US Highway 41 (US 41) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. In Michigan, it is a state trunkline highway that enters the state via the Interstate Bridge between Marinette, Wisconsin, and Menominee, Michigan. The of US 41 that lie within Michigan serve as a major conduit. Most of the highway is listed on the National Highway System. Various sections are rural two-lane highway, urbanized four-lane divided expressway and the Copper Country Trail National Scenic Byway. The northernmost community along the highway is Copper Harbor at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The trunkline ends at a cul-de-sac east of Fort Wilkins State Park after serving the Central Upper Peninsula and Copper Country regions of Michigan.
US 41 passes through farm fields and forest lands, and along the Lake Superior shoreline. The highway is included in the Lake Superior Circle Tour and the Lake Michigan Circle Tour and passes through the Hiawatha National Forest and the Keweenaw National Historical Park. Historical landmarks along the trunkline include the Marquette Branch Prison, Peshekee River Bridge and the Quincy Mine. The highway is known for a number of historic bridges such as a lift bridge, the northernmost span in the state and a structure referred to as "one of Michigan's most important vehicular bridges" by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). Seven memorial highway designations have been applied to parts of the trunkline since 1917, one of them named for a Civil War general.
US 41 was first designated as a US Highway in 1926. A section of the highway originally served as part of Military Road, a connection between Fort Wilkins and Fort Howard during the Civil War. US 41 replaced the original M-15 designation of the highway which dated back to the formation of the Michigan state trunkline highway system. M-15 ran from Menominee through Marquette to Houghton and ended in Copper Harbor. Realignments and construction projects have expanded the highway to four lanes in Delta and Marquette counties and have created three business loops off the main highway.
Route description
US 41 is a major highway for Michigan traffic in the Upper Peninsula. The highway comprises mostly two lanes; it is undivided except for the sections that are concurrent with US 2 near Escanaba and M-28 near Marquette. US 41/M-28 is a four-lane expressway along the "Marquette Bypass", and segments of the highway in Delta and Marquette counties have four lanes. The route from the southern terminus to downtown Houghton is part of the National Highway System, a system of roadways considered important to the nation's economy, defense and mobility. Sections of the trunkline are on the Lake Superior and Lake Michigan circle tours.
Menominee to Rapid River US 41 enters Michigan on the Interstate Bridge connecting Marinette, Wisconsin, and Menominee, Michigan. In the city of Menominee, US 41 follows 10th Avenue and 10th Street just west of downtown. The highway meets the southern terminus of M-35, with the Menominee-Marinette Airport to its west, and the waters of the Green Bay less than to the east, following 10th Street out of town. The trunkline runs north through rolling farmland in the central Menominee County communities of Wallace, Stephenson, and the twin communities of Carney and Nadeau. At Powers, US 41 joins with US 2; the two highways run concurrently and turn east toward Escanaba. US 2/US 41 crosses into the Hannahville Indian Community at the communities of Harris in Menominee County and Bark River in Delta County. The county line between the two communities marks the boundary between the Central and Eastern time zones.
Just west of downtown Escanaba, US 2/US 41 joins M-35 at the intersection of Ludington Street and Lincoln Road, the center of the Escanaba street grid. The trunkline enters Escanaba from the west on Ludington Street, turns north on Lincoln Road, and joins M-35. The combined highway then runs north adjacent to Little Bay de Noc using a four-lane divided highway to the city of Gladstone, where M-35 turns west along 4th Avenue North. US 2/US 41 continues on a four-lane expressway north to Rapid River at the end of Little Bay de Noc. There, US 2 turns east, and US 41 turns north and inland to cross the Upper Peninsula.
The section of US 41 between Menominee and Escanaba illustrates an anomaly in the highway routing: between these two cities M-35 is the shortest state trunkline highway. Under American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials guidelines, US Highways are to follow the most direct path between two locations, but US 41 runs inland and M-35 goes more directly up the Lake Michigan shoreline. According to the 2007 MDOT state highway map, the US 41 routing runs for versus for M-35. The original map for the US Highway System shows US 41 continuing north from Powers on a direct line to Marquette. This routing would be more direct than the current US 41 routing via Escanaba and Rapid River, but has not been built.
Rapid River to Covington This stretch of US 41 runs north through the western edge of the Hiawatha National Forest. At Trenary, US 41 turns northwest through the southwest corner of Alger County, crossing into Marquette County north of Kiva. M-94 follows US 41 for approximately near Skandia, before it turns westward to provide access to K. I. Sawyer, a former air force base. US 41 continues northerly into the Chocolay Township community of Harvey. It meets the eastern junction with M-28 in Harvey, and the two highways run concurrent for nearly , during which they follow the Lake Superior Circle Tour.
