page_title: County Road 492 (Marquette County, Michigan)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: County Road 492 (Marquette County, Michigan) / History
caption_attribution_description: Hand-painted centerline on state highway M-15 in Marquette County, Michigan, United States
context_page_description: County Road 492 is a primary county road in Marquette County, Michigan. The road serves as an alternate route between Negaunee and Marquette. Several historic sites line the roadway as it runs south and parallel to the main highway, U.S. Highway 41 and M-28, through the Marquette Iron Range in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The path of the road runs near tracks of the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad. The locally created Iron Ore Heritage Trail will follow CR 492 through Eagle Mills and Morgan Meadows upon completion. The western terminus of the county road is on US 41/M-28 in Negaunee and the eastern end is in Marquette next to Lake Superior.
  CR 492 was previously known as the Marquette–Negaunee Road before it was made a part of the State Trunkline Highway System. It was originally designated as a part of M-15 as early as 1917. The superintendent of the Marquette County Road Commission, Kenneth Ingalls Sawyer, painted the first rural highway centerline on the roadway on Dead Man's Curve. The highway was later a part of M-28 before being transferred back to county control. The highway assumed its current form by 2001.
context_section_description: The first roadway along the route of the modern CR 492 was a plank road built by the Cleveland and Sharon Iron Companies in the 1850s. The roadway was originally named the Marquette–Negaunee Road, due to its endpoints. The road was included as a section of "Division 8" in the State Trunkline Highway System when that was created on May 13, 1913. In 1917, the first highway centerline in the nation was painted along a section of the road known as "Dead Man's Curve". The centerline was painted by Kenneth Ingalls Sawyer, long-time superintendent of the county road commission. Traffic along the road was heavy for the era, and along the curves, drivers would follow the innermost side instead of keeping to their own lane. Sawyer added arrows to indicate travel direction and found that motorists used the appropriate travel lanes.
  At this time, the road carried an unsigned designation of "Trunk Line 15" (T.L. 15) as designated by the Michigan State Highway Department (MSHD). This designation was changed to M-15 by the time the state highway system was signed by MSHD in 1919. With the creation of the United States Highway System on November 11, 1926, M-15 in Michigan was redesignated as a part of the larger US 41. Between Negaunee and Marquette, US 41 was routed north of the Marquette–Negaunee Road, following a section of M-35 out of downtown Negaunee. At the same time, M-28 was extended eastward through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Between Negaunee and Marquette, M-28 followed the old routing of M-15. By 1936, M-28 was shifted to follow US 41 between Negaunee and Marquette, transferring the old Marquette–Negaunee Road to county control.
  After this transfer, the roadway carried the CR 492 designation. In 1964, several abandoned underground mine shafts collapsed underneath M-35 in Negaunee, and M-35 was rerouted out of the city along its current roadway through Negaunee Township, connecting with CR 492. The eastern end of CR 492 was moved by 2001. Before this realignment, CR 492 followed Brookton Road, parallel to US 41/M-28 before turning to the previous terminus just west of the border between Marquette Township and the City of Marquette. After the change, CR 492 turned north to intersect the highway opposite of Wright Street. The CR 492 designation was extended along Wright Street at the same time. In 2006, the city of Marquette extended Wright Street to end at Lakeshore Boulevard.
  In 2010, the county road commission built an extension to Commerce Drive across US 41/M-28. This extension was designed to connect the southern and northern segments of CR 492 severed by traffic flow changes along US 41/M-28. Traffic wishing to cross between the two segments needs to follow US 41/M-28 to a median turn around in a maneuver similar to a Michigan left. After the project was completed, motorists gained a second option to cross between the two segments of CR 492 following Brookton Road to the Commerce Drive extension and around the Westwood Mall to Wright Street. This newer connector is designed for 35-mile-per-hour (56 km/h) traffic. The stop light at the US 41/M-28 intersection was installed in early November to complete the project. In August 2010, the speed limits along Wright Street were increased. After the results of a speed study, the limits were increased from 25 and 35 mph (40 and 56 km/h) to 35, 40 and 45 mph (56, 64 and 72 km/h).
  In 2019, two intersections controlled by stoplights along US 41/M-28 in Marquette Township were rebuilt as roundabouts. The easternmost of the two is located at the southwestern end of the northeastern segment of CR 492.
caption: Dead Man's Curve along the Marquette–Negaunee Road shown in 1917 with its hand-painted centerline, the first in the nation
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