M-25 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. The route follows an arc-like shape closely along the Lake Huron shore of

the Thumb The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of the Tri-Cities and north of M ...

in the eastern

Lower Peninsula The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

between

Port Huron Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administered separately. Located along the St. Clair ...

and Bay City. It serves the lakeshore resorts along Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay and generally lies within sight of the lake and the bay. All is surface road and generally scenic, except for the freeway segment near the junction with Interstate 75 (I-75) and connection into the US Highway 10 (US 10) freeway. Between Port Huron and Port Austin it is the north–south highway was formerly US 25 before the designation was removed. Between Port Austin and Bay City it is an east–west route that appeared on some maps as US 25 and on some maps as M-25. Since the 1970s, when all of US 25 was deleted north of

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

, it is entirely signed as M-25.

Route description

North to Port Austin

The starting point of M-25 at a junction with Business Loop I-69/ Business Loop I-94 (BL I-69/BL I-94) in Port Huron. M-25 is part of the

Lake Huron Circle Tour The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River, St. Lawrence River. It consists of routes for circumnavigating the lakes, either individually or collectively. It was d ...

for its entire length. From here M-25 heads north on Pine Grove Avenue until meeting M-136. At this intersection, M-25 turns north on 24th Avenue to Lakeshore Road then runs parallel to the Lake Huron shoreline. In the community of Lakeport, M-25 passes through Lakeport State Park. Past the park, M-25 changes names from Lakeshore Road to Kimball Road temporarily. M-25 intersects the east end of M-90 blocks from Lake Huron in Lexington. There are public beaches in Lexington and in

Port Sanilac Port Sanilac is a village in Sanilac Township, Sanilac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 567 at the 2020 census. History This village was originally a lumberjack settlement on the shore of Lake Huron named "Bark Shant ...

. M-25's street name changes after the M-46 intersection to that of North Lakeshore Road. The Huron Shores Golf Club is located off the highway north of Port Sanilac at the intersection of Snover Road. Sanilac County has established the Sanilac County Park at the intersection of Downington Road and M-25 south of Richmondville. North of Forestville M-25 is once again called South Lakeshore Road as the highway crosses into Huron County. M-25-MI-s01

Wagener County Park is located off M-25 in the community of Helena. M-25 begins to curve to the northwest in

Sand Beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...

near the Rock Falls Cemetery. In the city of Harbor Beach, M-25 is called Huron Avenue and meets M-142 for the first of two occasions. Here is the Harbor Beach Golf Course on the south side of town as M-25 moves inland through town. North of town, the trunkline parallels an old routing of the

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...

as it is once again renamed Lakeshore Road. The highway moves farther inland north of

Rubicon The Rubicon ( la, Rubico; it, Rubicone ; rgn, Rubicôn ) is a shallow river in northeastern Italy, just north of Rimini. It was known as Fiumicino until 1933, when it was identified with the ancient river Rubicon, famously crossed by Julius Ca ...

and Port Hope as it begins to round the tip of

. In Grindstone City, M-25 loses the Lakeshore Road name in favor of Grindstone Road all the way to Port Austin.

West to Bay City

Port Austin is the location of the historical northern terminus of US 25. Through town, M-25 turns north along Lake Street and runs concurrently with the northern end of M-53. The highway turns westward on Port Austin Road along the lake where M-53 terminates; this is also the point where the M-25 signage changes from northbound to westbound. West of town, M-25 turns south along the Saginaw Bay and meets Port Crescent State Park. From here south west, M-25 hugs the bay and its miles of beaches. North of Caseville is the Albert E. Sleeper State Park. Through Caseville, M-25 uses Main Street and passes the city beach off State Street. McKinley is home to the Scenic Golf & Country Club and Wild Fowl Bay. M-25 follows the shore of Wild Fowl Bay, a smaller bay off Saginaw Bay, to the city of Bay Port and the western terminus of M-142 on Fairhaven a smaller community south of Bay Port. From here south, the road is called Unionville Road and turns inland to Sebewaing. At Unionville, M-25 turns more westerly to round the bottom of Saginaw Bay into Bay City along Bay City-Forestville Road in Tuscola County. In the community of Quanicassee, it transitions to Center Road and crosses into

Bay County Bay County is the name of three counties: * Bay County, Florida, United States * Bay County, Michigan, United States * Baicheng County Baicheng County () as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Bay County (pronounced l ...

. M-25 is routed the one-way street pair of 7th Street and McKinley Street before crossing the Veterans Memorial Bridge over the

Saginaw River The Saginaw River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is formed by the confluence of the Tittabawassee and S ...

. West of the bridge, the one-way pairing of Jenny Street and Thomas Street are used before the two merge into Thomas Street west of the

M-13 M13, M-13 or M13 may refer to: Military * Fiat M13/40, an Italian tank used in World War II * M13 Half-track, a U.S. anti-aircraft gun used in World War II * M13 link, a machine gun's ammunition link * M-13 rocket, a version of the Soviet World War ...

intersections. The western terminus is at the junction of

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

/ US 23 and US 10. As the roadway crosses the I-75/US 23 freeway it feeds into the eastern end of US 10 freeway.

History

Previous designation

The M-25 designation was first used by July 1, 1919. in the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

. The highway ran from Skandia along what is today

M-94 The M-94 was a piece of cryptographic equipment used by the United States Army, consisting of several lettered discs arranged as a cylinder. It was also employed by the US Navy, under the name CSP 488. The device was conceived by Colonel Parke ...

Munising Munising ( ') is a city in Alger County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,355 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Alger County. The city is partially surrounded by Munising Township, but the two are administered auton ...

. From there it used today's routing of M-28 eastward to

Newberry Newberry is a surname, a variant of Newbury. Notable people with the surname include: * Booker Newberry III (born 1956), American singer and keyboardist * Brennan Newberry (born, 1990), American professional stock car racing driver * Brian Newb ...

and Sault Ste. Marie. This designation was replaced by M-28 in 1927.

Current designation

In 1933, US 25 was extended north from Port Huron to Port Austin. along M-29. M-25 was designated along the portion of M-29 disconnected by the US 25 extension, from Bay City to Port Austin. M-25 was extended along US 25 to Port Huron when the latter was removed from Michigan in 1973. The southern terminus was placed at I-94 in

Marysville, Michigan Marysville is a city in St. Clair County of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 9,959 at the 2010 census. The municipality was founded in 1919, first as a village, then became a city in 1924. Marysville is located on the western sho ...

until it was moved northward to end at BL I-94 (now BL I-69/BL I-94) in 1987. The section of M-25 in the City of Bay City was named what is now called a Pure Michigan Historic Byway by the

Michigan Department of Transportation The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is a constitutional government principal department of the US state of Michigan. The primary purpose of MDOT is to maintain the Michigan State Trunkline Highway System which includes all Interstat ...

(MDOT). This designation was created on October 23, 1997, for the section of M-25 along Center Avenue between Madison Avenue and the eastern city limits. Originally called the Bay City Historic Heritage Route", it has been called the Center Avenue Heritage Route by its local stewardship committee.

Major intersections

References

External links

M-25
at Michigan Highways
M-25
at Michigan Highway Ends 025 Lake Huron Circle Tour U.S. Route 25 Dixie Highway Transportation in St. Clair County, Michigan Transportation in Sanilac County, Michigan Transportation in Huron County, Michigan Transportation in Tuscola County, Michigan Transportation in Bay County, Michigan {{good article