M-140 is a north–south state trunkline highway in Berrien and Van Buren counties of 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 starts in the Niles area at M-139 and runs north through Watervliet to South Haven, ending at

Interstate 196 Interstate 196 (I-196) is an List of auxiliary Interstate Highways, auxiliary Interstate Highway that runs for in the US state of Michigan. It is a Michigan State Trunkline Highway System, state trunkline highway that links Benton Harbor, Michi ...

/ US Highway 31 (I-196/US 31). In between, it runs through farm fields and past lakes in the southwestern part of the

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 ...

. The trunkline is used, on average, by between 1,500 and 10,200 vehicles. The state designated M-140 in the early 1930s over a previous alignment of US 31 when that highway rerouted through the area. M-140 was extended from Watervliet to Niles a few years later. Changes were made to the routing of the trunkline in the 1950s and 1960s. The last change was made in 1972, resulting in the modern course for the highway.

Route description

M-140 starts at an intersection with M-139 near the St. Joseph River north of Niles and runs due north through farm fields. The trunkline jogs to the west near Steinbauer Lake before returning to the northerly course. There is another westerly jog along Pokagon Road around Riggins Lake. M-140 turns back northward and runs through the community of Berrien Center. Near

Eau Claire Eau Claire (French for "clear water", ''pl.'' ''eaux claires'') is the name of a number of locations and features in North America. The name is pronounced as if it were spelled "O'Clare". Place names (Canada) Communities *Eau Claire, Calgary, a n ...

, the highway turns bends along Maple Grove Road for about before going north on Watervliet Road. East of town, the trunkline follows Main Street eastward toward the Berrien–

Cass Cass may refer to: People and fictional characters * Cass (surname), a list of people * Cass (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Big Cass, ring name of wrestler William Morrissey * Cass, in British band Skunk Anansie * Cass, ...

county line. M-140 intersects the northern terminus of M-62 and curves north. In northern Berrien County, M-140 follows Watervliet Road to an interchange with

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

(I-94). The highway continues northward along Main Street into Watervliet, running through the middle of town and intersecting

Red Arrow Highway The Red Arrow Highway name applies to highways named for the 32nd Infantry Division of the United States Army that used a red arrow as its insignia. These highways include: *The former route of U.S. Route 12 in Michigan as dedicated in 1952, inclu ...

, the former US 12. North of downtown, the trunkline curves through residential neighborhoods to the northeast around the east end of

Paw Paw Lake __NOTOC__ Paw Paw Lake is a lake in Coloma Township and Watervliet Township in Berrien County, Michigan. The lake was the site of a tourist area in the early 20th century. This area became the census-designated place of the same name. It is t ...

. M-140 crosses into western Van Buren County about north of Watervliet. The highway crosses, and parallels, the

Van Buren Trail Van Buren Trail State Park, also known as Trail State Park, is an unimproved rail trail running along a former railroad right-of-way between Hartford, Michigan to South Haven, Michigan in Van Buren County. It is long and is used by hikers, mo ...

Covert Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controver ...

. In South Haven Township, M-140 connects the South Haven Area Regional Airport with the I-196/US 31 freeway; north of this interchange, the highway continues as Business Loop I-196. M-140 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. MDOT's surveys in 2010 showed that the highest traffic levels along M-140 were the 10,176 vehicles daily near in Watervliet; the lowest count was 1,536 vehicles per day along Pokagon Road, on average. All of M-140 is a two-lane, un divided highway, except sections in cities like Watervliet which may have up to four lanes. No section of the trunkline has not been listed on the National Highway System, a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.

History

The State Trunkline Highway System was created on May 13, 1913, by an act of the

Michigan Legislature The Michigan Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of the Senate (the upper chamber) and the House of Representatives (the lower chamber). Article IV of the Michigan Con ...

; at the time, one of the system's divisions corresponded to the initial segment of M-140. Division 5 followed a course from Niles northward to

Mackinaw City Mackinaw City ( ) is a village at the northernmost point of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, United States. Divided between Cheboygan and Emmet counties, Mackinaw City is located at the southern end of the Mackinac Bridge, which carries Interst ...

that encompassed the highway between Watervliet and South Haven. In 1919, the

Michigan State Highway Department 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 Highway System, Michigan State Trunkline Highway System wh ...

(MSHD) signposted the highway system for the first time, and the future M-140 corridor was assigned to part of the original M-11. On November 11, 1926, M-11 was redesignated as part of US 31 in the state. In 1931, the state transferred US 31 to a new routing between the

St. Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orth ...

and South Haven areas; in the process, the former route of US 31 between Watervliet and South Haven was redesignated as M-140. The highway was extended southward from Watervliet to the Niles area in late 1934 due to heavy traffic on that section. The concurrency between M-62 and M-140 was eliminated around the end of 1957 when the former highway was truncated to terminate east of Eau Claire instead of continuing west into town. In 1958, the route north of Watervliet to the county line was realigned, smoothing several sharp curves. The construction of the I-196/US 31 freeway around the South Haven area impacted the northern terminus of M-140 in the 1960s. When it opened in 1963, BL I-196 was shown on maps as continuing north along M-140 into town to a junction with M-43. In 1972, the business loop was rerouted, and M-140 was truncated to end at the freeway interchange south of town.

Major intersections

Notes

References

External links