F-41 (Michigan county highway)

F-41 is a county-designated highway in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It was previously designated as M-171, a former state trunkline highway, until 1960, running from US Highway 23 (US 23) just north of Oscoda, and coming back to US 23 about 20 miles (32 km) south of Alpena. The road runs through rural, forested areas of Iosco and Alcona counties, inland from Lake Huron.

F-41
F-41 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by the Iosco and Alcona county road commissions
Length	31.803 mi[1] (51.182 km)
Existed	c. October 5, 1970[2]–present
Major junctions
South end	US 23 in Oscoda
	M-72 in Gustin Township
North end	US 23 in Caledonia Township
Location
Counties	Iosco, Alcona
Highway system
County-Designated Highways ← F-38 F-42 → ← M-168 M-171 M-178 →

Although it has been a county road since 1960, F-41 was a state highway in 1919 when the state trunkline highway system was formed. It was a segment of the original M-10 that was replaced by US 23 in 1926. Later changes to US 23 shifted that road closer to Lake Huron, and the Michigan State Highway Department (MSHD) created two different routings for M-171 out of the former US 23 routings in the area. The second of these highways has been designated F-41 since 1970.

Route description

F-41 begins at an intersection with US 23 on the north side of Oscoda. The route travels to the northwest away from town, passing between Van Etten Lake and what was previously Wurtsmith Air Force Base. The road continues north through a rural area of Alcona County on Somers and Mikado roads, running parallel, but inland, to the Lake Huron shoreline. It passes through the small communities of Mikado and Gustin before coming to a junction with M-72. After crossing M-72, F-41 turns east into the community of Lincoln along Traverse Bay State Road, 2nd Street and Main Street before leaving town to the north. The road continues on to the north on Barlow Road through Alcona County before terminating at a second junction with US 23. The highway travels through wooded terrain along its routing.[3][4]

History

M-171
Location	Oscoda – Caledonia Township
Length	31.803 mi[1] (51.182 km)
Existed	1936[5]–1960[6][7]

The first highway designation to run from Oscoda toward Spruce to Alpena was the original M-10 on July 1, 1919.[8] This segment of highway was later redesignated as a part of US 23 in 1926 when the United States Numbered Highway System was established.[9] Realignments of US 23 created both versions of M-171.

The initial incarnation of M-171 served as a loop route off US 23 which departed the main highway east of Spruce, traveled west through Spruce, then north past Hubbard Lake and through Wilson before returning to US 23 near Alpena. This roadway was part of US 23 before it was redesignated M-171 in 1932. This routing is now occupied by the present day routings of Spruce, Hubbard Lake and Wilson roads.[10] This version of M-171 was removed from the system in 1934.[11][12]

F-41 near the intersection of F-30 in Mikado Township

The second version of M-171 that ran between Oscoda and Caledonia Township in Alcona County[13] was assumed into the state trunkline system in 1936.[5] This was another former segment of US 23.[14] Expansion of the Oscoda Army Air Field (later Wurtsmith Air Force Base) in the early 1940s shifted M-171 eastward, more closely following the west shore of Van Ettan Lake. Portions of the old route were taken up by the expansion, while the rest became part of present-day Skeel Avenue.[15] M-171 existed along the Oscoda to Caledonia Township route for 24 years before being decommissioned in late 1960 or early 1961.[6][7] The routing was then assigned County Road F-41 after October 5, 1970,[2][16] and has retained that designation ever since.[4]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Iosco	Oscoda	0.000	0.000	US 23 / LHCT – Tawas City
Alcona	Mikado Township	13.284	21.379	F-30 (Mikado–Glennie Road)
	Gustin Township	17.766	28.592	M-72 – Grayling, Harrisville
	Caledonia Township	31.803	51.182	US 23 / LHCT – Alpena
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

•  Michigan Highways portal

References

1. Michigan Department of Transportation & Michigan Center for Shared Solutions and Technology Partnerships (2009). MDOT Physical Reference Finder Application (Map). Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
2. "County Primary Road Marking System Okayed". The Holland Evening Sentinel. October 5, 1970. p. 6. ISSN 1050-4044. OCLC 13440201. Retrieved May 17, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Google (August 29, 2010). "Overview Map of F-41" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
4. Michigan Department of Transportation (2010). Uniquely Michigan: Official Department of Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:975,000. Lansing: Michigan Department of Transportation. §§ G13–H13. OCLC 42778335, 639960603.
5. Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (December 15, 1936). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map) (Winter ed.). [c. 1:850,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ G13–H13. OCLC 12701143, 317396365. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Archives of Michigan.
6. Michigan State Highway Department (1960). Official Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:918,720]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ G13–H13. OCLC 12701120, 81552576. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Archives of Michigan. (Includes all changes through July 1, 1960)
7. Michigan State Highway Department (1961). Official Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:918,720]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ G13–H13. OCLC 12701120, 51857665. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Archives of Michigan. (Includes all changes through July 1, 1961)
8. Michigan State Highway Department (July 1, 1919). State of Michigan (Map). Scale not given. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. Lower Peninsula sheet. OCLC 15607244. Retrieved October 17, 2019 – via Archives of Michigan.
9. Bureau of Public Roads & American Association of State Highway Officials (November 11, 1926). United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials (Map). 1:7,000,000. Washington, DC: U.S. Geological Survey. OCLC 32889555. Retrieved November 7, 2013 – via University of North Texas Libraries.
10. Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (October 1, 1932). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:840,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ G13–H13. OCLC 12701053.
11. Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (July 1, 1934). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:850,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ G13–H13. OCLC 12701143.
12. Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (September 1, 1934). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:850,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ G13–H13. OCLC 12701143.
13. Rand McNally (1956). Michigan Road Map (Map). Chicago: Rand McNally. § F7.
14. Michigan State Highway Department & Rand McNally (December 1, 1935). Official Michigan Highway Map (Map). [c. 1:850,000]. Lansing: Michigan State Highway Department. §§ G13–H13. OCLC 12701143.
15. Ranz, Douglas R. (1947). "Close-Up Dimensional Sketch of Airport (Oscoda Army Airfield)" (Map). Michigan Airport Directory: 1946–1947. Scale not given. Cartography by B.F.V. Retrieved August 9, 2014 – via Internet Archive.
16. Michigan Department of State Highways (1971). Michigan, Great Lake State: Official Highway Map (Map). c. 1:918,720. Lansing: Michigan Department of State Highways. §§ G13–H13. OCLC 12701120, 77960415.

External links

Template:Attached KML/F-41 (Michigan county highway)

KML is from Wikidata

• F-41 at Michigan Highways
• M-171 on the Master List at Michigan Highways