incampnut
Northeast IN
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Traveling from Northern IN up to Traverse City this Sat. I am familiar with 127 while traveling to Mackinaw however for Traverse City 131 looks to be a bit more direct. Is it a good road as far as condition? Haven't checked for current construction but interested in that as well. Thanks.
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jim isham
stevensville, michigan
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This will give you an idea of lane closures.
MDOT Lane Closures
Michigan's Sunset Coast
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TubaPete
Comstock Park, MI
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You can read about the lane clossures and decide for youself, but other than that:
131 is 2 lane or 4 lane undivided until you get to Schoolcraft. It's limited access and pretty good shape except for the two contstuction zones I am aware of until you get a little north of Cadillac. Then it is 2 lane but in good condition with occasional passing lanes.
Personally I would take it over 127.
You might also consider US31 along the west coast.
Tuba Pete
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Mfan
Otsego,Mi
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I drive us-131 every friday going north. No real problems. Some road construction north of grand rapids, but it is still 60mph on a 2 lane stretch. North of manton where the expressway ends, turn left at the blinking yellow light. That road will take you over to m-37 just south of TC. PM me if you need better directions.
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incampnut
Northeast IN
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I considered 31 but wondered if it would be slow going North of Ludington with it only being two lane?
I think I need to adjust my sights....I meant to post in Roads and Routes.
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bonscott
Michigan
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127 typically is going to be *way* out of your way and you'll be cutting back across the state on M-72 over to TC and that's all 2 lane. However it might depend on where you are starting from.
If you're coming from Indiana then 131 is definately the way to go, it's direct. Once you get to Portage it's expressway all the way to north of Cadillac. You won't go about 5 miles or so of 2 lane road when you want to turn left at M-113 just south of Fife Lake. If you miss M-113 then when you get to Fife Lake take M-186 to the left which hooks up to M-113.
When you get to Kingsly (maybe 10 miles or so) you'll see a bunch of signs for Traverse City. Now what you take here all depends where in TC you are going. If you're going directly into TC then hang a right in Kingsly and that is actually Garfield road which brings you right up the middle of TC. If you need the west side of TC then stay on 113 another 5 miles or so and it will take you to M-37. Hang a right and go north and it'll merge with 31 and take you into the west side of town.
If where you are in Indiana is more to the west by Chicago then I would take US-31 on up, at least part of the way and you have a couple options. If you want more expressway then when you get to Holland stay on I-196 which will take you over to 131 in Grand Rapids. Or just stay on 31 all the way up and it'll merge with M-37 as described above. It is just 2 lane north of Ludington (with passing lanes every so often) but is a really nice drive to be honest. It might take you an extra 20-30 minutes perhaps but worth the drive at least once and there are plenty of nice towns to stop in and site see unless you just want to get up there.
I think which way you take will really depend on where you're starting from. If you can give us an idea of which city you're coming from (or just a general area) then more specific advice can be had. Also try Google Maps and see what it says is the best way.
Scott
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golfknut
SW Michigan
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I see your location is NE Indiana. I chose, at random, "Kendalville" as a starting point on Google Maps and the resulting route was to take you up to the Indiana toll road and then west over to 131.
That's the route I would take. If you were to take the 127 route you actually end up going pretty far east on I-69 as you head toward Lansing, putting you further from Traverse City.
The construction area from Grand Rapids to Rockford is two lanes northbound so traffic usually moves good.
We are heading up 131 this Saturday for a camping trip....I'll leave a trail of bread crumbs. 
2005 Jayco Granite Ridge 3100SS
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incampnut
Northeast IN
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Thanks Bonscott....lots of good info.
Your close golfnut, were coming from Ft. Wayne so 69 is the first "big" road I'll be on. Mapquest told me 69 to 94 and then over to 131. I didn't like the way 69 took me farther to the East either so that was the reason for the post. Mid week we will be coming back down to Pentwater area so we will take 31 at that time. Thanks for all the info!
I see 37 also runs up that way from Grand Rapids...whats that like?
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bonscott
Michigan
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incampnut wrote:
I see 37 also runs up that way from Grand Rapids...whats that like?
37 is just a 2 lane road the whole way. It will be much faster to go up 131. BUT 37 does go thru a lot of national and state forest land once you get up to Baldwin area or so, so it can be a scenic drive. But slow due to 55 to 60 and hope you don't get stuck behind a tractor!
Oh, you have to eat at Don's Drive-in in Traverse City. Best greasy burger I've ever had. It's on 31 on the East Bay at 4 mile.
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TubaPete
Comstock Park, MI
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incampnut wrote:... we're coming from Ft. Wayne so 69 is the first "big" road I'll be on. . . .
We live in Grand Rapids with family in Fort Wayne. Our route of choice is I69 to Charlotte, where we take 2 lane highways (M50 and M66) to Ionia. There we get on I96, which you could take to US131.
We have a little shortcut to avoid driving thru Charlotte which I can send you if you are interested.
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