Fighting Highway Hijinks, State Posts Ugly M-22 Signs

There’s something about Michigan’s M-22 highway markers that thieves find irresistible. They’re flying off poles as fast as, say, merchandise leaves shelves at the Michigan-centric M-22 apparel stores.

If you’re unfamiliar, M-22 is Michigan’s version of Route 66. It snakes along Lake Michigan’s eastern shoreline to Grand Traverse, taking travelers to some of the state’s most beautiful spots, like Leelanau County, home to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, beaches and vineyards.

So, the Michigan Department of Transportation is taking steps to make the road markers less appealing. The new signs will be simple affairs, with an austere 22 stamped on them, rather than the M-22 adopted by the apparel store.

“It’s certainly a popular route for travelers and there are some companies marketing M-22 signs themselves and other memorabilia, and that seems to be a factor into their popularity,” MDOT spokesman James Lake told the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

Replacing the signs costs about $325 to $350 a pop.

“We hope people would understand our interest in protecting taxpayer investments in protecting these signs and realize if they’re interested in M-22 merchandise, it’s for sale,” Lake said.

Shop owner Cookie Thatcher, whose Bay Lavender Trading Company is located just east of M-22 in Glen Arbor, said the theft of the markers has been an ongoing problem.

“Those signs have been stolen for ages, even before the M-22 store made it their logo,” she told the Record-Eagle. “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for them to have a whole new line.”

Image: Doug Kerr via Flickr / Creative Commons