US 131 Constantine Bypass opened today

[bulldog1979]

The local news sources are reporting that the bypass opened today. That means Michigan also gained a new BUS US 131 today as well. Has anyone had the chance to drive the bypass yet?

[rawmustard]

The MDOT press release said by Nov 1, and by golly they got it a couple days early.

SPH-L710

[bessertc]

Actually, I drove the new US-131 Constantine Bypass late this afternoon! Since I was getting out of work early today, my plan for today HAD been to run down to Constantine to take photos of the "old" route to document it before the bypass opened, then run back down in the next week or two to take photos of the new route. But, when I got to Constantine, I found the bypass had opened at 10:30 this morning! Luckily, no signage changes have yet taken place through Constantine, so I was able to grab shots of the "old" route before the coming modifications were made. I'll try to get some of the photos up on my website in the next day or two, but for now I've at least modified the appropriate listings:

• US-131 Route Listing: http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/US-131.html
• BUS US-131 (Constantine) Route Listing: http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/US-131BR_Constantine.html

My impressions of the new Constantine Bypass are generally positive, knowing that they only started construction on it this past February and as recently as 2006, the state wasn't going to be doing anything along US-131 in St Joseph County at all! The roadway itself seems well built and I noticed all the advance roadname signs all have the "NEXT INTERSECTION" legend added below the mixed-case Clearview roadname, which still looks odd to me. The new BUS US-131 route was well-signed in BOTH directions at both ends along the new bypass, although the new feeder roads into the business route won't be complete for another couple weeks. It'll be nice to see how the whole thing looks in another month when they have most of the final details taken care of.

Later,
Chris

[andy3175]

• US-131 Route Listing: http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/US-131.html
• BUS US-131 (Constantine) Route Listing: http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/US-131BR_Constantine.html

Thanks, Chris! Great job with the page update and map; it's easily the most legible one I've seen of the bypass route.

Regards,
Andy

[JREwing78]

I drove the Constantine bypass Wednesday afternoon, and I have some nits to pick about the bypass' design.

There are EIGHT at-grade intersections in 3 -4 miles, which is excessive. It could have easily been consolidated down to 4. There's no reason to have an at-grade for Stears Rd with the southern bypass entrance so close by. The intersections for Youngs Prairie, Quarterline, and North River Rds should have been consolidated into one at-grade, even if it required a stoplight to handle the traffic flow safely. There's no reason to have an at-grade at Zerbe Rd with the northern bypass entrance so close by.

Not all of the intersections have left-turn lanes, which tripped me up when someone had to make a left turn from the bypass at said intersection (and when most of the other intersections had a left-turn lane).

Constantine badly needed a bypass, and in general it's a nice design. But with so much going on in such a short distance, driving it is a bit chaotic.

[silverback1065]

why wasn't this an interstate quality bypass? (like us 31 in kokomo) No money?

[oscar]

why wasn't this an interstate quality bypass? (like us 31 in kokomo) No money?

Much less traffic than around Kokomo?  I was up there last week, the Constantine bypass did not seem underpowered.

[JREwing78]

It's two-lane rural highway at each end of it, albeit a fairly busy one. MDOT purchased extra ROW for when MDOT decides it needs to add an additional carriageway. The whole stretch down to the Toll Road from Three Rivers can be widened on its current alignment to a 4-lane divided highway without moving too many homes and businesses out of the way.

But, given MDOT's current state, it's going to be a while before that happens. US-127 south of Jackson is still largely a 2-lane rural highway with double the traffic (17,400 vehicles per day v.s. 8500). Even in the relatively-flush period in the late '90's and early '00's, the only thing MDOT did to US-127 was put in a couple passing lanes and a 3-lane section (with center left turn lane).

They completely rebuilt the eastern Jackson bypass section, but couldn't even widen the stretch down to US-12 to a 5-lane section (with center turn lane), despite rebuilding the bridges wide enough for one.

But I digress. In other states, US-131 is certainly busy enough for 2 lanes each way. In Michigan, it's just a busy two-lane. Maybe if they like you, they'll put in a passing lane or two.

[silverback1065]

why wasn't this an interstate quality bypass? (like us 31 in kokomo) No money?

Much less traffic than around Kokomo?  I was up there last week, the Constantine bypass did not seem underpowered.

I was more looking toward the future, I hope MDOT finds a way to get more funding, there are so many projects that need to be done.