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M-114 is a former state trunkline route existing from June 28, 1928 until May 1, 1962.
So. Terminus: (Signed)*	BYP US-16 (present-day M-11) at cnr of 28th St & East Beltline Ave southeast of Grand Rapids*
No. Terminus: (Signed)*	US-131/Plainfield Ave (present-day CONN M-44) at cnr Plainfield Ave, Northland Dr & East Beltline Ave northeast of Grand Rapids*
Final Length (Signed)*:	10.15 miles*
Maps:	Route Map of Former M-114
Notes:	* The termini and final length for M-114 reflect the beginning and ending of the route and its length as of the time of it becoming an unsigned state trunkline route in c.1944.
	M-114 was the route designation assigned to the never-quite-completed Grand Rapids Beltline system, with construction beginning in the late-1920s and wrapping up on the portion which was completed on the eve of World War II in 1941. Travel through Grand Rapids, the second-largest city and metropolitan area in the state, became increasingly difficult in the first half of the 20th Century and the city, first, then the suburban areas saw exponential growth. Every state trunkline route originally ran through the heart of the city—in fact, all but one route passed through the Fulton St/Division Ave/Monroe St intersection downtown. (US-16, US-131, M-37 and M-50 all traveled through that point, while M-21 bypassed the downtown district via Eastern Ave and Franklin St.) While Grand Rapids was an important hub destination, enough through traffic on those trunkline routes prompted city and highway officials to begin studying ways to remove that through traffic from the downtown core, and this was happening within a decade of the state trunkline routes being signed at all and at the same time the new US Highway routes (US-16 and US-131) were being posted through the city.
	Initially, while the State Highway Dept was interested in the creation of one or more bypass routes—or "beltlines" as they were commonly referred to in the first half of the 20th Century—in the Grand Rapids area, it was the Kent Co Road Commission that first took on the task of planning and implementing the first link in the system of bypasses. When the State authorized an increase in state trunkline mileage in 1928, the entire 40-mile long Grand Rapids Beltline system was added to the state highway system and the State Highway Dept took over construction of the system. Progress on the southern and western sides of the "box" of beltlines around the city came quicker than along the eastern and northern sides. The West Beltline (Wilson Ave) was completed in 1932 and the South Beltline (28th St) was fully opened to traffic two years later. In between, in 1933, the northern half of the East Beltline was completed linking US-16/M-50 east of Grand Rapids to US-131 northeast of the city, but progress on the southern portion was slow in coming. It would be almost a decade before the entire East Beltline would be completed and opened to traffic, thereby completing three sides of the proposed beltline "box" aroud the city.
	Progress on the North Beltline portion of the system along 3 Mile Rd was sporadic and, ultimately, never completed due to two major occurrences: a major war and a major shift in highway development. After little work was done on the northern side of the Grand Rapids Beltline for a decade, the portion from the yet-to-be-constructed Grand River bridge easterly to the East Beltline was cancelled as a state trunkline highway route in 1940. The ubuilt bridge and the rest of the North Beltline westerly remained on the highway system, but was not yet constructed to trunkline standards or signed as a trunkline route. The Kent Co Road Commission then constructed the portion of 3 Mile Rd between the Grand River and the East Beltline in 1941 and then, interestingly, that segment of roadway was then officially re-established as a state trunkline route in early 1942 and re-added to the system only two years after being canceled! However, World War II halted any progress on the North Beltline—including the proposed Grand River bridge—for the duration of the war. The other major occurence that would render the North Beltline redundant would come later in the 1950s.
	During and immediately after the war, the State Highway Dept decided the existing M-114 route designation along the Grand Rapids Beltline was not sufficient to convey the real purpose and benefit of the beltline system to the motoring public. First, the western and southern legs (Wilson Ave and 28th St) were designated as BYP (Bypass) US-16 during the war, with M-114 only being applied to the eastern leg, which was not fully open to through traffic yet. Once that occurred in 1945, though, the eastern leg and part of the southern leg were given the BYP (Bypass) US-131 designation and a new BYP M-21 routing was also added to portions of the South and East Beltlines. M-114 then only existed on the North Beltline (3 Mile Rd) and, while it may have been signed as such between US-131/Plainfield Ave and BYP US-131/East Beltline Ave for a short period of time, all references to M-114 on publicly-distributed highway maps was gone by 1946 and it is likely all M-114 route markers were taken down at that time, pending the completion of the 3 Mile Rd bridge spanning the Grand River.
