Michigan Notes

[JREwing78]

Are we sure the final top layer will be asphalt? Not unusual to have asphalt as an underlayment for a concrete layer on top.

[Flint1979]

Are we sure the final top layer will be asphalt? Not unusual to have asphalt as an underlayment for a concrete layer on top.

I'm still wondering how they are going to get the job done by next June like they are suppose to. They still have to level the northbound side off and repave it, plus do bridge work on the Holland overpass I don't think that will take too long though. I noticed that they have repainted a vastly rusted train bridge on i-675. I have never seen that train bridge without the rust that'll look nice.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4341151,-83.9149823,3a,75y,240.31h,88.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1swsRZEyKTWSXWkUYeC0AKGQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

^^  They're paving this final reconstruction/widening stretch with ASPHALT?

Buckeye wannabes (I'd say 90% of Ohio's hard surface roads use asphalt)

[Flint1979]

^^  They're paving this final reconstruction/widening stretch with ASPHALT?

Buckeye wannabes (I'd say 90% of Ohio's hard surface roads use asphalt)

We are not even close to being Buckeye wannabes

[Flint1979]

I-675 south of exit 3 has reopened

[Flint1979]

I just rode on I-75's new asphalt in Saginaw County for the first time. The southbound lanes reopened this morning with the new asphalt. Right now it's three lanes in both directions but they will be starting to work on the northbound lanes soon.

[JREwing78]

Interesting population numbers out of da U.P. for the 2020 Census:

Marquette County (Marquette) unsurprisingly is still the largest county by population , but down by 1060 residents to 66,017.
Houghton County (Houghton, Hancock), possibly surprisingly, moved from 4th to 2nd place, rising by 733 residents to 37,361.
Delta County (Escanaba) maintains its 3rd place ranking by losing only 74 residents for a total of 36,903.
Chippewa County (Sault. Ste. Marie) slides from 2nd to 4th place after losing 1735 residents, to 36,785.

Turns out, Houghton County is the only U.P. county to increase population between 2010 and 2020. ALL of the other counties, some by negligible amounts, others by dramatic amounts, lost population.

The smallest losers:
Houghton County: +2.00% to 37361
Delta County: -0.45% to 36903
Dickinson County (Iron Mountain): -0.84% to 25947
The biggest losers:
Luce County (Newberry): -19.48% to 5339
Ontonagon County (Ontonagon): -14.22% to 5816
Gogebic County (Ironwood): -12.46% to 14380

The U.P. as a whole lost 9643 residents, for a 3.12% loss. It falls from 311,361 residents in 2010 to 301,608 residents in 2020.

[JREwing78]

The U.P. as a whole lost 9643 residents, for a 3.12% loss. It falls from 311,361 residents in 2010 to 301,608 residents in 2020.

Wikipedia has an article about da U.P. that includes a population of all counties by census year. While not yet updated for 2020, we can see the trend.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Peninsula_of_Michigan

The U.P.'s highest population was recorded in 1920, with 332,556 residents, after breaking 300,000 just after the turn of the century. Population eased down to 302,258 in 1950, then jumped back up to 319,757 for 1980. After a couple decades of relative stability, populations have fallen again to 1950 levels.

Houghton County still wins for the U.P.'s biggest population loss of all time; it peaked at 88,098 residents in 1910, losing over 60% of its population by 1960. That's what losing a copper mining industry looks like.

[Flint1979]

Interesting population numbers out of da U.P. for the 2020 Census:

Marquette County (Marquette) unsurprisingly is still the largest county by population , but down by 1060 residents to 66,017.
Houghton County (Houghton, Hancock), possibly surprisingly, moved from 4th to 2nd place, rising by 733 residents to 37,361.
Delta County (Escanaba) maintains its 3rd place ranking by losing only 74 residents for a total of 36,903.
Chippewa County (Sault. Ste. Marie) slides from 2nd to 4th place after losing 1735 residents, to 36,785.

Turns out, Houghton County is the only U.P. county to increase population between 2010 and 2020. ALL of the other counties, some by negligible amounts, others by dramatic amounts, lost population.

