King's International Highway auto trails in the early 20th century. The state later included these trails as part of M‑12 when the first state highway trunklines were designated in 1919. Most of M‑12 was redesignated as part of US 2 when the US Highway System was created on November 11, 1926. Since the 1930s, several changes have reshaped the highway's routing through the UP. One such alteration eventually created a business loop that connected across the state line with Hurley, Wisconsin, and others pushed an originally inland routing of US 2 closer to the Lake Michigan shoreline. With the creation of the Interstate Highway System, part of US 2 was rerouted to coincide with the new Interstate 75 (I‑75), though in the 1980s, the U.S. Highway was truncated and removed from the I‑75 freeway, resulting in today's basic form.

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference PRFA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ McNichol, Dan (2006). The Roads that Built America. New York: Sterling. p. 74. ISBN 1-4027-3468-9. OCLC 63377558.


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