	A philosophical change in route numbering at the State Highway Department saw the BYP (Bypass) designations along the Grand Rapids Beltline supplanted by their mainline routes in 1953 (e.g. BYP US-16 became mainline US-16, BYP US-131 became mainline US-131 and BYP M-21 was replaced by M-21 itself). The former mainline routes of US-16, US-131 and M-21 through the center of Grand Rapids were then designated as BUS (Business) routes for each of those highways. Additionally, M-50 was routed onto the southern and part of the western leg of the Beltline system, with former M-50 through town becoming BUS M-50.
	Then in the 1950s, as freeway development began to really take off across the state, progress on the 3 Mile Rd (North Beltline) side of the Grand Rapids Beltline system stalled. Eventually, the approved route for the Detroit–Muskegon Freeway (at the time a combination of I-96 from Grand Rapids to Detroit and I-196 from Grand Rapids to Muskegon, the present-day route of I-96) had it running along the northern part of the metro area, just north of 3 Mile Rd for the most part. With a planned freeway bridge spanning the Grand River in the same area as the long-proposed 3 Mile Rd/North Beltline bridge, the entirety of the North Beltline became redundant. In the early 1960s, as the segments of I-196 (present-day I-96) across the north side of Grand Rapids were opened to traffic, the State transferred jurisdiction over 3 Mile Rd in its entirety to local control and the North Beltline would never be completed as originally planned.
	Once the dust settled after the initial contruction of freeways in the greater Grand Rapids area, though, the existing western, southern and eastern segments of the Grand Rapids Beltline were retained on the state trunkline system. The west and south sides, formerly BYP US-16, was redesignated as M-11 and remains so today. The eastern segment was redesignated as M-44, although the southern portion of the East Beltline today is now part of M-37. Even with the completion of the M-6/South Beltline (Paul B Henry Frwy) in the early 2000s across the southern edge of the metro region, the "original" South Beltline along 28th St (M-11) was retained as a trunkline route.
History:	1927 (Nov 16) – The State Highway Dept and the State Administrative Board highway committee order an "immediate survey" of the route of a proposed beltline around Grand Rapids. The entire beltline system, which the state is may construct, is projected to cost $1.5 million.
	1927 (Nov 19) – The Kent Co Road Commission takes the first step toward the creation of a Grand Rapids Beltline when it takes over jurisdiction of Beals and Laraway Rds (present-day 28th St) between US-16/M-50 at Cascade and M-21 in Grandville. This is done to provide a bypass for Lansing–Holland through traffic. The KCRC has obtained an additional 17 feet on either side of the existing Beals-Laraway Rds right-of-way to give the new highway a 100-foot ROW. The route for the proposed beltline up the west side of the metro area as well as across the north side of the city has been generally agreed upon, while the eastern portion has not been decided upon due to, as is stated in media reports, "the conditions existing there." The State Highway Dept is planning on taking over the construction and maintenance of the proposed beltway from the county.
	1928 (Apr 3) – The State Administrative Board highway committee gives its okay to add approximately 300 miles of state trunkline highway mileage around the state, including the proposed Grand Rapids Beltline system.
	1928 (June 28) – A new, 40.0-mile long state trunkline highway is officially established completely surrounding the City of Grand Rapids in Kent County and given the designation of M-114. The new trunkline route is established in three separate but connected segments: From US-16/Remembrance Rd-Ironwood Dr on the Kent/Ottawa Co line northwest of Grand Rapids, due easterly for 9.7 miles along 3 Mile Rd to M-114/East Beltline Ave northeast of Grand Rapids. From US-131/Plainfield Ave approximately ½ mile west of Northland Dr (nearly) due southerly along East Beltline Ave for 9.7 miles to M-114/Laraway Rd (28th St) southeast of East Grand Rapids. From M-114/3 Mile Rd northwest of Grand Rapids southerly along Wilson Ave to Grandville, then easterly along Beals and Laraway Rds (28th St) to US-16/M-50/Cascade Rd in Cascade, for a total of 20.6 miles. At the time of its designation, only two portions of the M-114 Grand Rapids Beltline are physically constructed and opened to traffic: From US-16/Cascade Rd in Cascade westerly along Laraway Rd (28th St) to M-37/Kalamazoo Ave southeast of Grand Rapids and from US-16/Remembrance Rd northwest of Grand Rapids southerly along Wilson Ave to a point approximately one mile south of M-50/Lake Michigan Dr (present-day M-45) west of the city. Three segments of M-114, from M-37/Kalamazoo Ave westerly to US-131/S Division Ave, from M-114/Laraway Rd (28th St) northerly to US-16/Cascade Rd, and from US-131/Plainfield Ave westerly toward the Grand River, have had grading and drainage structures in place. The remainder of M-114 is either unimproved or not yet constructed.
