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100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
US route endpoint in
1961-present
The US 27 was cut back to its junction with I-75's interchange 249 just south of Grayling in 1961. In 1999 AASHTO approved truncating US 27 to Ft. Wayne IN, eliminating the designation north from there to its former endpoint at Grayling. At the same time, the US 127 designation was extended north from Lansing along the former US 27 to the interchange at Grayling. However, it was not until 2002 that signage in Michigan was changed to reflect this. This photo was taken looking northbound; at the time this highway was officially US 127, but it was still signed as US 27:
Tacoma, Mar. 2001
Grayling is about six miles ahead; that has since been replaced with a US 127 ENDS assembly (see below). These next shots show signage approaching the interchange on southbound I-75:
Tacoma, Mar. 2001
Bratney, June 2002
Curving to the right was formerly the north beginning of US 27, now US 127. The sign bridge visible in the distance is shown close-up in these photos:
Tacoma, Mar. 2001
Ivy/Nitzman, 2009
Dienhart, Aug. 2020
Drivers taking that exit to the right almost immediately encounter the first southbound confirming marker:
Sanderson, Jun. 2022
Sanderson, Jun. 2022 (unchanged as of 2025)
The next set of photos was taken heading the opposite direction; this first one shows the last northbound trailblazer...
Sanderson, Jun. 2022
...however, that was not the last northbound reference to US 127, because the mile markers include US 127 shields. This is the northernmost:
Sanderson, Jun. 2022
The sign in the distance refers to 4 Mile Road, which is actually an exit on I-75 just north of US 127's terminus. At that point, an "Ends" assembly was posted:
Sanderson, Jun. 2022
Head, Jul. 2025
That sign stands in roughly the same location as the historic "US 27 Ends" assembly shown at the top of this page.
Research and/or image credits: Neil Bratney; Paul Dienhart; Mike Head; Brent Ivy; Alex Nitzman; Dale Sanderson; Randy Tacoma
Page originally created 2001;last updated Aug. 25, 2025.
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