The smallest losers:
Houghton County: +2.00% to 37361
Delta County: -0.45% to 36903
Dickinson County (Iron Mountain): -0.84% to 25947
The biggest losers:
Luce County (Newberry): -19.48% to 5339
Ontonagon County (Ontonagon): -14.22% to 5816
Gogebic County (Ironwood): -12.46% to 14380

The U.P. as a whole lost 9643 residents, for a 3.12% loss. It falls from 311,361 residents in 2010 to 301,608 residents in 2020.

I can kind of see why it's losing population in those areas like Ontonagon, Sault Ste. Marie, Ironwood and Newberry. I'm not sure why Dickinson County had such a small population drop. I was in these counties last year to finish up the state as far as clinching counties and Houghton was the only city in the U.P. that I visited that I thought was doing well, the other one's seemed to be in decline.

[GaryV]

There was a story in the news that there was a big push in Houghton to get MTU students to fill out the census with their school location, not home.  Guess it worked!

[Flint1979]

Out of the cities I visited the one I thought was doing the worst was Ontonagon. It honestly reminded me of the cities in the Lower Peninsula that have lost half their population over the last 70 years. Actually Ontonagon is a village not a city but you get the drift.

Out of the places in the Keweenaw Peninsula it was hard to tell because those places are so sparsely populated. Like Eagle River, Copper Harbor and Ahmeek. It's about 30 miles from the Houghton-Keweenaw County line to the northern terminus of US-41 and all the way to Copper Harbor there is just about nothing except for this really small place called Phoenix where M-26 and US-41 meet closest to Eagle River.

[JREwing78]

Losing the Smurfit Stone paper mill and the White Pine mine hit the area pretty hard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV0zMq0njP4

There are some small copper mining projects in the area, but I wouldn't expect these to create more than a handful of jobs: https://www.highlandcopper.com

[Flint1979]

Northbound I-75 through the construction zone between mile marker 148 and 150 is down to one lane. Southbound has three lanes open.

[Flint1979]

The construction project that I mentioned above is now shifted over to the other side. The old northbound lanes are now closed and northbound traffic has been shifted over to the other side of the highway.

Also i-675 northbound north of exit 3 is closed to exit 6.

[Flint1979]

MDOT has announced a major reconstruction project in Genesee County along I-475. It'll be between 2023 and 2027 and cost around $300 million.

It will involve the stretch of I-475 between Bristol and Carpenter.

[Terry Shea]

MDOT has announced a major reconstruction project in Genesee County along I-475. It'll be between 2023 and 2027 and cost around $300 million.

It will involve the stretch of I-475 between Bristol and Carpenter.

So are they going to have to redo the work they're doing now near the I-69 interchange and just completed near Carpenter?  Are they going to shut down the freeway in 1 or both directions?  Sounds like an awful expensive and time consuming project, and knowing how MDOT operates they'll probably shut the whole freeway down at the same time they redo the I-75/I-69 interchange!

[Flint1979]

MDOT has announced a major reconstruction project in Genesee County along I-475. It'll be between 2023 and 2027 and cost around $300 million.

It will involve the stretch of I-475 between Bristol and Carpenter.

So are they going to have to redo the work they're doing now near the I-69 interchange and just completed near Carpenter?  Are they going to shut down the freeway in 1 or both directions?  Sounds like an awful expensive and time consuming project, and knowing how MDOT operates they'll probably shut the whole freeway down at the same time they redo the I-75/I-69 interchange!

https://www.abc12.com/2021/09/08/mdot-proposes-big-changes-i-475-with-300-million-project/

[JCinSummerfield]

US-23 has been closed in both directions at the Ann Arbor Railroad underpass just south of Milan, due to the bridge being struck by an oversized truck.  This news just broke in the last 20 minutes.  An assessment of the bridge's condition will take place before they re-open the road.

[renegade]

US-23 has been closed in both directions at the Ann Arbor Railroad underpass just south of Milan, due to the bridge being struck by an oversized truck.  This news just broke in the last 20 minutes.  An assessment of the bridge's condition will take place before they re-open the road.