	1929 – During 1929, M-114 is completed, as a gravel-surfaced highway, from M-37/Kalamazoo Ave westerly along Laraway Rd (28th St) to US-131/S Division Ave south of Grand Rapids. Additionally, along the segment of M-114/East Beltline Ave from US-16/Cascade Rd east of Grand Rapids southerly to M-114/Laraway Rd (28th St) has its grading & drainage sturctures completed, but the highway itself is not completed and opened to traffic.
	1930 – In 1930, the grading & drainage sturctures for M-114/Wilson Ave are completed on the western leg of the Grand Rapids Beltline from M-50/Lake Michigan Dr southerly to Grandville, although the highway itself isn't officially opened to traffic.
	1931 – During 1931, an additional mile of the M-114 Grand Rapids Beltline is completed and opened to travel as a gravel highway from US-131/S Division Ave westerly to Clyde Park Ave south of Grand Rapids.
	1931 (Aug 31) – The northernmost mile of the eastern (north-south) leg of the Grand Rapids beltline in Plainfield Twp northeast of Grand Rapids is cancelled as a state trunkline route and, since the highway was never physically constructed on that alignment, there is no roadway to be transferred to local control. In its place, a new 1.3-mile long route for M-114 is officially established as a state highway route running along the present-day alignment of East Beltline Ave from approximately 5 Mile Rd northeasterly to US-131 at the Plainfield Ave-Northland Dr curve.
	1931 (Sept 1) – The federal Bureau of Public Roads (the present-day FHWA) consents to placing the Grand Rapids Belt Line on the Federal-Aid Highway System, thereby guranteeing the route an additional source of funding dollars.
	1932 (Early) – M-114 opens as an earth-surfaced highway along Wilson Ave on the west side of the Beltline system from M-50/Lake Michigan Dr southerly to M-21 in Grandville.
	1932 (Mid) – Several happenings along the M-114/Grand Rapids Beltline during mid-1932 include: The segment of M-114/Wilson Ave between M-50/Lake Michigan Dr and M-21/Chicago Dr opened with a earthen surface earlier in the year is paved. Also, the portion of M-114/East Beltline Ave from M-21/E Fulton St northerly to US-131/Plainfield Ave-Northland Dr has its grading and drainage structures completed, but the highway itself is not yet opened to traffic. Then on July 19, Governor Wilber Brucker officially dedicates the M-114 bridge spaning the Grand River on the northern edge of Grandville.
	1932 (Oct 29) – A 0.9-mile segment of never-built M-114 at Grandville is cancelled as a state trunkline highway and replaced by the new, shorter 0.8-mile long alignment across the Grand River which was opened to traffic earlier in the year. The new route, along present-day Wilson Ave from the 28th St & Wilson Ave intersection northwesterly across the river, replaces the proposed alignment which continued due westerly from the 28th & Wilson intersection across the Grand River at a shallow angle, made a 90° turn on the far side of the river, then headed due northerly along the Wilson Ave line.
	1933 (Early) – The segment of M-114/East Beltline Ave from US-16/Cascade Rd northerly to US-131/Plainfield Ave-Northland Dr which had its grading and drainage structures completed the year prior is completed as a paved highway and opened to through traffic.
	1934 (Early) – The portion of M-114/East Beltline Ave southeast of Grand Rapids from US-16/M-50/Cascade Rd southerly to M-114/Laraway Rd (28th St) is completed as an earthen highway. Additionally, the segment of M-114/Beals Rd (28th St) on the southern leg of the Beltline system from Clyde Park Ave westerly to Grandville is completed and opened to traffic as a gravel-surfaced route. It would be seven years before any more progress would be made on the Grand Rapids Beltline system.
