M-553 is a north–south state trunkline highway in the Upper Peninsula (UP) of the US state of Michigan. It connects M-35 near Gwinn with the Marquette Bypass, an expressway carrying US Highway 41 (US 41) and M-28 in Marquette. M-553 connects Marquette with Sawyer International Airport at the unincorporated community of K.I. Sawyer AFB, the former site of a US Air Force base, in the Sands Plains area of Marquette County. The intersection with CR 480 in Sands Township, known locally as the Crossroads, is the site of several businesses. North of this location, M-553 runs through some hilly terrain around a local ski hill.
The trunkline was originally County Road 553 (CR 553) in Marquette County. CR 553 dates back to the 1930s, was fully paved in the 1940s, and a segment of the roadway was relocated in the 1950s. During the early 1990s, the City of Marquette extended one of their streets, McClellan Avenue, southward to connect to CR 553. The county road was transferred f
rom the Marquette County Road Commission (MCRC) to the jurisdiction of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) on October 1, 1998. MDOT assigned most of the former county road the M-553 designation after the transfer was complete. One section that was less than a mile (about 1.4 km) was given the M-554 designation. This related trunkline was unsigned by the state with only city street signs to indicate its existence. In 2005, control of various roadways was exchanged between the City of Marquette and MDOT, and M-553 was extended through the city. At the same time, M-554 was turned over to the city's jurisdiction.
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