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| Western Terminus: | M-28 on the east end of downtown Munising at the cnr of Munising Ave & Cedar St |
| Eastern Terminus: | Muskallonge Lake State Park (at Deer Park) at connection with H-37 |
| Length: | 67.495 miles |
| Maps: | Route Map of H-58 Alger County Road H-58 Road Segment Improvement Phases (2008) |
| Notes: |  H-58 runs through, and is the main access road for, the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Signage on the western portion of the route from Grand Marais presently ranges from marginally adequate to absolutely stellar, but was historically sparse. Prior to the massive improvement and  paving project for H-58 through the Lakeshore in the 2003–2010 timeframe, the Alger Co Road Commission's signage standards for H-58 had deteriorated in the 1990s and early 2000s to the point where the primary route signage directing motorists along the route consisted of a plain green square sign with "H-58," and possibly a directional arrow, in white. (See example at right.) While not the standard gold-on-blue pentagon route markers, it was at least some kind of signage. On the other hand, signage for H-58 in Luce Co has been completely non-existant for at least 35 years or more, including the connection with H-37. During 2004–05, the Alger Co Road Commission, went on a signing "rampage," erecting dozens of the standard gold-on-blue pentagon markers along much of the route of H-58 in their county, greatly assisting motorists attempting to follow the route. Signage within the City of Munising and at the jct with H-13, though, still leaves something to be desired. |
| When H-58 was extended west from Grand Marais through the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore to Munising in 1973, it became the only numbered highway route through the Lakeshore itself. Much of H-58 between Grand Sable Lake west of Grand Marais and Kingston Corners (where the Au Sable Truck Trail meets Adams Trail) south of Kingston Lake started out as a narrow, winding, pothole- and washboard-ridden "road" which forced motorists to often drive 25 mph or less, taking more than two hours to traverse the 45-plus mile distance between Grand Marais and Munising. (It would take only an hour or so to take the "long way" via M-77 south to Seney and M-28 west to Munising—less than half the time but a 15-mile longer trip! In the enabling legislation creating the National Lakeshore, a brief mention of the requirement for the National Park Service to create a "scenic shoreline drive" through the entirety of the park would end up causing a several-decade logjam and endless hard feelings in the region, with H-58 at the center of it all. Scenic drives were a popular amenity from the early days of the National Park System into the 1960s, prior to the advent of more stringent environmental regulations and changing attitudes toward the overall mission and goals for National Park units. Park officials quickly realized in the early 1970s that building the originally-proposed "shoreline scenic drive" was untenable, being too environmentally damaging, too harmful to wetlands along the route, and too expensive to construct. In the place of the originally-envisioned parkway, park officials, being required by the enabling legislation to plan for a scenic drive, proposed a shorter, 12.2-mile scenic drive referred to as the "Beaver Basin Rim Drive." Beginning at H-58 near Legion Lake (near the Little Beaver Lake Rd intersection) and running northeasterly along the Beaver Basin Rim, the proposed scenic drive would then merge back into H-58 at the Hurricane River Campground. H-58 would be improved from that point easterly toward Grand Marais as part of the overall project. However, environmentalists, backpackers and certain factions in the community strongly opposed the proposed scenic drive and demanded existing H-58 be upgraded instead. Portions of H-58, however, run outside of the national park boundary, making this demand legally impossible as the NPS cannot spend money on or maintain county roads outside of its park boundaries. Despite objections, the Beaver Basin Rim Drive makes it into the final General Management Plan in 1981, although National Park budget cuts under the Reagan administration meant construction of the drive would likely still be many years off. The controversy over punching a new scenic drive through wild, undeveloped parklands versus improving and paving existing H-58 was fueled with the release in 1996 of an environmental impact statement (EIS) recommending constructing a now-13 mile scenic drive along the Beaver Basin Rim, the cost of which had now risen to $13.4 million. Of a total of 669 public comments received, the Park Service said just three percent