M-72 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 M-72 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by MDOT | ||||
| Length | 156.552 mi[1] (251.946 km) | |||
| Existed | c. July 1, 1919[2]–present | |||
| Tourist routes |  Lake Michigan Circle Tour | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  M-22 at Empire | |||
| East end |  US 23 at Harrisville | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Michigan | |||
| Counties | Leelanau, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Crawford, Oscoda, Alcona | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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M-72 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan, running from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan across the northern part of the Lower Peninsula. The highway connects M-22 in Empire with US Highway 23 (US 23) in Harrisville. It is one of only three Michigan state trunklines that cross the Lower Peninsula, shore to shore. In between, M-72 runs across Northern Michigan woodland, agricultural areas of the Leelanau Peninsula near Traverse City, and the Au Sable River watershed. The trunkline also provides access to Camp Grayling, a National Guard training facility near the city of the same name. Traffic levels along the highway vary from approximately 800 vehicles a day on the east end to over 32,000 vehicles near Traverse City.
M-72 was first designated as a state highway by 1919 along a segment of its current route. It was extended southward in the mid-1920s and westward in the 1940s. One section of the modern highway added to M-72 in 1940 previously existed as M-208 in the 1930s east of Grayling. Another section of highway near Empire was disconnected from the rest of M-72 until the gap was eliminated later in the decade. All of M-72 was completely paved by the early 1960s. The highway was rerouted in a few places in the 1950s, and the last new segment shifted in 1973 near Kalkaska.