	1940 (Nov 12) – The 4.2 miles of the eastern half of the northern leg of the M-114 Grand Rapids Beltline along 3 Mile Rd from the Grand River north of the city easterly to M-114/East Beltline Ave northeast of the city is turned back to local control. The unbuilt M-114 bridge over the Grand River, which remains an officially-established trunkline route, as well as the portion of 3 Mile Rd west of there to US-16/Remembrance Rd northwest of the city remains a state trunkline route as part of M-114.
	1941 – Two changes along the M-114 Grand Rapids Beltline occur this year: The route of M-114 is hard-surfaced in its entriety when the gravel-surfaced segment of Laraway Rd (28th St) from M-114/East Beltline Ave easterly to US-16/M-50/Cascade Rd in Cascade is paved. 3 Mile Rd, which was formerly the east-west northern leg of the M-114 beltline system east of the Grand River (turned back to local control the previous November), is constructed and opened as a gravel roadway by the Kent Co Road Commission from Monroe St easterly to M-114/East Beltline Ave on the northeast side of the Grand Rapids area.
	1942 (Jan 28) – The 4.2-mile segment of 3 Mile Rd from the Grand River north of the city easterly to M-114/East Beltline Ave northeast of the city that was cancelled as a state trunkline route and transferred to local control in late 1940 is re-established as a trunkline, even though the proposed 3 Mile Rd bridge spanning the Grand River still remains unconstructed and its imminent completion looks very unlikely due to the war effort currently ongoing.
	1942 (Spring) – The southern and western portions of the Grand Rapids Beltline—the South Beltline (28th St) from US-16/M-50 in Cascade westerly to Grandville and Wilson Ave from Grandville northerly back to US-16/Remembrance Rd northwest of Grand Rapids—are redesignated as BYP (Bypass) US-16. The M-114 route markers are removed on this stretch of the Beltline, but remain on the East Beltline from 28th St (now BYP US-16) northerly to US-131/Plainfield Ave on the east side of the Grand Rapids area. M-114 along 3 Mile Rd (the North Beltline) from East Beltline westerly to the Grand River is also shown on the official highway map again after having become a state trunkline route again in January, so it is believed M-114 is signed along this stretch of highway as well. M-114 remains as a three-legged route, with a north-south component along the East Beltline and an east-west portion along 3 Mile Rd, which intersects the East Beltline between US-16/M-50 and US-131.
	1942 (July 1) – By the beginning of July, M-114 is completed and fully paved along the East Beltline from US-16/M-50/Cascade Rd east of Grand Rapids southerly to BYP US-16 (formerly a portion of M-114) at 28th St southeast of town.
	1944 (Summer) – By mid-1944, it is likely the M-114 route designation has been retired—at least in the eyes of the motoring public. This is for two reasons: The Grand Rapids Beltline has another segment of the M-114 route desigation replaced by another BYPASS routing. Three years after the southern (Beals and Laraway Rds, now 28th St) and western (Wilson Ave) sides of the Beltline are redesigated from M-114 to BYP US-16, now the eastern side (East Beltline) becomes BYP (Bypass) US-131. Additionally, the portion of BYP US-16 along the southern beltline between East Beltline and US-131/S Division Ave is concurrently designated as BYP US-131 to complete the US-131 bypass of Grand Rapids. Plus, a new BYP (Bypass) M-21 designation is also added into the Grand Rapids Beltline jumble. Beginning at M-21/Chicago Dr in Grandville, the new BYP M-21 runs easterly along the southern leg (28th St) with BYP US-16 (and, from US-131/S Division Ave easterly, with BYP US-131 as well) to the East Beltline, where BYP M-21 turns northerly to follow BYP US-131 up the east side of the bypass, terminating at M-21/E Fulton St. The remaining M-114 designation along 3 Mile Rd across the north side of the Grand Rapids metro region is removed from official highway maps beginning in 1945, although M-114 remains on internal State Highway Dept maps for nearly two decades. The reasoning for converting the remaining portion of M-114 along 3 Mile Rd to an unsigned state trunkline is very likely due to the lack of a Grand River crossing along the route. The State Highway Dept may be intending on fully signing M-114 along 3 Mile Rd once the bridge has been constructed in the future.
	1947 – By 1947, the south beltline portion of the Grand Rapids Beltline (now desigated BYP US-16 and, in part, BYP US-131 and BYP M-21) is officially renamed from Beals Rd and Laraway Rd to 28th St throughout.