favored the new roadway. Opponents to building the Beaver Basin Rim Drive noted it will cost half as much to upgrade and improve existing H-58 through the park. Regardless, the NPS pushes forward with the new scenic drive, citing the 1966 enabling legislation. A year later, the Alger Co Road Commission threatened to close a segment of H-58 citing their inability and lack of funding to properly maintain the heavily-used roadway. This sparked discussions and meetings between local governmental leaders, local Lakeshore officials, National Park Service officials, U.S. Congress members and representatives from the Governor's office in Lansing to try to find a solution to the worsening impasse. In a deal brokered by U.S. Rep Bart Stupak, the National Park Service offers to provide $5.6 million to pave the 18-mile stretch of H-58 which runs through the Lakeshore in exchange for the Alger Co Road Commission voting to relinquish control of the segment to the Park Service. The NPS would then own and maintain that portion of the roadway. Lawmakers also pledge seek an additional $3.6 million in federal money toward paving the remainder of the unimproved stretches outside of the Lakeshore, although they acknowledge they aren't able to guarantee the funding. The Road Commission, however balked and voted against he relinquishment citing concerns over access along the 18-mile segment and taking into account local residents' distrust of the federal authorities, thereby prolonging the impasse. Then, in 1998, the logjam broke. First, a new federal transportation funding bill was signed which includes $4.2 million in funding to pave a portion of H-58 through the Lakeshore. Second, a bill is signed into law officially cancelling the construction of any "shoreline scenic drive") through park by amending the original 1966 enabling legislation and instead directed federal funds to improving and paving exisitng H-58 through the park. |
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| Alger Co Road Commission officials developed a six-phase reconstruction project for the remaining unpaved segments of H-58 between Buck Hill (northeast of Melstrand) and Grand Sable Lake west of Grand Marais in the early 2000s. (See map.) The first 3½ mile stretch, referred to as Phase 1, was completed in 2004 from Grand Sable Lake westerly to the Log Slide Overlook turnoff. Phase 2, a 3.8 mile long stretch from the Log Slide Overlook west to just east of the Hurricane River was completely reconstructed in 2006. The next two sections, Phases 3 & 4 from Buck Hill to the park boundary south of Kingston Lake, are completed in 2009. Phase 5 from the Kingston Lake area to just before the Hurricane River was then completed in 2010 at the same time as the final phase, Phase 2A, which consisted of a new Hurricane River bridge and approach roadways. For the first time in 37 years, all of H-58 in Alger Co was now paved. While some local residents were upset with the Park Service failing to construct the original "scenic shoreline drive" or even the replacement "Beaver Basin Rim Drive," others, especially environmentalists and those enjoying the rustic, wilderness experience of much of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore were much happier with the outcome. |
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| Plans for an overall effort to improve, realign and, someday, pave the segment of H-58 in Luce Co were initiated in the early 2020s, with initial plans aimed at improving the existing route of H-58 between the Alger Co line and the Deer Park area just west of Muskallonge Lake State Park. However, in late 2022 the Luce Co Road Commission shifted the improvements from existing H-58 (the Deer Park Truck Trail) to instead continue southerly and then swinging easterly via CR-410 (the Grand Marais Truck Trail) ending at H-37 at Perch Lake, about 2¾ miles south of Deer Park and Muskallonge Lake due to several complicating factors on the original route. Ironically, this change in route follows the originally-designated route of H-58 between 1971 and c.1987 before it was shifted to follow the Deer Park Truck Trail east to the Muskallonge Lake area. Due to funding constraints, the first phase of improvements is mostly focused on improving the route and alignment of existing H-58 along the Grand Marais Truck Trail between the Alger Co line and the Blind Sucker River, including a somewhat major realignment past the Lake Superior State Forest Campground. Enough funding was available, though, to pave the first three miles of H-58 in Luce Co from the Alger Co line east to Superior Dunes Dr. On the eastern end of the project, the eastern ¾ mile of CR-410/Grand Marais Truck Trail is rerouted to swing to the north in order to meet up with H-37/Deer Park Rd perpendicularly. The remaining eight miles of CR-410 between H-58/CR-407 west of Deer Park and H-37/CR-407 south of Deer Park remains in its existing condition (somewhat narrow, no roadside ditches, variable dirt surface, etc.) until additional funding is procured. |
