M-137 (Michigan highway)


M-137 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan that serves as a spur route to the Interlochen Center for the Arts and Interlochen State Park. It starts at south of the park and runs north between two lakes in the area and through the community of Interlochen to US Highway 31 in Grand Traverse County. The highway was first shown without a number label on maps in 1930 and labelled after an extension the next year. The highway's current routing was established in the 1950s.

Route description

M-137 begins at the southern end of Interlochen State Park at an intersection with Vagabond Lane. Farther south, the roadway continues toward Green Lake Airport as County Road 137. The state highway is a two-lane road that meanders north, passing the entrance to the state park and near the Interlochen Center for the Arts. The road continues along the isthmus between Green and Duck lakes. North of the school, the road passes through a wooded section before entering the community of Interlochen itself near the Green Lake Township Hall. There M-137 runs almost due north before terminating at its connection with the rest of the state trunkline system at US 31 at Interlochen Corners. The roadway continues north of US 31 as South Long Lake Road after the M-137 designation ends.
M-137 is maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation like other state highways in Michigan. According to the department in 2010, 4,868 vehicles used the highway daily on average. No section of M-137 has been listed on the National Highway System, a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.

History

A highway along the route of M-137 connecting US 31 south to the state park was added to the state highway system during the first half of 1930, initially lacking a designation label on the state maps of the time.
This routing was extended by and labelled as M-137 on maps in 1931. The former route through the campus of the Interlochen Center for the Arts was abandoned as a roadway on March 26, 1956, after M-137 was realigned to pass to the east of the school and extended further south through the state park area.
On April 30, 2020, the Grand Traverse County Road Commission was to vote on a resolution to accept jurisdiction over M-137 from MDOT, effective June 1, 2020; the board approved the resolution.

Major intersections