U.S. Route 131 - Future

Future

MDOT's planning maps for the bypass
(click to enlarge, north is to the right)

Originally, MDOT and its predecessor agencies had planned to convert US 131 into a freeway all the way to Petoskey. They suggested adding the highway to the Interstate Highway System in the late 1960s, when the federal government took proposals for additions to the network of highways. While further northward extension of the freeway from Manton to Kalkaska and beyond was postponed by the department in the 1970s, and canceled "perhaps forever" in the early 1980s, MDOT made an attempt to revive the extension to Kalkaska in 2000. The proposal was ultimately abandoned when the year's transportation plan was finalized. A bridge replacement project over the Manistee River in 2009–10 ensured the end of further consideration by MDOT of the proposal. According to the local project director, "currently, the department has no plans . Someday it may happen, but not in the foreseeable future."

A southerly extension of the freeway to or near the Indiana state line is still under study. Improvements to the US 131 corridor from Portage to the Indiana Toll Road have been underway for several years and although a late-2005 decision by MDOT to not pursue a new controlled-access route through St. Joseph County seemed to terminate the discussion, public outcry and backlash from local legislators forced the department to re-evaluate its decision. State House Speaker Craig DeRoche was critical of the original decision, citing the economic development benefit such a road would bring to the area in defense of the proposed freeway. The previous "no-build decision" was rescinded in April 2006.

MDOT has begun a project to upgrade a 16.4-mile (26.4 km) segment of US 131 in St. Joseph County, home of one of the most dangerous roadway sections in Southwest Michigan for auto crashes. The final environmental impact statement for the project was published in mid-2008 and the preferred alternative consists of a two-lane road bypassing the village of Constantine. The new highway would maintain access to local roads via at-grade intersections, and the department would maintain jurisdiction of the old route through town. MDOT has stated that present traffic demands do not warrant the cost of a full freeway facility on a new alignment from the Indiana Toll Road to north of Three Rivers, stating that such a project would cost over $300 million to build. Construction plans were placed on hold after an announcement in June 2009 as various proposals around the state, including the Constantine bypass, were shelved until funding issues could be resolved. In total, 137 road and bridge projects totaling $740 million were delayed to 2012 because the state could not match available federal funding to pay for the work.

Design plans for the new bridge over the St. Joseph River were announced in January 2011. The expected groundbreaking on the venture is scheduled for 2012 with completion in 2014. MDOT currently has $9 million of the projected $25 million to complete the Constantine bypass. Residents in the community are divided over the proposed five-mile (8.0 km) highway. Business owners look to the 3,000 cars and trucks that pass through downtown Constantine each day for customers, traffic that would be diverted around the village by the new roadway. On the other hand, residents that work outside of the small community are looking forward to decreased commute times to their workplaces.