	1953 (Summer) – In a major flip of route desigations, all of the state trunkline routes (save for M-37) that run through the City of Grand Rapids are converted into Business Connections, while the Bypass routings around the city on the Beltline System become the through, mainline routings. The (signed portion) of the Grand Rapids Beltline now consists of: US-16 along the southern (28th St) and western (Wilson Ave) sides, replacing BYP US-16. The through-town former route of US-16 is now designated BUS US-16. US-131 along the southern (28th St) side from US-131/S Division Ave easterly to the East Beltline, and along East Beltline from 28th St northerly back to US-131 at Plainfield Ave/Northland Dr, replacing BYP US-131. The former route of US-131 through the city becomes BUS US-131. M-21 along the southern (28th St) segment from M-21/Chicago Dr in Grandville easterly to East Beltline, then northerly along the east side from 28th St to M-21/E Fulton St, replacing BYP M-21. The part of M-21 inside the Beltline is redesiganted as BUS M-21. M-50 along the entire southern (28th St) side and the western (Wilson Ave) portion from 28th St in Grandville northerly to M-50/Lake Michigan Dr in Standale, although there never was a BYP M-50 designation... interestingly. The former through-town route of M-50 becomes BUS M-50. M-37 also uses the portion of US-131/M-21/East Beltline Ave from 28th St northerly to BUS US-16/BUS M-50/Cascade Rd where it turns westerly into dowtown Grand Rapids. Unsigned M-114 still exists along the completed portions of 3 Mile Rd from US-16/Remembrance Rd northwest of Grand Rapids easterly to east of M-37/Alpine Ave north of downtown, and from Monroe St on the east bank of the Grand River easterly to US-131/East Beltline Ave northeast of the city.
	1962 (May 1) – With the completion of the I-196 (present-day I-96) freeway bypass of Grand Rapids the previous November and December, the northern leg of the Grand Rapids Beltline (unsigned M-114) is cancelled as a state trunkline route in three segments, with jurisdiction for each segment being transferred to local control: The northernmost portion of the original West Beltline along Wilson Ave from BUS US-16/Remembrance Rd northerly to 3 Mile Rd (0.5 miles). The western 4.6-mile portion of 3 Mile Rd from BUS US-16/Remembrance Rd–Ironwood Dr on the Kent/Ottawa Co line easterly to the I-196/US-16 (present-day I-96) eastbound Alpine Ave off-ramp just west of M-37/Alpine Ave. (The portion of 3 Mile Rd between the off-ramp and Alpine Ave itself is retained as an unsigned, unnumbered state trunkline highway.) The eastern 5.0-mile portion of 3 Mile Rd from M-37/Alpine Ave easterly across the unbuilt Grand River bridge and then all the way to US-131/East Beltline Ave (present-day M-44).
	Mid-1960s – The Dept of State Highways may have had plans to retain the former route of M-14 which was bypassed by the M-14 freeway around Ann Arbor as a state trunkline highway prior to it being cancelled as a trunkline route and turned back to local control in 1965. Departmental right-of-way maps show the original route of M-14 into downtown Ann Arbor from the Dixboro area southwesterly along Plymouth Rd, Broadway St and Beakes St to BUS US-23/Main St witha designation of "M-114." It is not known how close to actually being designated M-114 this route was in reality, as the portion of former M-14 from downtown out to the US-23 freeway (as well as US-23 from Plymouth Rd northerly back to M-14) are shown as "BUS M-14" on other internal maps, so there many have been several ideas on how to handle the bypassed trunkline segments during this timeframe.
	1997 (Mar 20) – Thirty-five years after being cancelled as a state trunkline route, a short, 611-foot (0.116 mile) piece of the former (unsigned) route of M-114 along Three Mile Rd from the ebd I-96 off-ramp at Exit 30 in Walker easterly to M-37/Alpine Ave is cancelled as a state trunkline route and turned back to city control. This segment had been retained as an unsigned trunkline for what the State Highway Dept "for connectivity reasons" between the I-96 ramp and M-37. The reason for the change, from the jurisdictional transfer documentation, is that "MDOT has since revised its position and no longer feels it necessary to exert control over essentially local traffic."
Controlled Access:	None of M-114 existed as freeway or expressway at the time of its decommissioning in 1962.
Photographs:
Weblinks:	Grand Rapids Beltline System Map – includes every route designation to ever utilize any portion of the Grand Rapids Beltline System from 1928 to present.

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