US 41/M-28 runs north along the Lake Superior shoreline, passing the Marquette Branch Prison and crossing the Carp River before cresting Shiras Hill on the way into the city of Marquette, entering town on Front Street. South of downtown, the highway turns west on the Marquette Bypass, a four-lane expressway complete with two overpasses. The bypass moves traffic around the former routing of US 41/M-28 along Front and Washington streets, a routing that was used for Business US 41 (Bus. US 41) until 2005. West of Washington Street, US 41/M-28 follows a heavily trafficked business corridor. The 2006 average annual daily traffic (AADT, the yearly traffic count divided by 365) along this corridor ranged from 31,700 to 34,700 vehicles. US 41/M-28 climbs hilly terrain into the cities of Negaunee and Ishpeming, running west and slightly south. The two cities host Bus. M-28, which was once designated as ALT US 41 as well. Between the twin cities, US 41/M-28 skirts the shores of Teal Lake in Negaunee and then narrows to two lanes west of Ishpeming.
US 41/M-28 continues west through rural Marquette County and passes along the north shore of Lake Michigamme between Champion and Michigamme, crossing the Peshekee River. In eastern Baraga County, the highway runs along an isthmus between Lake George and Lake Ruth in the community of Three Lakes. Further west, US 41 meets the northern terminus of US 141, which marks the western junction with M-28 near Covington, and the end of the M-28 concurrency.
Covington to Copper Harbor US 41 turns north solo from Covington, crossing the Sturgeon River, on the way to the historic sawmill town of Alberta. Henry Ford built the village to serve the sawmill in 1935. The Alberta mill supplied wood for Ford Motors until it was closed by Henry Ford II; the property was donated to Michigan Technological University (MTU) in 1954.
Continuing north from Alberta, US 41 enters the town of L'Anse on the east side of Keweenaw Bay, rounding the bay to the town of Baraga. Both towns are a part of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. US 41 continues along the shores of the bay north into Houghton County, turning along Portage Lake near Chassell.
US 41 enters Houghton along Townsend Drive on the campus of MTU. After crossing the campus, it uses College Avenue into downtown. There, US 41 is split along the one-way pairing of Sheldon Avenue for northbound and Montezuma Avenue for southbound traffic. The two streets merge west of downtown at the southern end of the Portage Lake Lift Bridge. Downtown Houghton marks the start of the Copper Country Trail National Scenic Byway.
North of the lift bridge, US 41 turns west through the downtown of Hancock using the one-way pairing of Quincy Street northbound and Hancock Street southbound. The trunkline then follows Lincoln Drive after merging the two directions west of downtown. The highway continues up Quincy Hill and out of town, passing the Quincy Mine at the top of the hill. North of Hancock, US 41 passes the Houghton County Memorial Airport before reaching the towns of Calumet and Laurium. US 41 merges with M-26 in Calumet, and they follow the center of the Keweenaw Peninsula to the community of Phoenix. M-26 turns northwesterly in Phoenix to loop through Eagle River and Eagle Harbor, while US 41 turns easterly through the rural communities of Central and Delaware. The two highways meet one last time in Copper Harbor where M-26 ends. US 41 turns east on Gratiot Street to pass through town towards Fort Wilkins State Park. A mileage sign in Copper Harbor gives the distance down US 41 to Miami, Florida, as . The roadway continues east, crossing Fanny Hooe Creek near the state park. Past the park entrance, US 41 ends at a cul-de-sac, marked by a large wooden sign.
History There are two major eras of the history of US 41. The first dates back to the Civil War and a wagon road built by the federal government. The Military Road was built to connect the Copper Country with Wisconsin. After the establishment of the state trunkline highway system, a segment of the Military Road was used for M-15, the predecessor of US 41.
Military Road The northernmost section of the modern US 41 between Houghton and Copper Harbor originated in the 19th century as the Military Road. The road was one of 13 roads built between 1817 and 1864 by the federal government. Construction of the road was proposed as early as two years after the US acquired the last tracts of land in the Upper Peninsula. Congress asked Secretary of War William Wilkins for funding to build such a road in 1844, since the area depended on a land connection to Green Bay, Wisconsin, for up to six months a year for supplies and mail. The estimate for a , crude road was $37,400 (equivalent to $ in ). The matter died until 1848 when the Michigan Legislature petitioned Congress for an appropriation to build to connect Green Bay to the Keweenaw Bay. The appeal went unfulfilled by the government, but private groups stepped in. Mail service was available overland once a month during the winter from Green Bay. In 1857, the Legislature enacted a law to provide a road from Eagle Harbor south to Ontonagon. This road was extended south to the state line pursuant to two laws in 1859.
The Civil War refocused discussions about the road. There were fears that Great Britain would enter on the side of the Confederacy during the early days of the war. British troops were as close to Michigan as Ontario, and more than half of the copper used in the US came from mines along the proposed roadway. Control of the area could have been established by seizing the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie, severing communication lines through the Great Lakes. If the locks fell to an enemy force, no troops or supplies could be moved to the Copper Country except by land. The road was also needed during the five or six months of the year that transportation on the Great Lakes was barred by ice or stormy weather.