Proposed US-41: Powers-Marquette (1926–1960, 1930)
Jump to: Proposed US-41 Map: 1926 and 1960 Routes | Proposed US-41: 1930 MSHD Map
As noted in the US-41 route listing, its originally approved alignment in 1926 was to run directly from US-2 at Powers in northern Menominee Co into Marquette Co to the county seat of Marquette, but as there was no existing highway in that corridor, was "temporarily" routed east along US-2 through Escanaba and Gladstone to Rapid River, then northerly and northwesterly to Marquette. The Michigan State Highway Dept made repeated proposals to "complete" this route as originally intended at least into the 1960s but those plans were likely shelved by the 1970s when road-funding shortages became more acute and the focus eventually shifted to maintaining existing infrastructure instead of building new roads.
Proposed US-41 Map: 1926 and 1960 Routes
The map below depicts the proposed route for US-41 as determined by the State Highway Dept in 1926, to fill the Powers-to-Marquette gap, in purple, while a proposed route for US-41 taken from 1960 State Highway Dept planning maps for construction by the year 1980 is shown in orange. Both routes are overlaid on a present-day road map of the Marquette-Menominee Co area.
Proposed US-41: 1930 MSHD Map
After the first short section of US-41 on the Powers-to-Marquette was (at least partially) completed in 1928, it sat there, more or less in "the middle of nowhere" for several years as an officially established trunkline route segment, but disconnected from the rest of the state highway system until 1937. Here is how it appeared on a State Highway Dept biennial report map from 1930 (see red arrow):
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