Mile Markers on US-2 (MI)

[GaryV]

I don't know if I just never noticed them before, but Labor Day weekend I saw the mile markers on US-2 along Lake Michigan.  They count upwards going out of St. Ignace - going from east to west.  Backwards.

Incidentally, don't try to go from US-2 to I-75 south on Labor Day - at least a 1 mile backup, in both lanes.  You couldn't get through to continue east onto BL-75 into town either.  I found a place to turn around and the Google Maps lady showed me the way.

[SSOWorld]

The back-up may have been to the Mackinac Bridge walk.

Many states are installing mile markers on major 2-lane highways.  These markers vary by state.  Kentucky, Illinois, California and Nevada do mileage by county, Iowa and Minnesota are among those that sign by state following the convention used on Interstates.  Wisconsin does not do such outside Interstates and select freeways and expressways.

[Big John]

The back-up may have been to the Mackinac Bridge walk.

Many states are installing mile markers on major 2-lane highways.  These markers vary by state.  Kentucky, Illinois, California and Nevada do mileage by county, Iowa and Minnesota are among those that sign by state following the convention used on Interstates.  Wisconsin does not do such outside Interstates and select freeways and expressways.

Add Georgia that does it by county and North Dakota that does it by state.

Wisconsin at one time did do mile markers on other state and US highways.  But the markers were even more cryptic than what New York uses and were discontinued about 30 years ago.

[GaryV]

The back-up may have been to the Mackinac Bridge walk.

This was about 2:00 pm; the Bridge walk was over.  As we crossed under I-75 on Portage St., I noticed it wasn't backed up there.  It was just the exit from US-2 to I-75 that was the problem - plus all those drivers who thought too much of themselves to wait properly in the right lane, and cut around in the left.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I was in Michigan for the UP meet, and they have correctly-sequenced mile markers at the west end of US 2 in MI. I don't know how far they go into the state or where they "reset" into the backwards section described.

[codyg1985]

Alabama and Colorado does mile posts by the beginning of the route instead of by county. Tennessee does it by county.

[peterj920]

US 2 is the "Main St of the UP," (could make the case for M-28 also) which is probably why it has mile markers.  I've driven it from Escanaba to St Ignace and was very impressed with the amount of passing lanes the road has.  It does not have enough traffic to justify building it as an expressway, but MDOT has done a great job of making the road easy to travel, and it sets an example of how 2 lane roads with moderate traffic should be built.  I've also used M-117 to cut over to M-28 to get to Sault Ste Marie, and those roads are also easy to travel. 

[GaryV]

While I can't recall any other mile markers on non-freeways in MI, MDOT has included non-freeway parts in calculating the mile markers for freeways.  For example, the mile markers and exits on US-131 in the Kalamazoo area are in the 30's, because you're 30-some miles from IN.  The same applies to the freeway parts of M-59 and US-10.

The difference with US-2, beside it not being a freeway, is that it is numbered backwards, from east to west.  And as reported above, there may be a separate set of numbers on the western portion out of Ironwood.  I suspect the division is the short section where US-2 dips into Wisconsin near Iron Mountain.

[codyg1985]

While I can't recall any other mile markers on non-freeways in MI, MDOT has included non-freeway parts in calculating the mile markers for freeways.  For example, the mile markers and exits on US-131 in the Kalamazoo area are in the 30's, because you're 30-some miles from IN.  The same applies to the freeway parts of M-59 and US-10.

The difference with US-2, beside it not being a freeway, is that it is numbered backwards, from east to west.  And as reported above, there may be a separate set of numbers on the western portion out of Ironwood.  I suspect the division is the short section where US-2 dips into Wisconsin near Iron Mountain.

From what I saw a couple of weekends ago, the western section near Ironwood does go west to east.

[Brandon]

IIRC, the mile markers on US-2 increased from west to east heading eastbound, and from east to west heading westbound.  I seem to recall seeing mile markers with one mileage on one side, and quite another on the other, but that was back in the late 1990s.

[bulldog1979]

I've only ever seen mile markers on US 2 on the western segments up to or into Menominee County. I've never seen them in Delta County or points eastward, although I haven't traveled US 2 this year on the east end. As I recall, the mile markers in Dickinson County accounted for the mileage in Florence County, Wisconsin.