M-125 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The highway is entirely within Monroe County with the southern terminus on the

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

state border near

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

and a northern terminus at US Highway 24 (US 24) in Frenchtown Township, north of

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

. M-125 runs through rural farmlands and connects a couple of smaller towns with

. It has an unsigned connector highway that links the main highway with Interstate 75 (I-75). The highway is a section of the former

Dixie Highway Dixie Highway was a United States auto trail first planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the South. It was part of a system and was expanded from an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final system is better understood as a network o ...

and US 25 in the state. It was first added to the state highway system in 1926 and given its current number in 1973. Previously there were two other highways that carried the M-125 moniker. One in the 1930s ran through the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—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 b ...

near

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and a second from 1938 until the mid-1950s was located in Bay County. The current designation was created in 1973 when US 25 was decommissioned in Michigan. The section in downtown Monroe was named what is now a

Pure Michigan Byway A Pure Michigan Byway is the designation for a segment of the Michigan State Trunkline Highway System, State Trunkline Highway System in the US state of Michigan that is a "scenic, recreational, or historic route that is representative of Michiga ...

in 1995.

Route description

M-125 starts at the state line as the continuation of Detroit Avenue running northward from Toledo. Once across the state line, the roadway takes on the Dixie Highway name and passes a residential subdivision. The highway runs north-northeasterly roughly parallel with, and between, both US 24 and

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end ...

through farm land in rural Monroe County. The trunkline passes through the community of

Erie Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

before intersecting with Conn. M-125 (Summit Street) north of town. That unsigned connector is a state highway that links M-125 with I-75 to the south. Continuing north, M-125 intersects Luna Pier Road, which to the west is the unsigned Conn. US 24 that offers a path to US 24 (Telegraph Road). The route of M-125 changes direction slightly as it passes through the community of LaSalle; north of town it follows a more northeasterly course. The roadway passes through residential areas north of town as it approaches

. South of the city, M-125 crosses the La Plaisance Creek and turns north-northwesterly through South Monroe. North of Lake Monroe, the road name changes from Dixie Highway to Monroe Street. The highway is the main street of the downtown area as it crosses the

River Raisin The River Raisin (, 'River of Sturgeon') is a river in southeast Michigan, United States, that flows in a generally easterly direction through Ice age, glacial sediments before emptying into Lake Erie. The River Raisin drainage basin covers app ...

upstream from the

River Raisin National Battlefield Park The River Raisin National Battlefield Park preserves the site of the Battle of Frenchtown as the only national battlefield marking a site of the War of 1812. It was established as the 393rd unit of the United States National Park Service under T ...

. M-125 exits town near The Mall of Monroe. About north of Monroe, after running through farm land again, M-125 terminates at an intersection where Dixie Highway merges into US 24 (Telegraph Road). M-125 is maintained 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 Interst ...

(MDOT) like other state highways in Michigan. As a part of these maintenance responsibilities, the department tracks the volume of traffic that uses the roadways under its jurisdiction. These volumes are expressed using a metric called

annual average daily traffic Annual average daily traffic (AADT) is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a year divided ...

, which is a statistical calculation of the average daily number of vehicles on a segment of roadway. MDOT's surveys in 2011 showed that the highest traffic levels along M-125 were the 21,229 vehicles daily between Jones and Front streets in Monroe; the lowest counts were the 2,306 vehicles per day between Sterns and Erie roads near Erie. No section of M-125 has been listed on the National Highway System, a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.

History

Previous designations

M-125 was first designated on a road in the

from US 2 to north of

in 1931; this roadway was later merged into M-149 in 1936 after a rerouting of US 2 through the area. Later in 1938, the M-125 designation was used for a highway under construction along Parish Road in Bay County running for west of US 23 (now M-13). The highway intersected US 23 between Kawkawlin and

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and ran westward to 7 Mile Road. It was completed as a gravel road in 1939, and paved by 1945. The second M-125 was transferred back to local control in late 1956 or early 1957.

Current designation

The Dixie Highway was conceived in 1915 to connect

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Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and commemorate a half-century since the end of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. On the suggestion of Governor Woodbridge N. Ferris, representatives from Michigan convinced the Dixie Highway Association to include Michigan in the proposed

auto trail The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on utility poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in t ...

. Two divisions through the Lower Peninsula were included, the eastern one included a route between

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and Toledo via Monroe. This section of the Dixie Highway in Monroe County was first added to the state highway system in 1926 when US 25 was created. The highway was rerouted through downtown Monroe in the early 1930s; instead of turning westward in downtown to connect to Telegraph Road, the highway instead continued northward to the current Dixie Highway–Telegraph Road intersection. When the US 25 designation was decommissioned in the state in 1973, the highway segment between the state line and the Monroe area was given the M-125 designation. The routing has remained unchanged since. In 1995, the section through downtown Monroe was named what is now a

Major intersections

References

External links

M-125
at Michigan Highways

as a part of the Conn. US 24 listing at Michigan Highways {{DEFAULTSORT:M125

125 125 may refer to: *125 (number), a natural number *AD 125, a year in the 2nd century AD *125 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC *125 (dinghy), a two person intermediate sailing dinghy *125 (New Jersey bus), a New Jersey Transit bus route *125 Liberatr ...

Dixie Highway Transportation in Monroe County, Michigan U.S. Route 25