Must have missed hearing about that one.  The big news today in Michigan is the Governor signing legislation freeing first-time drunk drivers.  Be careful out there.

[JREwing78]

I can kind of see why it's losing population in those areas like Ontonagon, Sault Ste. Marie, Ironwood and Newberry. I'm not sure why Dickinson County had such a small population drop. I was in these counties last year to finish up the state as far as clinching counties and Houghton was the only city in the U.P. that I visited that I thought was doing well, the other one's seemed to be in decline.

I just went through the U.P. this past week, and it's pretty clear which areas have stable population and which ones fell off a cliff. Houghton and Hancock are clearly doing well, with fairly bustling commercial areas and a surprising amount of tourists in this weird in-between period after Labor Day but before peak color season. Escanaba and Menominee/Marinette are also doing fine, and while Manistique isn't exactly booming, it didn't look unusual for the U.P. in general.

I didn't stop in Ontonagon this trip, but Bruce Crossing looked rough (more so than usual). Ironwood, at least on the US-2 strip, looked exactly like someplace that lost nearly 20% of its residents in the last 20 years. There are a LOT of vacant commercial properties, and the For Sale signs are looking beat up. The Google street view from 3 years ago make it look a lot better than it is.

[skluth]

I can kind of see why it's losing population in those areas like Ontonagon, Sault Ste. Marie, Ironwood and Newberry. I'm not sure why Dickinson County had such a small population drop. I was in these counties last year to finish up the state as far as clinching counties and Houghton was the only city in the U.P. that I visited that I thought was doing well, the other one's seemed to be in decline.

I just went through the U.P. this past week, and it's pretty clear which areas have stable population and which ones fell off a cliff. Houghton and Hancock are clearly doing well, with fairly bustling commercial areas and a surprising amount of tourists in this weird in-between period after Labor Day but before peak color season. Escanaba and Menominee/Marinette are also doing fine, and while Manistique isn't exactly booming, it didn't look unusual for the U.P. in general.

I didn't stop in Ontonagon this trip, but Bruce Crossing looked rough (more so than usual). Ironwood, at least on the US-2 strip, looked exactly like someplace that lost nearly 20% of its residents in the last 20 years. There are a LOT of vacant commercial properties, and the For Sale signs are looking beat up. The Google street view from 3 years ago make it look a lot better than it is.

Escanaba has lost about 20% of its population over the last 50 years. It's better than Ironwood which has steadily lost over 2/3 of its population since it peaked back in 1920. Ontonagon had a peak population of about 2500 back in 1970 but has lost over half that since then. OTOH, Houghton is bigger than it's ever been. I'm sure being a college town helps.

The UP is dealing with the same problem of losing population that many isolated rural areas are experiencing. You can find the same problem in northern Missouri, the Dakotas, and Wyoming. It's a combination of lack of jobs and poor services from medical to shopping to poor infrastructure. Farms are becoming bigger and more corporate, yet need fewer workers as more tasks become automated. I'd expect these areas to continue to lose people as high-speed internet alone isn't going to solve these issues.

[JREwing78]

After this week's travels, I'll also revisit my on-going rant about the decision making of the state legislature behind some sections of 2-lane routes in the U.P. having posted speed limits of 65 mph, and others not being posted above 55 mph.

There is literally NOTHING different about routes like US-41, US-141, M-38, or M-35 that are still (underposted) for 55 mph v.s. the 65 mph sections of M-28, US-2, or M-123. Clearly, the results haven't been so disastrous that there's been a widespread clamor to dial back any of the 65 mph sections.

I understand not every section should qualify. For instance, US-41 between Chassell and Houghton is appropriately posted, as is US-41 through Baraga and L'anse, or through Champion. OTOH, there's a whole lot of bupkis on US-141 north of Crystal Falls, or on M-95, or M-69. If M-123 north of M-28 qualifies (I would personally argue it's substandard based on narrow travel lanes, narrow shoulders, and general curviness), there's no route outside of populated areas that shouldn't qualify for the speed limit increase.

