Route Description
M-89 begins at an interchange with I-196/US 31 near Ganges, just a half mile (0.8 km) from Lake Michigan. The highway travels east on 124th Street from there through farmlands and small communities like Fennville. The trunkline passes wetlands just north of Swan Creek Marsh and crosses the Kalamazoo River about two miles (3.2 km) west of an intersection with M-40. M-89 and M-40 run concurrently to the southeast for 6.5 miles (10.5 km) through more farms and across Lake Allegan on the Kalamazoo River on the way into Allegan. Just two blocks before M-89 splits from M-40, the concurrent highways have a junction with M-222. After M-89 splits from M-40, it continues out of Allegan to the southeast, again crossing over the Kalamazoo River.
After leaving Allegan, M-89 runs roughly parallel with the Kalamazoo River for approximately 12 miles (19 km), passing through mostly rural areas with residences and agricultural fields. The highway curves to the east and crosses the Kalamazoo River again just west of the city of Otsego. The trunkline curves to the south in the city then again runs east to junction with US 131 at exit 49 on the west side of Plainwell. East of US 131, the highway passes through the city of Plainwell and crosses the Kalamazoo River again before continuing into rural areas again. The route heads the southeast on towards the village of Richland.
Just north of Richland, M-89 meets up with M-43, and the two share a brief routing together for a mile (1.6 km) as M-43 heads southwest out of Richland while M-89 heads east, passing to the south of Gull Lake. After passing the lake, the highway turns southeast towards Battle Creek. As M-89 begins to enter the outskirts of Battle Creek it follows Michigan Avenue. It passes through the neighborhoods of Level Park-Oak Park and Urbandale, the first residential areas of the city. As the highway continues towards Battle Creek it has a junction with M-37. M-89 continues on Michigan Avenue until an intersection with Washington Avenue where the route turns to the southwest where it crosses the Kalamazoo River one last time. The trunkline terminates a few blocks later at Dickman Road, otherwise known as the Business Loop I-94 (BL I-94).
M-89 is maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation (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, which is a statistical calculation of the average daily number of vehicles on a segment of roadway. MDOT's surveys in 2010 showed that the highest traffic levels along M-89 were the 26.470 vehicles daily between Otsego and Plainwell; the lowest counts were the 2,879 vehicles per day between Fennville and the I-196/US 31 interchange. No section of M-89 has been listed on the National Highway System, a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.
Read more about this topic: M-89 (Michigan Highway)
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