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| The change in plans for the roadway improvements in northern Luce Co may imply a future change in the route of H-58 as well, although this is just conjecture. Luce Co has long neglected signing its portion of H-58 and that route designation may be the farthest thing from their minds, although the same route in neighboring Alger Co was once quite "sparsely" signed as well, so H-58's fortunes in Luce Co may change, too. |
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H-58 is somewhat unique in that it is one of just two Intercounty Highways which are Seasonal Roads, in part, meaning those segments are not snowplowed or maintained in the winter and, when not passable, are effectively closed to traffic. The other Intercounty Highway route having Seasonal Road sections is H-11. Seasonal sections are not plowed or maintained from December 1 to March 31 every winter. Because of this, the seasonal portions of H-58 are considered an official snowmobile trails and are closed to all vehicles except snowmobiles, and include:
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| History: | 1966 (Oct 15) – Congress passes a law creating the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Alger County, the country's first-ever National Lakeshore. While five years before the establishment of H-58 (and seven years prior to it even being extended through the new national park), the Lakeshore's establishment will play a massively important role in the future of the route. As of its designation, the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore has no signed highway routes running through it: M-28 skirts its western end and M-77 terminates in Grand Marais immediately east of the eastern boundary of the park. The enabling legislation creating the park contains a requirement that the Park Service must construct "a scenic shoreline drive" through the park. This requirement will have the most direct impact on H-58 in the future. |
| 1971 – A new Intercounty Highway route linking the northern end of M-77 at Grand Marais in northeast Alger Co with H-37/Co Rd 407 at Perch Lake, approximately four miles south of Muskallonge Lake State Park in north-central Luce Co makes its debut. When first designated, H-58 heads easterly from Grand Marais via the Grand Marais Truck Trail (Grand Marais East Rd), into Luce Co continuing along Co Rd 407/Grand Marais Truck Trail. Near the Blind Sucker River crossing, H-58 turns southerly along Co Rd 410 for about 2¾ miles, turning easterly continuing via Co Rd 410/Grand Marais Truck Trail for 6¼ miles to newly-designated H-37 along Co Rd 407/Deer Park Rd. For the next two years, it will be Alger Co's only designated Intercounty Highway route. |
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| 1972 (Oct 6) – According to the National Park Service, "With sufficient lands in federal ownership to provide a manageable Park Service area, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore was formally established as a unit of the National Park System in ceremonies held on October 6, 1972, at Bayshore Park in Munising." |
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| 1973 – By 1973, Alger Co extends H-58 from Grand Marais westerly through the newly-established Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (authorized by Congress in 1966, but now officially established as an NPS unit) to a new terminus at M-28 in downtown Munising. H-58 now continues westerly from Grand Marais via a route designated as Co Rd 700—Carlson St which becomes Sable Lake Rd past Grand Sable Lake, then following the Au Sable Truck Trail past Au Sable Point and Sullivan's Landing, turning southerly past Kingston Lake to Adams Trl at Kingston Corners. From there, H-58 travels westerly and southwesterly along the former Co Rd 637 via Adams Trl, Buck Hill Rd and Melstrand Rd through Melstrand to Van Meer where it continues westerly along Munising-Van Meer-Shingleton Rd (former M-94) and into Munising along E Munising Ave to M-28. From Grand Sable Lake to Melstrand, the new segment of H-58 is unpaved, meaning of the entire 70½ mile route, 47⅓ miles or two-thirds of the route's length are unpaved. |
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| 1974 – By 1974 the five-mile stretch of newly-designated H-58 along Buck Hill Rd from H-52 at Melstrand northeasterly to the Buck Hill area at Little Beaver Lake Rd is paved. |
