History
M-46 was designated by July 1, 1919 on a discontinuous route that ran between Howard City and Saginaw and between rural Tuscola County and Port Sanilac. The highway followed a different routing in place than it does today. The western terminus was in downtown Howard City, rather than north of town. The road ran farther south in Gratiot County so that it went into downtown Alma. By the end of 1927, the Michigan State Highway Department (MSHD) filled in the gap between Saginaw and Tuscola County, and the department extended the western end to Muskegon. M-46 followed the contemporary US 131 between Cedar Springs and Howard City and the modern routing west to Muskegon ending at US 31 downtown. In the middle of the 1930s, the section north of Howard City was straightened, removing the angled route between Amble and Howard City in favor of a more direct connection to US 131. The US 131 and M-37 concurrencies were removed, however, when the section between Kent City and Cedar Springs was removed from the highway system. That gap was eliminated in late 1936 when M-46 was routed down US 131 to Howard City and along M-82 to Newaygo. From there, it followed M-37 south to Casnovia. A new road was opened in early 1937 between Vestaburg and Alma, which was designated as part of M-46 by the end of the year. The western terminus was extended farther west through Muskegon to the outlet of Muskegon Lake on Lake Michigan as well. The M-82 concurrency was removed in 1938, and a more direct routing between Six Lakes and Edmore opened at the same time.
By the end of the 1950s, the routing through Muskegon was altered. Instead of terminating in the park at the outlet of Muskegon Lake into Lake Michigan, M-46 was routed to follow US 16 to the car ferry docks. The last section of gravel highway was also paved in Newaygo County near the Montcalm County line. The routing of M-46 between Casnovia and Howard City was altered in 1973 when the US 131 freeway was opened north of Cedar Springs by then-Congressman Gerald R. Ford. M-46 was restored to the Kent City – Cedar Springs roadway it used in the 1930s and routed concurrently along US 131 again. In the process, M-47 replaced a section of M-57 that had been designated along the 17 Mile Road in late 1948 or early 1949. The last change to M-46's routing was made in the early 1980s. The extension through Muskegon to the car ferry docks was reversed, truncating the highway to its current terminus at then-BUS US 31 in 1984. The business loop was shifted away from this location in 2007, leaving M-46 to terminate at a junction with a city street instead of another state highway.
Read more about this topic: M-46 (Michigan Highway)
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