M-143 (Michigan highway)
Encyclopedia
M-143, also known as Michigan Avenue, is an unsigned spur
Spur route
A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important route . A bypass or beltway is never considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with the major road...

 state trunkline highway
Michigan Highway System
The Michigan State Trunkline Highway System is made up of all the highways designated as Interstates, U.S. Highways and State Highways in the US state of Michigan. The system is maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation and comprises of trunklines in all 83 counties of Michigan on...

 in the south central region of the US state of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. The M-143 portion of Michigan Avenue runs from the East Lansing
East Lansing, Michigan
East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located directly east of Lansing, Michigan, the state's capital. Most of the city is within Ingham County, though a small portion lies in Clinton County. The population was 48,579 at the time of the 2010 census, an increase from...

 city limit to a junction with M-43
M-43 (Michigan highway)
M-43 is a state trunkline highway in southwestern and central parts of the US state of Michigan. The highway runs from South Haven to Webberville along an indirect path through both rural areas and larger cities...

 at Grand River Avenue
Grand River Avenue
US Highway 16 , also called Grand River Avenue for much of its length, is one of the principal pre-Interstate roads in the state of Michigan. Before the creation of the United States Numbered Highway System in 1926, the highway had been designated M-16...

. This unsigned highway is the second time that there has been an M-143 in Michigan. The first was a connection to the original Cheboygan State Park. The current is a remnant of M-43
M-43 (Michigan highway)
M-43 is a state trunkline highway in southwestern and central parts of the US state of Michigan. The highway runs from South Haven to Webberville along an indirect path through both rural areas and larger cities...

 in the Lansing area.

Route description

Michigan Avenue travels through the Greater Lansing
Lansing, Michigan
Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...

 area on an east–west axis which runs through the Capitol Building
Michigan State Capitol
The Michigan State Capitol is the building housing the legislative and executive branches of the government of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in the state capital of Lansing in Ingham County...

 in downtown Lansing. While discontinuous from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Capitol Avenue in the downtown area, the eastern portion of Michigan Avenue begins at the Capitol and runs easterly, ending in downtown East Lansing. For much of its length in the City of Lansing, Michigan Avenue is a five-lane thoroughfare maintained by the city. Just west of US Highway 127
U.S. Route 127 in Michigan
US Highway 127 is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. In Michigan, it is a state trunkline highway that runs for , entering from Ohio south of Hudson and ending at a partial interchange with...

 (US 127), the street transitions into a six-lane boulevard
Boulevard
A Boulevard is type of road, usually a wide, multi-lane arterial thoroughfare, divided with a median down the centre, and roadways along each side designed as slow travel and parking lanes and for bicycle and pedestrian usage, often with an above-average quality of landscaping and scenery...

 and proceeds easterly to the East Lansing city limit. From that point easterly for about a mile (1.6 km) to M-43
M-43 (Michigan highway)
M-43 is a state trunkline highway in southwestern and central parts of the US state of Michigan. The highway runs from South Haven to Webberville along an indirect path through both rural areas and larger cities...

 at Grand River Avenue in downtown East Lansing, Michigan Avenue is state-maintained as a four- to six-lane boulevard designated M-143. Michigan Avenue here is the northern boundary of the main campus of Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

 near the Red Cedar River
Red Cedar River (Michigan)
The Red Cedar River is a westward-flowing tributary of the Grand River in Michigan. Its source is Cedar Lake which is located in Marion Township in the southeastern corner of Livingston County, and it runs about through Okemos, East Lansing, including the campus of Michigan State University, and...

. This highway designation is not signed on Michigan Avenue even though the street is under the control of the Michigan Department of Transportation
Michigan Department of Transportation
The Michigan Department of Transportation is a constitutional government agency in the US state of Michigan. The primary purpose of MDOT is to maintain the Michigan State Trunkline Highway System which includes all Interstate, US and state highways in Michigan with the exception of the Mackinac...

 (MDOT).

Previous designation

The first usage of M-143 was designated from US Highway 27 (US 27, now M-27
M-27 (Michigan highway)
M-27 is a north–south state trunkline highway in the extreme north of the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The route runs between Interstate 75 just north of Indian River and Cheboygan, where it meets US Highway 23 near Lake Huron...

) south of Cheboygan
Cheboygan, Michigan
Cheboygan is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 5,295. It is the county seat of Cheboygan County....

 eastward for about a mile on Lincoln Avenue to the original Cheboygan State Park in 1931. The park was removed from the state park system during World War II The highway along Lincoln Avenue was transferred back to local control in late 1960.

Current designation

In late 1962, US 16 was decommissioned
Decommissioned highway
A decommissioned highway is a highway that has been removed from service, shut down or has had its authorization as a federal or state highway removed. Decommissioning can include the complete or partial demolition or abandonment of an old highway structure because the old roadway has lost its...

 in the state of Michigan as Interstate 96
Interstate 96
Interstate 96 is an intrastate Interstate Highway that is entirely within the US state of Michigan. Its western terminus is at an interchange with US Highway 31 and Business US Highway 31 , on the western boundary of Norton Shores southeast of Muskegon. Its eastern terminus is at I-75 near the...

 (I-96) was completed. With the removal of US 16, several highways were rerouted through Lansing. M-43 was rerouted along M-78
M-78 (Michigan highway)
M-78 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan. The western terminus is the intersection with M-66 north of Battle Creek in Pennfield Township. The roadway runs through rural farmland and the community of Bellevue as it approaches its eastern terminus at an interchange with...

 to Grand River Avenue and then along Grand River Avenue to replace US 16 east to Webberville
Webberville, Michigan
Webberville is a village in Leroy Township, Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,272 at the 2010 census.The village is just northeast of the junction of M-43 and M-52 with I-96...

. The former M-43 on Michigan Avenue east of Cedar and Larch streets was redesignated M-143.

As part of a the creation of the Capitol Loop, M-143 and Michigan Avenue in Lansing is partially transferred back to local control. The section between Cedar and Larch streets is retained as part of the new Capitol Loop and the remainder inside the city of Lansing is removed from the state trunkline highway system on October 13, 1989. At the time, M-143 in the City of East Lansing is not transferred, and MDOT removed the signage, creating an unsigned trunkline.

Major intersections

External links

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