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| 1980 (Mar) – The first suggestions of the National Park Service taking over jurisdiction and maintenance of certain county roads in order to make them passable to motorists wishing to visit areas of the park is made by park Superintendent Don Gillespie. Included in the proposal is all of H-13/Miner's Castle Rd (present-day H-11), which is unpaved at this point, and the 15-mile stretch of H-58 from Kingston Lake to Grand Sable Lake. The proposal comes "due to the fact that the county road commission is unable to maintain these roads in an adequate manner during the park's tourist season because of a limited budget," according to local news sources. As it would again in the future, this proposal ultimately goes nowhere and the status quo is maintained. |
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| 1981 (Feb 20) – The National Park Service issues a draft of the General Managment Plan for Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore which, while removing the original "scenic shoreline drive" through the entire park, retains its replacement: a 12.2-mile scenic drive referred to as the "Beaver Basin Rim Drive." Beginning at H-58 near Legion Lake (near the Little Beaver Lake Rd intersection) and running northeasterly along the Beaver Basin Rim, the proposed scenic drive would then merge back into H-58 at the Hurricane River Campground. H-58 would be improved from that point easterly toward Grand Marais as part of the overall project. However, environmentalists, backpackers and certain factions in the community strongly oppose the proposed scenic drive and demand existing H-58 be upgraded instead. Portions of H-58, however, run outside of the national park boundary, making this demand legally impossible as the NPS cannot spend money on or maintain county roads outside of its park boundaries. Despite objections, the Beaver Basin Rim Drive makes it into the final General Management Plan that fall, although National Park budget cuts under teh Reagan administration mean construction of the drive is likely still many years off. |
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| 1987 – By 1987, H-58 is rerouted to follow the 5.6-mile segment of Deer Park Truck Trail easterly from the jct of Co Rds 407 & 410 (near the Blind Sucker River crossing) to Muskallonge Lake State Park at the northern terminus of H-37 (at Deer Park). With the rerouting, the total route mileage is decreased by 3.4 miles to a total length of 67½ miles. |
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| 1988 – The Alger Co Road Commission completes a project which includes a realignment and paving of H-58 from the Grand Sable Visitor Center westerly to the Grand Sable Lake overlook. |
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| 1990 – The controversy over building either of the "scenic drives" through Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore versus upgrading the existing route of H-58 continue with a "Pictured Rocks Scenic Drive Committee" pressing for the construction of the original 26-mile long "scenic shoreline drive" that the NPS ruled out in the early 1970s as being too environmentally damaging, too harmful to wetlands along the route, and too expensive. At this point, the Park Service is continuing to plan for the eventual construction of the 12.2-mile long Beaver Basin Rim Drive instead, which is just as controversial as the original proposal, both with environmentalists and local citizens alike. Park officials state their hands are tied, as the enabling legislation from 1966 mandates a scenic drive and the only way that would change is through an amendment to the original legislation. The Park Superintendent Grant Petersen notes the original scenic drive would cost more than $34 to build, while the shorter Beaver Basin Rim Drive could be constructed for only $7.2 million. |
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| 1994 – The pavement on H-58/Buck Hill Rd in central Alger Co between Melstrand and Little Beaver Lake Rd at Buck Hill is removed, returning it to a gravel-surfaced roadway. The surface has been deteriorating for several years. |
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| 1996 (Late Feb, July 31) – In late February, National Park Service officials release an environmental impact statement (EIS) recommending constructing a now-13 mile scenic drive along the Beaver Basin Rim, the cost of which has now risen to $13.4 million. Of a total of 669 public comments received, the Park Service says just three percent favor the new roadway. Opponents to building the Beaver Basin Rim Drive state it will cost half as much to upgrade and improve existing H-58 through the park. Regardless, the NPS pushes forward with the new scenic drive saying it is required to do so by the 1966 enabling legislation creating the park. The final planning document, five years in the making and costing over $500,000, is released on July 31 and officially recommends construction of the shorter scenic drive due to the original legislation, however park officials state they will not be requesting and funding from Congress to build the road at any point in the near future, rendering the project effectively dead, at least for now. |