[Flint1979]

I can kind of see why it's losing population in those areas like Ontonagon, Sault Ste. Marie, Ironwood and Newberry. I'm not sure why Dickinson County had such a small population drop. I was in these counties last year to finish up the state as far as clinching counties and Houghton was the only city in the U.P. that I visited that I thought was doing well, the other one's seemed to be in decline.

I just went through the U.P. this past week, and it's pretty clear which areas have stable population and which ones fell off a cliff. Houghton and Hancock are clearly doing well, with fairly bustling commercial areas and a surprising amount of tourists in this weird in-between period after Labor Day but before peak color season. Escanaba and Menominee/Marinette are also doing fine, and while Manistique isn't exactly booming, it didn't look unusual for the U.P. in general.

I didn't stop in Ontonagon this trip, but Bruce Crossing looked rough (more so than usual). Ironwood, at least on the US-2 strip, looked exactly like someplace that lost nearly 20% of its residents in the last 20 years. There are a LOT of vacant commercial properties, and the For Sale signs are looking beat up. The Google street view from 3 years ago make it look a lot better than it is.

I was coming out of the Keweenaw on M-26 and then took M-38 to Ontonagon then went to US-45's northern terminus and turned around. Ontonagon indeed looks like it's lost a lot of population there are a lot of abandoned places there but downtown seemed ok for a U.P. city (actually village) but the rest of it just looked worn out. I think that might be the case for Ontonagon County because I spent some time riding around there. Bruce Crossing is just a gas station, hardware store, some worn out looking buildings and a cafe, oh and a Dollar General and fire station are there too. I didn't make it all the way to Ironwood, I started to trek south and ended up in Iowa on that trip. I went through Watersmeet in Gogebic County you can tell the loss of population around there too.

[Rothman]

US 23 is closed between Dundee and Milan due to a bridge hit.  Going to be for a few weeks.

[paulthemapguy]

I can kind of see why it's losing population in those areas like Ontonagon, Sault Ste. Marie, Ironwood and Newberry. I'm not sure why Dickinson County had such a small population drop. I was in these counties last year to finish up the state as far as clinching counties and Houghton was the only city in the U.P. that I visited that I thought was doing well, the other one's seemed to be in decline.

I just went through the U.P. this past week, and it's pretty clear which areas have stable population and which ones fell off a cliff. Houghton and Hancock are clearly doing well, with fairly bustling commercial areas and a surprising amount of tourists in this weird in-between period after Labor Day but before peak color season. Escanaba and Menominee/Marinette are also doing fine, and while Manistique isn't exactly booming, it didn't look unusual for the U.P. in general.

I didn't stop in Ontonagon this trip, but Bruce Crossing looked rough (more so than usual). Ironwood, at least on the US-2 strip, looked exactly like someplace that lost nearly 20% of its residents in the last 20 years. There are a LOT of vacant commercial properties, and the For Sale signs are looking beat up. The Google street view from 3 years ago make it look a lot better than it is.

I was coming out of the Keweenaw on M-26 and then took M-38 to Ontonagon then went to US-45's northern terminus and turned around. Ontonagon indeed looks like it's lost a lot of population there are a lot of abandoned places there but downtown seemed ok for a U.P. city (actually village) but the rest of it just looked worn out. I think that might be the case for Ontonagon County because I spent some time riding around there. Bruce Crossing is just a gas station, hardware store, some worn out looking buildings and a cafe, oh and a Dollar General and fire station are there too. I didn't make it all the way to Ironwood, I started to trek south and ended up in Iowa on that trip. I went through Watersmeet in Gogebic County you can tell the loss of population around there too.

I was in Ontonagon last year (see my US45 endpoint photos on US Ends), and yeah, it looked like a good amount of establishments were abandoned.  Is this another case of former mining towns having lots of people skip town when ores become depleted?  Of all the places where diaspora was so prominent that became known as "ghost towns," most of them were mining towns.  Is this the same sort of phenomenon? I remember Iron Mountain looking like a lot of things were abandoned, too.