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| 1996 (Summer) – The Alger Co Road Commission receives a $462,000 grant to pave a section of H-58/Sable Lake Rd along the shore of Grand Sable Lake just southwest of Grand Marais. The project helps stablize a section of the road which has been eroding into the lake and is completed in September. |
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| 1997 (Aug 5–15) – As the political wrangling continues over paying for improvements to H-58 through the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, the Alger Co Road Commissioners vote 2–1 on August 5 to close a six mile stretch of H-58 heading northerly from Kingston Corners past Kingston Lake due to their inability to fund the maintenance activities on the entire 47-mile length of the route through the Lakeshore. While the closure is meant to be temporary until funding can be secured, the Michigan DNR announces the closure of the popular Kingston Lake State Forest Campground which would become inaccessible. At first the closure is to be only for "tourist traffic" while remaining open for local residents and logging trucks, but after a legal consultation it was deemed the road must be be closed to all traffic. While the road is set to be closed from 8:00 am on August 18, the road commission later rescinds its order ten days later on August 15, keeping the road open with the promise of additional assistance from State leaders and the area's U.S. Congressional delegation. |
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| 1997 (Sept 24, Oct 21) – In a deal brokered by U.S. Rep Bart Stupak in September, the National Park Service offers to provide $5.6 million to pave the 18-mile stretch of H-58 which runs through the Lakeshore in exchange for the Alger Co Road Commission voting to relinquish control of the segment to the Park Service. The NPS would then own and maintain that portion of the roadway. Lawmakers also pledge seek an additional $3.6 million in federal money toward paving the remainder of the unimproved stretches outside of the Lakeshore, although they acknowledge they aren't able to guarantee the funding. Then on October 21, the Alger Co Road Commissioners vote 2–1 against the relinquishment citing concerns over access along the 18-mile segment and taking into account local residents' distrust of the federal authorities. Stupak notes he felt "blindsided" by the vote, although county road officials state they clearly told the Congressman two months prior that they were looking for federal funding with no strings attached. |
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| 1998 (Feb 26)–1999 – Alger Co receives $758,000 from the Michigan Transportation Commission on February 26, 1998 to re-pave the five miles of H-58/Buck Hill Rd from Chapel Rd on the north side of Melstrand northeasterly to Little Beaver Lake Rd which had its pavement crushed and removed four years earlier. The section of roadway is surfaced during the 1998 and 1999 construction seasons and brings the paved mileage of H-58 back to what it had been prior to 1994. |
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| 1998 (June 9) – President Bill Clinton signs a new transportation funding bill into law which includes $4.2 million in federal funds to pave a portion of H-58 through Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The original bill included $5.6 million, but that was reduced in subsequent negotiations between the U.S. House and Senate. |
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| 1998 (Nov 12) – Public Law 105-378 is signed into law which officially cancels the construction of the Beaver Basin Rim Drive (or any other "shoreline scenic drive") through the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore by amending the original 1966 enabling legislation and instead direct federal funds to improving and paving exisitng H-58 through the park. While originally introduced as a bill by U.S. Rep Bart Stupak of Menominee in February 1996, it isn't until "The Act to Establish the Lower East Side Tenement National Historic Site, and for other purposes" is approved and signed into law. This renders the Beaver Basin Rim Drive—or any other "scenic drive," along the shoreline or otherwise—as officially cancelled and removed from the books. |
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| 2003 (May–Fall) – The first 3½ miles of unpaved H-58 west of Grand Marais from Grand Sable Lake to the Log Slide Overlook turn-off is improved and paved by the Alger Co Road Commission. This becomes Phase 1 in the process of improving the route of H-58 between Grand Marais and Munising. Work begins in May and the paved roadway is open to traffic in the fall. Final work wraps up during the following construction season. |
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| 2005–06 – $13.28 million in federal funds for paving H-58 from Sullivan Creek to Little Beaver Rd through the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore are included in the highway and transit bill passed by Congress in July and signed into law by President G.W. Bush on August 10, 2005. Then in June 2006, Governor Jennifer Granholm signed legislation providing the State's matching funds for the H-58 paving project. This constitutes funding for the majority of Phases 3, 4, and 5 of the overall paving project. |
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| 2006 (Oct 16) – The section of H-58 in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore from the western end of the portion paved in 2003 at the Log Slide Overlook turn-off westerly for 3.8 miles to 0.8 mile southeast of Hurricane River is reconstructed, horizontal alignment corrected, realigned in places to eliminate tight curves, and paved as Phase 2 in the overall improvement and hard-surfacing of the route through the Lakeshore. Work is completed and opened to traffic and cost $2.1 million. A July 13, 2006 story in the Marquette Mining Journal notes, "The horizontal alignment of the road will be changed in most places and some of the extremely tight curves will be straightened out. The road will be designed for travel speeds of 40 mph. to maintain the nature of the road and the park setting." |
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| 2008–09 – Phases 3 & 4 of the project to complete the paving of H-58 through the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore begin: Phase 3 from Buck Hill (southwest of Little Beaver Lake Rd) easterly to just west of Kingston Corners (at Adams Trl) and Phase 4 from just west of Kingston Corners northerly to the Lakeshore's "buffer zone" boundary just south of Kingston Lake. Phase 3 begins on July 21, 2008 while Phase 4 starts 16 days later on August 6, 2008. Completion of both phases is scheduled for August 1, 2009, although the Alger Co Road Commission requires the paving contractor to have the section from Buck Hill easterly to Ross Lake Rd complete by November 12, 2008. |
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| 2009 (May)–2010 (Oct 15) – Work on the final two phases of the project to pave H-58 through the National Lakeshore. Phase 5 work running 7¾ miles from the Lakeshore's "buffer zone" boundary just south of Kingston Lake northerly to just south of the Hurricane River Campground begins in May 2009 with completion in October 2010. The Marquette Mining Journal noted: "The final phase would provide the greatest challenge for road builders and park officials because the road in that section passes close to the cliffs above Lake Superior. Planners are currently working on a range of options for building in that environmentally sensitive area." According to the contractor, the $4.82 million project "consists of 7.84 Miles of clearing, embankment, aggregate base, culverts, hot mix asphalt, pavement marking, and slope restoration on H-58" and includes "25 acres of clearing, 360,000 cubic yards of earthwork, 66,000 tons of aggregate base, box culverts, culverts, and related items of work." Additionally, Phase 2A consists of the Hurricane River Bridge, a mile of roadway approaches to the bridge (from 0.2 mile southwest of the new bridge to 0.8 mile southeast), and an upgraded entrance to the Hurricane River Campground, with work commencing and concluding on October 15, 2010 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Hurricane River bridge. With the completion of Phase 2A, the entirety of H-58 through the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and throughout Alger Co in general, is now paved. Over all six phases, the project was 80 percent funded Federal High Priority Funds, and 20 percent from the Michigan Local Jobs Today program. |
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| 2011 (Sept, Early Oct) – Police begin receiving reports in September of motorists experiencing flat tires due to to thousands of building nails along H-58 near Melstrand, about 14 miles east of downtown Munising. At first authorities assume the scattered nails on the pavement by accident, as from an unsecured container on the bast of a work truck, for example. However, additional nails again appear along H-58 in early October, leading law enforecement to conclude neither incident was accidental. In all, over sixty cars, trucks and motorcycles receive flat tires in what is likely a very dangerous protest by one or more disgruntled locals upset by the improvements made to H-58 through the national park and the resultant increase in tourist traffic. |
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| 2022 (Oct 19) – Plans for an overall effort to improve, realign and, someday, pave the segment of H-58 in Luce Co are initiated in the early 2020s, with the initial plans aimed at improving the existing route of H-58/CR-407 along the Grand Marais Truck Trail and Deer Park Truck Trail between the Alger Co line and the Deer Park area just west of Muskallonge Lake State Park. However, the Luce Co Road Commission announces at a public hearing that the focus of the improvements will shift from existing H-58/CR-407/Deer Park Truck Trail to continue southerly and then swing easterly along CR-410/Grand Marais Truck Trail, ending at H-37/CR-407 near Perch Lake, approximately 2¾ miles south of Deer Park and Muskallonge Lake. Road officials state this is due to several buildings currently situated in the road right-of-way which would need to be moved or demolished, issues with higher water levels in Muskallonge Lake, and "some significant wetland that would have to be dealt with through that section and to the west." |
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| 2023 (Summer) – The first phase of the Luce Co improvement project kicks off from the west at the Alger Co line, with six slight-to-moderate realignments removing tight curves and improve the overall horizontal alignment of the highway as well as a major realignment bypassing the Lake Superior State Forest Campground which moves the roadway from 200–325 feet inland, away from Lake Superior. This helps keep higher speed traffic on the improved roadway farther from those camping at the campground, as well as replaces a winding stretch of road with a much straighter one. Improved drainage and roadside ditches will also help limit maintenance issues with this first segment as well. And while the initial $6 million grant awarded to the County from the Michigan Economic Development Commission (MEDC) covers the planning, engineering and first phase of construction, there is only enough money to pave the first three miles of H-58 east from the Alger Co line, with pavement ending at Superior Dunes Dr, which is also the beginning of the Seasonal Road segment, not snowplowed in the winter. Improvements and realgnments on the first section end at the Blind Sucker River bridge near the jct of CR-407 & CR-410. The second segment of improvements involve the easternmost 4,000 feet of CR-410/Grand Marais Truck Trail as it approaches H-37/CR-407/Deer Park Rd near Perch Lake south of Deer Park. Here, a brand-new roadway is constructed bending to the north of the existing road (which is partially obliterated) so that it intersects with H-37/CR-407/Deer Park Rd at a 90° angle at the Perch Lake Dr intersection. This was done, assumedly, to allow the upgraded route to intersect with H-37 at a much more desirable and safer location instead of the existing skewed intersection in the midst of a curve in the route of H-37. As with the western portion of the project, this 4,000-foot stretch of upgraded and relocated CR-410/Grand Marais Truck Trail includes excellent drainage, roadside ditches and a gentle grade up the hill to the west of H-37. |
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| 2025 (June–Sept) – On June 2, the Alger Co Road Commission closes H-58 over the Sucker River six miles east of downtown Grand Marais, approximately ¼ mile west of the Alger/Luce Co line, to remove the two existing, undersized, 8-foot "perched" culverts carrying the river under H-58/Grand Marais East Rd and replace them with a freestanding bridge. The project is a partnership between the road commission, DNR, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to restore the natual river flow beneath the roadway to allow for native fish species to pass freely upstream, opening an additional 115 miles for access to "premium spawning territory." Since the old culverts were only a partial barrier to the sea lamprey, a barrier will be installed 18 miles upstream in 2026 to halt the lamprey's progress. The scheduled completion date for the $2.35 million project is Sepetember 30, but requires a 76 mile detour for those wanting to travel the 17 miles between Deer Park and Grand Marais. |
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| Counties: | Alger | Luce |
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